St. Louis Blues: NHL Central Weekly Review (3rd Week of October)
The St. Louis Blues didn’t get going this week like the prior one. There was much more to be disappointed about, but they still look like a team that holds its own destiny.
The St. Louis Blues did not have as good a week as they did to open the season. Starting the year undefeated will do that though.
The only disappointing thing, outside of the cold, hard results, is the Blues could actually still be undefeated. A case could even be made they should be undefeated.
St. Louis controlled most of the game despite being outshot by Vancouver. You could tell that the Blues were out of sorts due to the injuries sustained in the Rangers game the previous week.
Still, the Blues struck first in Vancouver and had the lead until the dying minutes of regulation. The Blues failute to clear the zone led to the tying goal and then the Canucks would take it in overtime.
The same thing happened in Edmonton a few nights later. The Blues again dominated proceedings, including the shots this time, but got no points out of it.
After a Nail Yakupov goal opened things up for the Blues, it was all downhill. The Oilers tied it on a deflection, mere moments before Jake Allen got run over. Then the defense lost their way for the go-ahead goal and the Oilers would add an empty netter to cap it off.
Thankfully, the Blues did not come home empty handed. A wild night in Calgary saw the Blues take all the points from that contest, though it was much closer than it ever should have been.
David Perron scored a hat trick led the Blues to six goals. They would need almost all of them as a 5-2 lead evaporated due to poor goaltending and sloppy play.
Nevertheless, the Blues finished the week 1-1-1. They should have won in Vancouver and could have won in Edmonton.
So, right now the Blues are actually their own enemy. For all the talk of converting styles or players not being in the lineup, St. Louis has played well enough to win all six games.
Now, they just have to clean up those things that prevented them from starting two weeks undefeated. No easy task, but that’s why they all get paid.
Blues Weekly Stats
Alexander Steen – 1G 2A 3P
Paul Stastny – 1G 0A 1P
Nail Yakupov – 1G 1A 2P
Robby Fabbri – 0G 1A 1P
Vladimir Tarasenko – 1G 1A 2P
David Perron – 3G 1A 4P
Patrik Berglund – 1G 0A 1P
Scottie Upshall – 0G 1A 1P
Dmitirj Jaskin – 0G 1A 1P
Jaden Schwartz – 0G 1A 1P
Kevin Shattenkirk – 0G 1A 1P
Alex Pietrangelo – 0G 2A 2P
Jay Bouwmeester – 0G 1A 1P
Joel Edmundson – 0G 1A 1P
Jake Allen – 67 saves/75 shots, .893 save percentage, 2.66 goals against
View from the Midwest Division Recap
Looking Forward
After being on the road all of last week, the Blues will sleep in their beds and eat home cooking all of this week. Things don’t get much easier in terms of opponents, but they all have their issues as well.
The Blues open up the week on Tuesday against the last team they just saw. It’s the Calgary Flames coming to town, but we still have no idea if Brian Elliott will play or not since the game will be the second of a back-to-back for Calgary.
St. Louis just unleashed their offense on Calgary and had it handed right back to them. No doubt, Ken Hitchcock will want a lower scoring game this time around.
The Blues then face their old rival, the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, October 27. After much talk of this being the year they miss the playoffs, the Red Wings are off to a 4-2-0 start. Fortunately, all their losses have been on the road, so perhaps the Blues will take advantage.
Lastly, the Note takes on the Kings on Saturday, October 29. Fortunately for the Blues, they do not have to see perennial thorn in their side Jonathan Quick. Quick is out for several months with a groin injury. Still, the Kings won two in a row to end last week, so cannot be taken lightly.
The Blues are regaining their health, with only Jori Lehtera still out. That bodes well for them as they try to solidify some line combinations.
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Now, they need to focus on cutting out the turnovers and finding a bit more consistency with the powerplay. Too much feast or famine with that unit right now.
The week is set up for the Blues to do well. Last week was too and it did not turn out so well, so the team needs to keep the focus we saw from opening week.
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