Add another L to the win-loss column. Now at three in a row, the St. Louis Blues have seemingly lost all of their hard-earned traction toward a playoff spot. With this loss to the Vancouver Canucks, 5-2, the point margin to that last wildcard spot remains at five, 55 for Calgary to the Blues 50. And, the Canucks, who now sit at 54 points on the year, are knocking at Calgary's door.
Let's takeaway what went wrong in this one.
30th Anniversary of Enterprise Center... Ruined
This was supposed to be a special night, filled with emotion and reminiscing, that quickly turned into a nightmare. On the night of the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Kiel Center, now the Enterprise Center, it was a tragedy.
The Blues lost this game on the first shot of the night that goaltender Jordan Binnginton saw. If you expected this team to pull themselves out of this rut against a team they have been 10-4-2 against in the last five seasons, plus the first match-up this season (Blues won 4-3).
They could not, losing early in this one and never being able to gain any headway for a comeback. Sound familiar.
Lost Game Early Again
Just like in the loss to Dallas the other night, the Blues lost in the first period of this game. Consequently, they have a record of 7-18-1 when the opponent scores first and 4-17-2 if they are still trailing at the first intermission.
If this team wants to be a playoff team, they must learn not to give up the quick goals and settle the game down. They cannot win hockey games if they go into the locker room with the mindset of having to come back over the next period or it's over. The only player that can make that happen, is the goaltender.
At this point in the season, every point matters, even if the Blues can keep it close and steal a point by forcing overtime. They cannot afford to drop any more games, as the rest of their playoff-seeking competitors have quite a few games in hand over them.
Bad Powerplay, Worse Penalty Kill
The Blues and Canucks were in a heated battle in this one, no can deny it. There were punches thrown, multiple scrums following whistles and a sense or intimidation and aggressivness was noticable on the ice. But, following all of the penalties that led to special team chances, the Blues were ragdolled in this game.
The powerplay, despite going 1-5, was abysmal. The penalty kill, who only had to fight off two penalties, allowed a goal on both of them making the Canucks powerplay, perfect. Just a bad night all around for the two units, and it was a difference-maker.