The St. Louis Blues seem to always be on the road in 2024. That could be for the best since they haven't been good at home, but starting the trip in Tampa was a tall task.
The Blues had a couple of peaks and valleys early in the contest but hit a big valley in the first six minutes. Pavel Buchnevich got caught puck-watching on the back check, leaving the Lightning's leading goal scorer wide open in front of the net. Anthony Cirelli had enough time to deke the puck, faking Jordan Binnington to his stomach, and scoop it into the upper half of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Blues got a little more offense, earning a power play not too long after that. While St. Louis did generate enough shots to have the most for the period between the two teams, they didn't really challenge too much. They did even have a couple of odd-man rushes in the last two minutes, but it was one-and-done on all of it.
It stayed 1-0 into the second period, but not for too long. Tampa got another goal, in the first five minutes this time. The Blues offered no resistance on Tampa's zone entry and they knifed through with seam passes and found a man alone in the slot for a quick shot and a 2-0 lead.
Much of the Blues offense had been pretty useless, but they finally got some good shifts about 12 minutes in. The third line gained the offensive zone and had a good hold-in, allowing the top line to get on the ice. Another good hold led to a backdoor goal for Buchnevich to make it 2-1.
Unfortunately, that difference only lasted about one minute. The Lightning came in, made a simple drop pass to the left wing, and snapped one high to the glove side to make it 3-1. It was a shot that Binnington normally saves, but he just didn't seem mentally engaged in this game.
It easily could have been 4-1 after a Blues power play accomplished nothing. The Lightning set up a play in front and had a mostly empty net to shoot at, but Nathan Walker managed to get a block off.
Brayden Schenn tried to spark something with about a minute left, getting in a fight. However, he was thrown off balance once he got his grip right, so it ended without any real punches thrown.
St. Louis tried to up the pressure in the third and outshot the Bolts 7-2 through the first 12 minutes. Again, they just didn't feel that threatening overall since they couldn't get sustained zone time the way they did on their goal.
After allowing three goals on 11 shots, Binnington was pulled midway through the second period for Joel Hofer. The poor goaltending night almost continued late as Hofer fanned on a pass out of the zone and almost turned it over. He got called for a trip, but the Blues managed to kill that off.
St. Louis pulled the goaltender and hit the outside of the post once, but other than that, the Lightning had the best looks. They kept missing the net, so 3-1 ended as the final.
Con: Binnington
For the second start in a row, Jordan Binnington was not the reason the Blues lost this game. However, once again, he just didn't look right.
He almost seems to expect bad things to happen right now. He looks like a goaltender with the hockey version of the Yips.
Binnington is still making some big saves. He made a couple in a row to keep it 2-0 allowed the Blues to cut the lead to one.
Unfortunately, he also let in that third goal. Those kinds of shots happen to all goalies, but that's one he's got to save. Given the situation in the game, the Blues need at least a breather to reset and attempt to tie it. Instead, the Lightning scored and erased all the positivity the Blues had.
Pro: Penalty kill
The Blues took some penalties at very poor times of the game and had to face one of the best power plays in the entire NHL. Whether you want to give St. Louis credit or say it was an off night for Tampa, the stat sheet shows 0-3.
What I liked was that the Blues stayed organized. Normally, what goes wrong is the Blues stay tight for a few passes and then get caught on one challenge, opening the middle of the ice for a shot or seam pass and it's lights out.
Instead, they stuck to their structure and made the clearances when they could so it wasn't just a constant onslaught.
Con: MIstakes
The Blues didn't play that poorly in this game. I wouldn't say they played well enough to deserve a win, but they weren't bad.
The bad thing was that their mistakes were not let off the hook. Almost every big mistake they made ended up in the back of the net.
The first goal you can take your pick as to whose mistake it was. I think it's Buchnevich for puck-watching and not getting to a proper defensive assignment when there were two guys already near the puck carrier. You could say Tucker was overzealous too or you can blame Perunovich for not dropping off quicker and taking away the middle. Any way you slice it, the entire unit gaffed and you could see the goal coming from a mile away.
The second goal wasn't so much a mistake, but just lackadaisical. St. Louis got it out of the zone and took their foot off the gas. Tampa had fantastic passing to set up the goal, but the Blues also looked flat-footed.
We've already covered Binnington's mistake for goal three. It all just proved that this team isn't bad, but not good enough to make up for big lapses.
Pro: Shots
This was an eye of the beholder game. Some people saw a good effort and others, like myself, saw an ok effort. The bottom line was we got more of what we needed from this team, just without the end result.
You can't win with 12 shots through 40 minutes. In this game, the Blues had 22 shots through two and 32 overall.
Conversely, the Blues have allowed too many shots over the last month. In this game, St. Louis never allowed double-digit shots in one period and held the Lightning to three shots in the third period.
Overview:
This game was a good measuring stick for the Blues. We got a C+ or B effort and the result was what it was.
St. Louis can beat any team in the league with their A-game. Anything below that and you're going to get a very mixed bag.
As I pointed out, if you get 30-plus shots and hold your opponent to 18, you're going to win more of those games than not. It's just hard to say the Blues should have done more than they did because too many of the shots were from the perimeter in the early part and there were not enough multiple cracks at goal. Too many shots were saved with no rebounds.
St. Louis now faces odd questions. Did they play one of their better games and lose, meaning we'll see the dog Blues against Florida in 24 hours? Who plays in goal? The plan was Binnington in Tampa and Hofer in Miami, but that may change now that Hofer played half of this contest.
St. Louis wasn't helped by the fact that Philip Broberg had a last-minute illness. Hopefully, he can play against Florida, because Perunovich and Tucker were not a good pairing.
The up-and-down nature of 2024-25 continues. For all we know, the Blues come out on fire and beat the Panthers one night after this. I wouldn't hold my breath though.