St. Louis Blues: Why So Hard To Play With Constant Effort?
The St. Louis Blues took down the San Jose Sharks for the second time in 2016-17. Their game was constant and complete. That begs the question of why we can’t see that more often.
The St. Louis Blues showed up against the San Jose Sharks in their second meeting – the St. Louis Blues we know they can be. Their game was so thorough that it raises just as many questions as it answered.
Part of me hates being that guy. As a fan I should just be happy the team won and did so in dominating fashion.
Those types of games have not come as often this season so we should all soak it up right? We should, but it also begs the question of why we don’t see this side of the Blues more often.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this game thoroughly. The Blues had a solid defensive start to the game and kept it scoreless.
Then they got some good performances in the second period. Goals from Colton Parayko and David Perron.
Parayko had already broken his goalless streak, but it was great to see him score off a slap shot. Perron had gone cold a little bit, so it was nice to see him score a gritty goal in close to the net.
That’s what happens when you give that extra little bit of effort. The Blues got rewarded all night long for just that extra little bit they put in.
Jori Lehtera of all people scored a goal in a completely un-Lehtera like way. He was standing in front of the net from a long shot and got a fantastic tip-in goal. Alexander Steen kept pace with another empty net goal.
Carter Hutton came up big with some very timely saves. You won’t likely see any of them on the highlight reels as he was simply in good position and made the saves he needed to.
Nevertheless, it was a well earned shutout. Both Hutton and the defense earned the goose egg.
It was not quite the total team performance we saw against the Blackhawks. Or maybe it was and it just did not have the emotional connection that came with the Winter Classic.
However, it was a solid win. The Blues played for each other and looked like a team tired of losing and playing poorly.
Yet, that’s the frustrating part. This is not a team dwelling at the bottom of the league. They are not a squad where these types of performances are an aberration and just getting lucky.
But if that is the case, then why is it so hard for the team to do this consistently? You’re going to lose games and that is fine, but the Blues don’t even look like they care on some nights.
They have looked like they were all sick or would rather be somewhere else. Of course not getting great goaltending has not helped, but the team has not helped their goaltender either on plenty of nights.
It’s just so confusing. This is beyond Jekyll and Hyde. The Blues are more opposite than night and day on some games.
We got to see the Blues we saw from last season and we know exist when they want to put their full effort in. The scary thing is we might see nothing even close during the next game.
The Blues could really use a positive spark. Win or lose, they need another strong effort and let the chips fall where they may.
Fans can accept that. We’ll always take losses hard. It’s what we do.
If the Blues are giving their all and it just is not good enough, we can take that. This team is too good for it not to be good enough on most nights though.
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