The St. Louis Blues continue to struggle finding their footing on the season as they have only three wins in their last 10 and lost their last two. There are certainly a lot of issues the team must address, but getting quality play in the crease can really help.
The Blues are not necessarily a high-scoring team and rank near the bottom of the league in goals scored at 2.79, which is 24th in the league. However, when they do score the goaltending fails them as they were 2-0 in games where they scored four or more goals, but have lost their last three where they scored four or more.
What makes it even tougher is that Jordan Binnington has been the goalie in each of those games. Binnington was expected to be the team's starting goalie, but he hasn't shown anything warranting him staying in that role.
In the past two seasons, Binnington has had a save percentage above .900 and a goals against average under 2.85. He was a big reason for the Blues' incredible finish to last season that earned them a playoff spot.
Unfortunately, this season has been a completely different story as he has a career-worst save percentage of .869 and a goals against average of 3.34. Where he has really struggled is shutting down high-danger chances, as he had a High-Danger Goals Saved Above Average of -1.66 this season, which is way down from last season of 1.56, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Blues biggest issue is that they don't really have anywhere to turn, as Joel Hofer hasn't been much better with a save percentage slightly worse at .867 and a goals against average of 4.04.
St. Louis Blues might have no choice but try to make a trade to fix the position
It is hard to imagine that either player is going to be able to turn it around quick enough to give the Blues confidence in the position. They need to start working the phones and see what options are out there to help.
Unfortunately, the challenge is that teams don't just give away good goalies, and being this early in the season, they may be reluctant to make a deal. This is going to require the Blues to overpay for a proven option or find a goalie with concerns that they can work through.
As the season goes along, the decision to waive Colten Ellis continues to loom and might be one of the decisions that cost them success this season. Ellis was claimed by the Buffalo Sabres and has looked good at times to the point that he is putting together a case to be the starter.
The Blues would love to have him back, but Buffalo would be unwilling to part with him. However, they do have other options in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, or even Alexandar Georgiev, who is currently down in the AHL.
Another option might be the Detroit Red Wings with Cam Talbot, who is splitting games with John Gibson. He is a veteran who has been decent so far this season with a save percentage of .896 and a goals against average of 2.71.
While it might be tough, it isn't impossible to get a deal done and the St. Louis Blues have probably hit the point where they need to start working the phones to fix the position and save their season.