ST LOOUIS – Last season, the St. Louis Blues ended a promising campaign with four straight losses to the then defending Champion Chicago Blackhawks. Adding to the pain, the opening-round playoff series began with two home victories with momentum swung the way of the note before surrendering the series to Chicago in a week’s time.
Off-season changes were needed again. Along with a continued commitment to a disciplined, defensive system, increased scoring was added, but as the current campaign has played out, some players from last season are emerging to provide a potent jolt to the St. Louis attack.
Third-year sniper Vladimir Tarasenko leads the way with 22 goals, one more than he netted in 64 games last season. Along with Jaden Schwartz (13 goals) and newcomer Jori Lehtera (9 goals), St. Louis’ top line has accounted for 35% of the team’s goals.
Vladimir Tarasenko – image courtesy of NHL
While Schwartz has been an emerging threat for several years with a hockey I.Q. among the league’s top players, Lehtera is enjoying his first season in the NHL. Lehtera has rekindled the magic he enjoyed with Tarasenko when both were line mates during the 2011-12 season with Sibir Novosibirsk of the KHL.
Veteran players are also contributing, even as the newer threats lead the scoring parade. Mainstay and Captain David Backes is second in goals scored with 14. He has 5 goals in his last two games including 4 in a 6-0 win over Arizona. Last year’s team leader in scoring, Alex Steen, has 11 goals, the same number as American Olympic star T.J. Oshie has netted. In his last five games, Oshie has 6 goals and 11 points.
Youngster Dmitrj Jaskin has netted 4 goals in just 16 games, one less than disappointing veteran Patrik Berglund, who armed with a new contract in the off-season, continues to waste his natural size and strength when it is needed most. Free agent acquisition Paul Stastny, while in the middle of the pack in team scoring has recently surged in scoring and has 9 goals in 33 games, but has goals in the last two wins and 9 points in his last five games. He is expected to contribute more down the stretch.
For the first time since December 2000, St. Louis scored 6 or more goals in a game their last three games, all victories in San Jose (7-2) and Arizona (6-0) and at home Thursday night (7-2). In the Arizona game, Backes scored 4 goals, a first for any NHL player this season.
As an added bonus, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has contributed to the attack scoring 9 goals and 29 assists with a +8 rating. The veteran will most certainly shatter his numbers from last year when he registered 10 goals and 35 assists and +1 rating.
Kevin Shattenkirk
Like Shattenkirk, Alex Pietrangelo continues to play significant minutes while contributing offensively in similar fashion as he did in his best season last year. He has 4 goals and 19 assists while sitting with a team-worst -7 rating, an uncharacteristic metric for the potent backliner.
As a team, St. Louis is scoring 3.12 goals per game, good for fourth in the league. Only the New York Rangers (3.13), Toronto Maple Leafs (3.15) and Tampa Bay Lighting (3.26) have scored more. Last year, the Blues scored 2.92 per game, 7th overall. That the club is shooting more this season (31.4 vs. 29.3 shots per game) has to account for some of the improvement.
The offensive output is a welcome change for a team who has long-relied on defensive discipline to win games. That end of the ice continues to perform respectably, even with a revolving goalie situation due to injuries to veteran Brian Elliott and inconsistent play from youngster Jake Allen.
Future HOFer Martin Brodeur has helped stabilize the play in net when Brian Elliott went to down with a left knee injury. Still, there is needed improvement in the backstop position. The team continues to carry three goaltenders as Brian Elliott continues to get work after having been out for over a month. Of the three goaltenders, Elliott is the only one with a goals against average below 2.00 (1.81) and save percentage above 0.900 (0.933). The balance of the year will be interesting for the three goaltenders as either Allen or Brodeur will have to emerge as the regular back-up.
This season, the Blues are allowing 2.42 goals a game, good for 8th, but a far cry from where they were last season when they allowed 2.29 goals per game, a 3rd place finish. While the club is allowing just more than one shot per game more than last season (27.6 vs. 26.4), it seems the quality of the goaltending is slightly less than in the previous campaign.
A bigger impact in the team’s overall results, though, has been the role special teams have played. Last season, the Blues had a respectable power play converting 19.8% if the time. This season, St. Louis is the league’s top team with the man advantage, converting 26.4% of the time with 38 power play goals.
It is the shorthanded situation which is cause for concern. Last season, the Blues held the 2nd best survival rate when shorthanded with a 85.7% kill rate. This season, St. Louis ranks 18th in the league with a 79.9% survival rate. This side of the St. Louis game must improve if it is to challenge the top teams.
With a 25-13-3 record with 51 points, the current Blues are slightly off last year’s pace at the same point when they delivered a record of 29-7-5 for 63 points. They are 3rd in the division, 4th in the Western Conference and 8th overall.
St. Louis is cursed by being in the league’s most challenging conference. They are aligned with Chicago and top-ranked Nashville in the Central Division. Surviving without home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs will be difficult, even despite last year’s result after having the better seed than their opponent.
As the second half of the season begins, St. Louis enjoys three weeks and five games at home, a stretch which will include the All-Star break in Columbus, Ohio. Tarasenko and Shattenkirk will certainly be honored with selections to the mid-season classic.
In those give games, Carolina, Edmonton, Detroit, Toronto and Colorado come to town. It is a string of games St. Louis might more easily add to their point total and gain momentum as the home stretch arrives. At least 7 of 10 possible points in these games will be needed to achieve success as the Blues continue to falter against the Conference’s heavyweights.
Among Chicago, Nashville, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose, St. Louis is 6-5-2. Against the rest of the League, the Blues are 19-8-1. St. Louis will have to learn the beat the NHL’s top teams if they are to be a contender for the Stanley Cup.
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