ST LOUIS – What began as a promising final two games of a road trip and a strong start to begin a three-week home schedule has resulted in the equivalent of letting your foot off the gas while travelling on a busy interstate. What happens is that others pass you and the potential for an accident is greater. In the last two games, against lowly Edmonton and recently challenged Detroit, the Blues are showing hints of travelling in the slow lane.
After convincing victories against San Jose (7-2) and Arizona (6-0) on the road, St. Louis returned home and picked up right where they left off. Starting the six-game, home stand, the Blues delivered another 7-2 whack at the Sharks. And then things changed.
My guess is that it involved a quick look at the scheduled. Seeing Carolina, Edmonton, Detroit (having lost their top two goaltenders), lowly Toronto and Colorado before finishing off with Nashville (having just lost their All-Star goaltender through mid-to-late February), might affect a team’s approach.
Against Carolina, St. Louis never led the entire game, trailing 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 before winning in the shootout. The Blues should have gained a bit of a wake-up call despite the win. St. Louis should have dominated the rebuilding Hurricanes. What better place to show the Carolina game was an anomaly than against Edmonton, the league’s last place team.
The Blues outshot the Oilers 12-5 in the first period to take a 2-0 lead and then led 3-0 before coasting and allowing Edmonton to close to 3-1 and 4-2. St. Louis allowed just 15 shots, but still, two got through. For a team that is the lowest of the low, the Blues should have dominated. The team was lifeless the final two periods.
Thursday night against Detroit, the Blues played a relatively dominating first period, outshooting the Red Wings 9-2. Sadly, they could not carry over the momentum into the second period. St. Louis surrendered two goals in the last two minutes of the middle frame, being outshot 14-8. While the Blues climbed back into the game with two goals in the final sixteen minutes to tie Detroit, they allowed an overtime goal with seconds left to lose the game.
To analyze the three-game stretch, the St. Louis power play went 1 for 8 for a 12% conversion rate. The recently league-leading unit was 26.4% successful on the man advantage at the halfway point of the schedule. The powerless power play of the last three games has dropped the Blues to 5th place overall at 24%.
As for the players who need to make a more impactful mark, Patrik Berglund leads the list. At 6’3”, 217 lbs., the seventh-year centerman is logging just more than fifteen minutes a game. He has 6 goals and 9 assists for 15 points, but is a -1, worst among St. Louis forwards playing at least 15 minutes. In the last three games, he has a goal (against Carolina) and is -3. It still puzzles many as to why he was signed to a multi-year deal in the off-season after not delivering much the last two seasons, despite such promise.
Defensively, St. Louis is not getting the results from backliner Alex Pietrangelo it did last season, the first under his new contract. Once mentioned in the Norris Trophy discussion, the Blues’ defensive anchor has contributed 4 goals and 22 assists for 26 points. It is the -2 that is concerning, a 20-point swing in how he finished last season and the beginning of what some believed would be an upward trend. He is on pace for the same amount of goals and assists. In the abbreviated 2012-13 season, Pietrangelo finished even.
The fourth line of Ryan Reaves, Steve Ott and Maxim Lapierre in the middle could play a better defensive game. While opposing players continue to look over the shoulders when the bruising trio steps on the ice, adding a collective 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points is nice. But the aggregate -8 is worse than expected on a team which is third in goal differential at +32. They contribute about 10 minutes a game, but a better defensive focus would go a long way.
Next up are Toronto and Colorado before the All-Star break and a final home games against Nashville post-break. It is a stretch where St. Louis could shake off the string of subpar play and demonstrate the play exhibited before the home stand began.
Among Chicago, Nashville, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose, St. Louis is 6-5-2. Against the rest of the League, the Blues are 21-8-2. The Blues at home are 16-4-2 (7th overall) and a good place to gather points. On the road, though, they are 11-9-2 (15th overall).
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