St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Shooting The Stars Down
Good morning Blues fans! Last night represented another one of those wins where you get the win but don’t feel fantastic about it. Nevertheless, points are important so a win was big.
The St. Louis Blues took down the Dallas Stars for the first time in regulation this season. They also beat the Stars for the last time this season unless Dallas makes a big push for the playoffs in the second half.
The two teams have played their full contingent of games and the Blues won two in overtime, one in regulation and lost 6-2. Not a bad showing against a team that is currently struggling due to injury and just poor play.
Dallas rolled the dice by going with young defensemen after not having a good defensive core to begin during last season’s division title. It has not worked out as their goal totals are down and goals given up are up.
Nevertheless, leave it to the Blues to have their own same problems to throw salt on the sugar cookies. The Blues gave up a goal in the first three minutes of a game for the third straight game.
That is one of the things that might actually come down to coaching. I have no doubts that Ken Hitchcock is giving a pregame speech, but perhaps the team just isn’t paying attention.
You cannot consistently come out of the gate, let the opponent score a goal and expect to come back. You run into hot offenses that will make that lead two, three or more, you face hot goaltenders or just can’t find the offense yourself. It’s risky business to force yourself to come back so often.
The Blues continue to be their own worst enemy for their goaltenders. More deflections and the first goal of the game came on a breakaway where the defenders were nowhere to be found until it was too late.
All that out of the way, it was still a positive performance. It might not sound like it, but you just get tired of the same old thing happening defensively.
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Offensively, Vladimir Tarasenko has hit a nice hot streak. He has his name back up toward the top of the league scoring charts. He is currently in second, three points behind the lead.
Also, the Blues got goals from Paul Stastny and Patrik Berglund. Stastny could have had a hat trick if he would be a little more selfish, but we know that’s not his game. Berglund’s goal was as much luck as it was skill on a deflection from the left circle. Even so, it was a welcome score for a guy who has struggled to get his points game going though he has played a much stronger game this season overall.
Now it’s up to the team to keep this going. A game against Boston will end the home stand before they all head west. The Blues don’t HAVE to win, but getting a win streak going – even a two game streak – would be positive. Maybe I should just call them out each time. It has worked twice against the Hawks and Stars now.
Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started off right.
If you missed the game or want to relive the high points, Lou Korac has your hookup. His official game recap has the highlights and the league also includes a longer video recap at the end as well. (NHL)
The St. Louis Blues wore some familiar uniforms against Dallas. They have plans to keep that going with multiple games featuring the Winter Classic jerseys. Tom Timmerman also has a few other noted about the team. (STLToday)
We like to pick on the minute details, which can sound overly negative even when we don’t mean it. At least the Blues are winning more than not. Dallas is not and they have serious problems that, from their perspective, were summed up by last night’s performance. (Blackout Dallas)
The NHL appears to be in good hands with the amount of players playing right out of the draft and Connor McDavid heating things up. Those ranks took a knock last night though as the Jets lost Patrick Laine for the game and maybe more after an unfortunate hit. (NHL)
The Columbus Blue Jackets are good at putting streaks together. After winning 16 straight though, they are now on the wrong end of a streak. (ESPN)
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