The St. Louis Blues came into their first road game of 2025 having defeated Chicago in the Winter Classic and then posted a shutout over Ottawa at home. So, a potential letdown almost felt inevitable, but it might have been more understandable against a team like Minnesota.
Instead, the Blues just couldn't muster that opening push that we had seen in those other wins. As we have seen in other less-than-stellar performances, the shot totals just weren't there in the first period.
The Blues only got seven total shots on goal in the opening frame. It should be noted that around five or six of those shots were good scoring opportunities, forcing good saves, but the fact can't be denied that they only had seven.
Meanwhile, the Blues allowed 18. Joel Hofer turned them all aside until the final minute of the period. Hofer saw the shot all the way, but it somehow missed his glove, banked off his left pad, and Dmitri Voronkov knocked in the rebound to make it 1-0.
Making matters worse, the Blues took a penalty early in the second period. While St. Louis killed off the Blue Jackets power play in the first, they were not so lucky this time around. Columbus was actually sending a snap pass towards the back door, but it went off a Blues stick and between Hofer's legs for a 2-0 tally.
St. Louis really didn't muster much the rest of the period. They may have had an edge in puck possession, or even zone time, but they didn't test Elvis Merzlikins nearly as much as the broadcasters would have you believe.
Tyler Tucker attempted to spark something by getting into a fight, but it wasn't even a fight. They both grabbed one another, and Tucker got wrestled down pretty early with barely a punch thrown by either.
The third period just showed how this night was going to go. The Blues got a power play about three minutes in and then allowed a shorthanded goal 15 seconds into that. Columbus had speed down their right wing and cut in behind Brandon Saad before cracking one past Hofer for the 3-0 score.
The Blues at least got themselves on the board on the same power play. With almost everyone on or below the goal line, Jordan Kyrou was alone in the slot and whipped one past Merzlikins to make it 3-1.
Any good feelings about that goal were immediately erased. Adam Fantilli came down the right wing with space and caught Hofer cheating, sending one under his blocker before he could react, and it was 4-1.
The lid came off the period 90 seconds later. Cam Fowler made it 4-2, knocking in a rebound after a Dylan Holloway shot.
29 seconds after that, it was a three-goal deficit again. With a scramble in front, the Blue Jackets backhanded one over Hofer's glove shoulder, and it was 5-2.
Hofer redeemed himself with about eight minutes left. As the Blues were pushing, they opened up at the back, and the St. Louis goalie had to make a glove save on a close-in chance from the right side again.
In the short term, that save became important as the Blues didn't give up. Pavel Buchnevich set up Colton Parayko on the edge of the circle, and he unleashed a MacInnis-like slap shot to make it 5-3.
Things continued to be crazy. St. Louis pulled the goalie with 4:25 left, and with 3:44 left, Brayden Schenn barely chipped a rebound in, and it was 5-4.
Despite a valiant effort, the Blues just didn't have it. Fowler forced a pass to Jake Neighbours entering the zone, which was picked off, and Columbus put it into the empty net.
6-4 was the final.
Con: Hofer
Joel Hofer was not bad in this game, but like we've seen from both goalies at times, he just wasn't on. Out of all the goals he let up, maybe he should have had one or two, but conversely, none of them were absolutely unstoppable except the one knocked in by Parayko.
It was just one of those nights where the Blues needed their goalie to come up big, and he didn't at the time they needed him to. That's not to say Hofer was bad. He kept things respectable early in the game when the Blues offense was next to nil.
That third period was just crazy, though. The defense didn't really do him any favors in the third, but coming up with that big save we've come to expect from Hofer or Jordan Binnington could have changed the outcome.
Pro: Battle
Let's be honest. If you didn't turn the game off, many were hate-watching. I consider myself an optimist as far as sports go, but I just didn't get the feeling a comeback was on the slate.
Although I was ultimately proven right, it wasn't for lack of trying by the team. They went from 16 shots through two periods to suddenly beating the goaltender four times in one period.
The tenacity was nice to see. Sure, you can question where that was the rest of the game, but at least the effort came at some point.
If it wasn't for the poor start to the season, this would be a very acceptable loss just due to how hard they pushed at the end.
Con: That Fowler pass
We've all deservedly given Cam Fowler a lot of praise since his arrival. He's helped on offense, defense and special teams.
He scored two goals in his 1000th game and got goal 100 of his career in this one. However, that pass to end the game was just not smart.
I get what he was trying. You thread the needle there, and Neighbours cuts the defense with speed and either scores or creates havoc close to the net.
But, given how the game had gone, it's just not a smart play. You'd like the veteran to just dump it in and have everyone else retrieve the puck.
It's an extremely low percentage pass. Guys make it at various points of the season, but it's a 40/60 pass at best, and that's being generous.
Overview:
This was just a weird game. The Blues never felt dominated, but once it was 2-0, you kind of felt like it was going to go the wrong way the rest of the night.
Once it was 3-0, especially how it happened, it felt over. As mentioned, I appreciate and admire the team's will to get themselves back into it, but they just dug too big a hole and couldn't clamp down.
They got the saves and okay defense early in the game but fell down by two. You allow a shorty almost immediately on your most important power play, which proved to be monumental since you did score on the power play and essentially lost by a goal if you don't count the empty net.
Once the offense came to life, they couldn't keep Columbus from gaining easy entry. I believe Hofer could have stopped a couple of those, but they were also mainly unguarded shots from prime real estate on the wing.
From a single game perspective, this one was kind of whatever. You battled hard at the end, which is good, but you dug yourself too much of a hole, which is bad.
What sucks is the overall picture. Although the Blues did not play nearly as bad, this was reminiscent of too many early-season games. You simply cannot rely on your goaltending to always bail you out, nor on an ability to come from behind. It's too draining.
Also, this is somewhat a mirror point to what I said last night. You get the win over Ottawa and have won three of four, but you're only two games above .500.
That same equation goes the other way. You've still won three of five, but now you're only a game above. 500 and heading to Minnesota with the Wild dueling for the top spot in the division.
The Blues often play up to their competition, but they've also had plenty of struggles against the Wild. A win in this game was much needed because now you force yourself to win over the Wild to avoid falling back to .500.
St. Louis just can't keep the yo-yo results going. It's very difficult, but they have to get wins, especially over other mediocre teams.