The St. Louis Blues got a big win in their first game after the Olympic break, but you can usually assume a good effort out of that gate since everyone is too rested and ready to go. Whether the Blues would be as effective against the New Jersey Devils remained to be seen.
In what proved to be an even first period, the Blues still got off to a good start. Despite missing both Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko, the Blues carried that shoot-first mentality into this game.
Jordan Binnington was sharp in the first period, making 11 total saves and two that came off his own defender's skates, which meant he was seeing the puck well and reacting. Meanwhile, the Blues' offense wasn't picture perfect, but it did get 12 shots through.
However, the first period was where the good feelings ended. We saw a return of the "same old" Blues in the second period.
The first couple of minutes didn't seem that bad, though you could tell New Jersey was coming on. Although the Blues killed off a penalty taken in the first 16 seconds, the team never recovered. They spent the rest of the period on their heels and playing defense.
St. Louis got outshot 17-6. Frankly, it was not even as close as that margin in terms of quality. The Devils may have needed one decent save out of those six, and that's a maybe.
Despite a good performance from Jordan Binnington, the Blues would allow two goals in the period.
St. Louis lost defensive position, and Timo Meier came in unguarded on the right wing, cut a shot back across the grain, and lasered it just over the right pad to make it 1-0 at 5:37. The Blues kept playing with fire and eventually got burned. The team that has allowed the most goals in the final minute of periods allowed another one.
Jack Finley got called for a weak penalty, and the Devils capitalized on the power play. American hero Jack Hughes fed it back out in front, and Dougie Hamilton scored from out high with traffic in front. It was 2-0 going into intermission.
Maybe if it were 1-0, things might have played out differently. The Blues just never looked like they were going to get back into it down two, though.
The Blues did get a little bit of a push, outshooting the Devils 8-5 in the third. Still, there just wasn't enough.
St. Louis did nothing with a power play in the third, which hampered their comeback attempt. They would make it a little interesting late, though.
Jacob Markstrom tried to go for glory with the Blues' net empty, but the Blues blocked the clearing attempt. Before the goalie could get back in the net, the Blues got it out front, and Pavel Buchnevich made it 2-1 with 1:18 left.
The Devils overwhelmed the Blues with pressure in the final minute, never even letting them get set up. They would get an empty net goal with four seconds left, making it a 3-1 final for the visitors.
Pro: Binnington
If you weren't able to watch the game, don't trust the usual social media nonsense regarding Binnington. If not for him, this game was done and overwith halfway through the second period.
Yes, Binner had two get by him, but the first was a world-class shot with no defense, even forcing a tougher angle. The second was in the upper part of the goal, and Binnington looked like he never even really saw it.
The problem was the overall play in the second and beyond. Plenty of teams only have single-digit shots in one period, and somehow, the Blues allowed 17 in one period.
On top of making 15 saves, Binnington had to make at least four stops that went off his own defenders. Those same shots were going in prior to the Olympics, so hopefully he's getting a few more of the bounces.
Con: Power play
Statistically, the Blues had found a bit of a groove on the special teams front. They were actually ranked 10th on the power play since January 10.
Just like we saw the return of the second-period issues, we saw the return of the inept power play. They regressed.
Credit to the Devils for understanding the situation and not sitting back. They got the job done and gave up a handful of shots and almost no true scoring chances.
My issue is that the Devils showed absolutely no respect to the Blues' power play. They pressured every puck and every pass as though this was man-on-man defense in basketball.
That's what a smart team does, but it showed a spotlight on the fact that the Blues deserve no respect. They couldn't enter the zone in the middle, so they got pushed to the boards and almost immediately gave up the puck every time.
The power play worked the puck around reasonably once they got the defense to back off a shade, but that was few and far between. There's no quickness, no decisiveness, and other teams know to just pressure the Blues, and they'll buckle.
Overview:
We've seen much worse losses this season, so I'm not overly heartbroken about this one. New Jersey is just better than the Blues right now, and they got things done.
My issue with the Blues is that they were right there in the first period. They did things that helped them win against Seattle and that have made them successful in the few wins they've had this season.
That all disappeared in the second period. Even Jamie Rivers was at a loss for words when trying to analyze it in the second intermission.
There's really nothing to pinpoint and say that if you clean this up, things can be different. As Rivers said, maybe if you get pucks in deeper more consistently during line changes, you get on the front foot better instead of defending turnovers, but that's still not the entire picture.
At this point, it is clearly a mental thing with this team. They are incapable of not allowing mistakes to snowball. The Blues have a game or two where the mistakes are fewer or don't cost them every time, but that's the exception, not the rule.
This team just puzzles me. Yes, there are injuries, and line combinations are almost never the same, but what would make things better?
People say blow it up, but there's too much to hold onto with the likes of Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, Otto Stenberg, Philip Broberg, etc. Surely adding talent to supplement those guys is the right route, but when nobody is clearly stepping up as a guy that can produce no matter who's around him, it makes you question things.
There's no time for that, though, as the Blues play Minnesota one day following this game. Maybe the Jekyll side will show up instead of Mr. Hyde.