DALLAS, TX – Kicking off their season against the Dallas Stars the St. Louis Blues weren’t as bad as many feared, but they weren’t as good as they will need to be either. Promoting the new slogan “Rhythm and Blues”, the team that finished with only 81 points last year and missed the playoffs for only the second time in 12 years looked decidedly out of synch at times.
While veterans like newly-minted captain Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad and big-ticket forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou had their chances, it would be young defenseman Tyler Tucker who scored the Blues’ only regulation time goal.
After having squandered two power plays with zero shots, the Blue appeared to give up a goal with under a minute to go in the first, a problem that plagued them much of last year. After a coach’s challenge and review, the goal came back and both teams went to the lockers knotted at zero.
However, just 18 seconds into the second, the Stars’ Jamie Benn netted his first goal of the season around an off-balance Jordan Binnington. Two and a half minutes later, though, Tyler Tucker snaked the puck through a screen to tie the game.
Coach Craig Berube seemed happy with the 23-year old’s effort. “Tuck played a real good game besides the goal. He moved the puck and made the plays he’s supposed to make.”
Though a majority of the third period saw quick back and forth action, no goals were scored and, after another shotless power play by the Blues, the Stars appeared to take over and set the pace. Dallas missed just wide a couple of times and even rang a shot off the post but their biggest accomplishment was running St. Louis ragged, leaving The Note without any real scoring opportunities and just three shots in the period until the waning seconds of regulation when Thomas missed an open net opportunity with Stars’ goalie Oettinger momentarily out of position.
Berube noted the need for improvement in playing a full 60 minutes, “I think the third period we just laid back too much…When you don’t make plays, and don’t keep attacking, the other team is going to keep coming at you.”
The Blues were aggressive to begin three-on-three overtime which saw limited opportunities by both sides until Kevin Hayes was called for a holding penalty with 42 seconds left to go in OT. With the four on three advantage, Dallas peppered Binnington and the Blues but remained unable to put it away resulting in a shootout.
Jason Robertson was first out of the gate for the Stars and made it look easy as he pulled Binnington out of position and effortlessly deposited the puck in the back of the net.
Brayden Schenn answered with authority for the Blues, and skated straight away at Oettinger, shifting his weight only slightly before scoring. Matt Duchesne followed suit and flipped the puck beneath Binnington’s glove.
Pavel Buchnevich was unable to keep pace with the others and was easily stopped by Oettinger.
Tyler Seguin was likewise stopped, giving the Blues’ Kyrou a chance to tie it up, but he lost control of the puck and skated fecklessly to the corner.
There is no doubt that Oettinger played well, but too few real scoring opportunities, sloppy passing, giveaways, and a failure to pull the trigger at optimum times – all hallmarks of last season’s lackluster effort – often had the Blues look like they were chasing a superior Dallas team.
After the loss, a measured but disappointed Binnington did his best to point out what he saw to be positives. “I felt good…I think we came out and played hard. Played a good team game…The system has been pretty solid and I just got to focus on my job.”
To hear the Blues’ announcers tell, the Blues should be proud. It’s hard to see, coming on the heels of last season, how merely treading water against a powerhouse like Dallas should make them proud. One would think that they have more to prove than that, but, maybe that’s where the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions find themselves five seasons later – treading water until they retool, rebuild, or rediscover a way to win.
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