St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2023-24 Game 75 Vs Edmonton

In a vacuum, the St. Louis Blues losing to the San Jose Sharks was disappointing and kind of embarrassing. In the grand scope, it just piled on the pressure since defeating the Edmonton Oilers was always going to be difficult, but now absolutely had to be accomplished to stay alive in the playoffs.

In the grand scheme of things, the Blues weren't that bad in the first period. They just weren't all that good either.

I understand Edmonton is good, but they're not great defensively. To have six shots on goal when your playoff life depends on it is unacceptable.

The period could have ended scoreless, but the Oilers found a way to break through. With 13 minutes left, the Oilers took a shot from the point and a screen in front allowed Edmonton to take the 1-0 lead.

The positive for the Blues was kind of a negative. They had six shots and three came from Jake Neighbours. That's great that he continues to be a big time performer, but it's not that great for one guy to have half your offensive output.

The Blues outshot Edmonton 5-1 in the first three minutes, but nobody could find the finish. The Oilers nearly doubled their lead about five minutes into the middle frame as nobody closed down on a slot shot, but fortunately it went right into Jordan Binnington's glove.

St. Louis got bailed out on a potential 2-0 score when the play was revealed to have a high stick. The Blues were forced to challenge another score after Binnington got beat five hole, but there was some contact with the goalie stick. There was definitely contact, but it was 50/50 and the Blues actually won, so it remained 1-0.

St. Louis had a power play midway through the period. Jordan Kyrou had a couple good looks, but one was skate to stick and he whiffed and the second was partially blocked and saved.

The second unit took over and put one in the back of the net. It was a Brayden Schenn goal with an Alexey Toropchenko screen. There was a mysterious goalie interference challenge that made absolutely no sense, but thankfully it was turned down on review, so the game was 1-1 with 11:45 left.

Binnington had to make a big save on a shorthanded push down the ice from the Oilers. He robbed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from his belly, though the shot should have been better and should have scored.

The Blues problem continued to be missing the net. Midway through the period, the shots were 18-14 Blues, but the shot attempts were 32-18. St. Louis was missing the net on almost every other attempt, while the Oilers had only missed four.

St. Louis failed to score on two more power plays, including a brief two-man advantage. Then the Oilers got a breakaway at the end of the penalty kill, but Binnington made a sliding pad save.

The Oilers came to life later in the period, forcing several quality saves from Binner. The Blues almost got a shorthanded goal with a two-on-one, but that was denied by a defensive stick.

St. Louis had a brief four-on-three and then five-on-four power play to start the third, but could not capitalize. The Oilers nearly came down and scored shorthanded, but the Blues did get back.

Interestingly, it was a turnover that led to the next goal, but not the way you'd assume. The Blues actually picked off the puck and went down two-on-one, with a one timer from Schenn to make it 2-1.

The Blues killed off a penalty shortly after that. However, they absolutely screwed up a two-on-one of their own, with Kevin Hayes shooting wide with nobody in front of him.

The teams traded chances in the third period. Both goalies were making big saves to keep their teams in the contest.

The Blues couldn't make the lead last. Connor McDavid picked Colton Parayko's pocket with around five minutes left and hit the back door play to Leon Draisaitl for the 2-2 score.

The game did go to overtime, but only barely. The Blues somehow allowed an uncovered shot from just outside the circle, but it went just wide.

Overtime was a lot of bad with a little good, but that's all it took. The Oilers had the bulk of the shots, chances and put plenty of lumps in throats as they came close to scoring several times.

All it took was one turnover though. Brandon Saad was fresh off the bench and scored on a breakaway for a 3-2 Blues win.

Pro: The Captain

It's been a bit of a rough season for Brayden Schenn. His offensive production has been spotty at best.

However, he's found more of his game late in the season than most of the rest of the year. Better late than never.

Not only did he score two goals, but they were emphatic goals. Schenn absolutely buried both chances, leaving no doubt about it.

He won the vast majority of his faceoffs, which has been another issue at times. He also had three hits, so it was a great all-around game.

Con: Too much defending

Whether the game was tied or the Blues had the lead, St. Louis did far too much defending. They got outshot 12-5 in the third period.

I don't care if you had the lead or not. That's just a sad offensive effort.

The Oilers are one of the top offensive teams in the league, so you do need to keep close tabs on them without opening too many options. Yet, you have to outscore your opponent to win the game.

Five shots on goal is not going to cut it. St. Louis barely threatened in the third, other than a few rush plays.

Pro: Staying alive

Did the Blues deserve to win? Who knows.

They won. They got the job done.

They were not the better team in overtime, yet they got the goal. Thank heavens for Saad. He's been clutch on some of his breakaways and he came through just when the Blues needed it.

Overview:

I don't have a clue about this team. All season long, they've lost when you thought they'd win and they've won when you thought they were dead.

I had pretty much given up about the Blues making the playoffs, but the Western Conference is letting them stay in it. The LA Kings lost to Winnipeg, so now the Blues are three points back of the Kings for the final playoff spot.

The Blues aren't a good come from behind team, yet they came back to grab a 2-1 lead. They've not been a good squad to face adversity, but they absorbed the late tie and won in overtime.

Kyrou had chances and just didn't get the bounces. Saad was clutch and the captain was huge.

The Blues might lose their next game in embarrassing fashion. Maybe they ultimately do lose out on that last playoff spot.

Even though we are consistently frustrated with this team, at least they're fighting for it until the bitter end. These wins just put even more spotlight on the losses to the cellar dwellers though.