St. Louis Blues Pros/Cons From 2023-24 Game 77 At San Jose

The St. Louis Blues took on the San Jose Sharks as the 2023-24 season was winding down. Though the Sharks are one of the worst teams in the NHL, they torched the Blues the last time around.

The first period went similarly to how it unfolded in Nashville. The Blues were dominant in terms of shots and chances, but got nothing to show for it.

The Blues outshot the Sharks 13-5, but could not score. The Blues failed to get anything on the power play either.

That carried over into the second period where St. Louis had the majority of a four-minute power play that also included a game misconduct at the very end of the first. All the Blues did was pass in a vain attempt to tire out San Jose.

The Sharks got a power play of their own before the midway point. They actually tried to shoot the puck and forced an unbelievable save from Joel Hofer.

The second period was mostly nondescript for the entire first half. However, the referees continued to get involved, calling things that were merely teammates sticking up for one another.

Justin Faulk got an instigator penalty and the Sharks scored on the power play. They worked the puck around and then went from the left point to the right circle for the goal.

Moments later, Nathan Walker got put into the box even though Kasperi Kapanen was the one roughed up. San Jose scored on the next power play too, jamming it in on a scramble near the net.

The third period opened up interestingly. Colton Parayko got into a fight around nine seconds in and then the Blues had yet another power play early on.

St. Louis actually struck on the power play, finally. After having lots of traffic in front, Kyrou snapped one from the high slot to make it 2-1.

Drew Bannister went livid late in the period. Hofer was called for tripping and it was about as animated as the coach has been all season.

Nevertheless, the Blues did manage to tie the game late in the third. The captain stepped to the plate got the slapshot for a 2-2 game and we headed to overtime.

The Blues got a power play in the overtime, but it began quite disjointed. You don't practice much four-on-three, but still.

The power play went by the wayside. Then the Sharks scored on a counter attack in a goal that wasn't very good.

Seeing it live, it was hard to tell if it went off the Blues stick, but it still felt like it should have been a Hofer save. The Blues lost 3-2.

Con: Swept by San Jose

Look, no matter how we want things to be as fans, you're not always on your A-game and even the bad teams play up now and then. However, when you get swept by one of the worst teams in the entire NHL, that's just sad.

The performance was much better than we saw the last time around. The Blues were better in the first and decent in the third.

Another bad second period really did things in. When San Jose scored their first goal, it was deja vu for Jamie Rivers as he said this is what happens when you let a team hang around.

Why were the Sharks even in the game? The Blues needed more and didn't get it against a team they should be wiping the ice with.

Pro: Coming back

Credit where credit is due, the Blues did manage to come back. Trailing 2-0, we've seen the team just fold earlier in the season and the game would slip to 3-0 or 4-1.

Instead, the Blues managed to fight there way back in. Although the power play was sad all night, it came up big when they needed it most in the third.

Then, you get the captain stepping up for a big tying goal. Those are the moments this team needed more all year.

Con: Special teams

Even though I just gave credit to the power play for a big score in the third, the special teams cost the Blues. It just wasn't good enough.

Complain about the penalties all we want. It doesn't matter.

The Blues had six opportunities to score on their own power plays and got one. They allowed five penalties and allowed two goals.

The four-minute power play was the biggest gut punch. When John Kelly even talks about how there was too much passing, it's really bad.

Overview:

The Blues continued their awful fun against the cellar dwellers. This has become rather embarrassing.

The Blues lost all their games against the Sharks. They've lost to Arizona, Chicago and Columbus.

The Blues didn't even play that poorly, but you just can't have these kinds of games. You're in a situation where you have to win all your games to stay alive for the playoffs and you can't dominate?

I'm trying my best to not take credit away from the Sharks since they got the job done. However, it just doesn't feel that way.

I never blame goalies and it just seemed like Hofer needed to make a save in overtime. I've been begging for more shots and the Blues finally got a ton of shots in two games and lost both.

It's just been a puzzling finish to a puzzling season.