The St. Louis Blues came into their game against the Edmonton Oilers having won five of their last six games. Oddly, many of those wins came on the road, but this game was at home and the second of a back-to-back for both teams.
You could tell that was the case in the first period. There was only a total of 13 shots on goal in the first period, with the Blues having six.
Joel Hofer was playing well, but not being called upon intensely to keep it close. Unfortunately, that changed in the second period.
The Blues got outshot 11-5 and all but one of those five shots came in the last five minutes of the period. St. Louis' offense was nonexistent.
Their defense was playing pretty well, limiting most chances, but you could tell the Oilers were coming. It's good that the Blues are limiting goals against, but it is regularly at the expense of the offense.
The Blues best chance came on an odd-man rush and a shot from the slot, but it was right at the goaltender. Instead, the Oilers took the lead to the intermission. After committing a turnover and pouting minutes earlier, Leon Draisaitl fed one from the right corner and former Blue Kasperi Kapanen cut the shot back glove side for the 1-0 lead.
The Blues came out strong in the third period. They only had three shots in the first four minutes, but created some solid chances and looked threatening.
The Blues nearly tied it about five minutes in. Despite being shorthanded, the Blues sprang a partial breakaway for Colton Parayko, who had it nibble off the goalie and then the crossbar. Shortly after that, Alexey Toropchenko was in behind the defense, but he was stopped too by the stick.
Sadly, the Blues had more scoring chances shorthanded than they did shots while shorthanded. That cost them as the Oilers doubled their lead at 9:56 when Connor McDavid went zone to zone and whipped one over the blocker of Hofer to make it 2-0.
The Blues buckled down and got things done. This time it was Pius Suter to score from just outside the crease. Jonaten Berggren fed it out in front from below the goal line and the Swiss forward knocked in a one timer with more than seven left.
McDavid nearly pushed the lead to back to two. He got in behind the defense, but hit the post.
Ultimately, the third period was more entertaining as the Blues got outshot 16-12, but it was more alive for both teams. Then, the Blues tied the game off a faceoff win when Cam Fowler snapped a shot off the iron and in.
St. Louis had some good surges in the first minute of overtime, but then Hofer had to make a huge sliding save to keep the game going after an Oilers' odd-man rush. Just like the missed power play opportunity haunted the Blues, the missed chance from McDavid cost the Oilers.
In the final minute of OT, the Blues kept the pressure on and a great offensive push and passing was finished off by Robert Thomas. The team's leading scorer wired a shot from the left circle off the post and in for a 3-2 win.
Pro: Hofer
Much like Jordan Binnington the night before, the Blues won this game on the back of their goaltender. Hofer ended the game with 36 saves according to the NHL website and 35 according to the broadcast.
Regardless of what the number, it was the timing of the saves. Like Binnington 24 hours prior, Hofer made the saves to keep the Blues in the game, even when they were down.
Then there was the overtime save. That's a chance McDavid finishes off nine times out of 10, but Hofer got the right skate on it and that proved pivotal.
Con: Second period
As mentioned, the Blues actually defended reasonably well in the second period. Given the push that Edmonton brought, 11 shots allowed isn't all that bad.
The problem is the over reliance on defending and goaltending. It was like watching an English Premier League game where one team knows they don't have a chance, so they park the bus and just try to play prevent defense.
It's not as though it can't be effective. Clearly it somewhat workes since the Blues won and only allowed the one goal in the second period. However, it's boring and it's dangerous. If you get a team that actually cuts through that wall, then you're down multiple goals.
Pro: Thomas
Normally, one goal won't necessarily get you a star or a pro in my own articles. Thomas got both and not only because his goal was the game winner.
Of course, the goal deserves praise. He showed great determination to be more offensive minded and selfish, not trying to force some sort of pass through traffic that would've gone the other way. Instead, he wired a shot and got the game winner on an unstoppable shot off the post.
However, it wasn't just that. Ever since the trade deadline, similar to last year, Thomas has looked like the top-line center and leader we've wanted him to be. Whether he can carry that into next season remains to be seen, but it proves that when he's on, he's a dangerous player.
Overview:
Even though I'm not on the tank for draft position bandwagon, I'm just as puzzled by this turnaround as anyone else. At this point, it's not just an axiom, but a fact. Why was this team not able to do this earlier in the year.
Even if they lost in overtime, like they did against the Islanders, it's just a completely different vibe to this squad. There's heart and effort and a certain amount of entertainment.
They play with fire with their reliance on goaltending and trying to keep other teams from scoring instead of taking it to them. But, you can't argue it hasn't been successful since they've now won six of seven and actually look like a better team since the deadline.
I'm not even suggesting they're actually better without veterans like Justin Faulk and Brayden Schenn. Yet, all season long, whether due to injuries or trades, they do seem to play better when the lineup is worse on paper.
Regardless, it's fun to watch again. It's much easier to look forward to game nights the last couple weeks as opposed to dreading them, even if/when they won.
Nothing has been perfect in this stretch, but there's a lot to like. The combination of Philip Broberg and Logan Mailloux seems like it fits very well. There's still some mistakes, but it's mistakes of effort, not poor positioning or over extending.
The Blues goalies have been their best players for two nights in a row, but as long as your best players are your best players, you're getting things done.