The peaks and valleys of a team during a long regular season feature a mix of struggle and triumph in the National Hockey League. After being beset by injuries to key players early in the campaign, the Blues are now able to show they belong among the League’s elite hockey teams. This comes after a start which took out six top forwards for extended periods of time and an All-Star defenseman.
The season began with an injury to Patrik Berglund, who remains out until after the first of the year. Then after opening the season with a home victory against Edmonton, Robby Fabbri went out with a concussion in the second game of the season in Minnesota. In the next game against Calgary, Kevin Shattenkirk left early in the first period of the victory against Calgary with a lower-body injury.
Two games later in Vancouver, Paul Stastny was lost late in the Vancouver win with what turned out to be a broken right foot. Adding to the misery, Jaden Schwartz joined the infirmary with a broken left ankle suffered at a practice. He is still out, until the end of January, when he will be re-evaluated. Then NHL Leading sniper, Vladimir Tarasenko missed a few games.
In the last three games, the Blues have come from behind on the road in Winnipeg to win 4-3 on Tuesday night before returning home to win 2-1 after trailing late against Nashville. In Saturday’s win at home against Calgary, St. Louis shot out to a 2-0 lead before securing victory 3-2. The Blues have pulled through injury issues, getting contributions from key sources, some unlikely, to remain among the top teams.
In goal, Jake Allen has emerged as the team’s starting goalie. After last season’s playoff dispatching at the hand of the Minnesota Wild in six games, this was something that was hope for, but not clear. Allen has appeared in 25 of the club’s 34 games, getting the start in 24 of them.
He has 15 wins, tied for fourth overall, sports a 2.06 goals against average (5th overall), has built a save percentage of 0.927 (6th overall) and is second in shutouts with 4, good for second behind Chicago’s Corey Crawford with 5. Allen’s 15-7-2 record has been the stabilizing force in the cage where his spectacular saves have dotted the highlight reels throughout the year. When he needs a night off, Brian Elliott has been nearly as good with a 5-3-2, 2.40 goals against average and 0.913 save percentage.
As the defense has tightened up, a rookie back liner has been part of the subject matter involving the Calder Trophy, awarded to the top rookie. Colton Parayko made the team out of camp and proceeded to be a stabilizing force of toughness, stability and even scoring. He leads all rookie defensemen with 6 goals and 15 points in 32 games, propelled by his lethal shot and vision from the blue line. He has three game-winning goals while amassing an average ice time of 18:51.
Up front, Vladimir Tarasenko has led the way with 21 goals, two behind Dallas’ Jamie Benn and tied with Chicago’s Patrick Kane. He leads the team in points with 36 and has 3 game–winners, all while logging an average of 19:14 of ice time per game. He is a threat to every opposing team, but is finding ways to penetrate opposing nets, even with increasing coverage from teams.
Alex Steen continues to be a leader on the score sheet for St. Louis and has appeared in every game. His 11 goals are good for second overall on the team and he has 32 points while averaging 20:14 of ice time. After a rough start, David Backes has lit the lamp and vaulted to 3rd in team scoring with 10 goals. In the last seven games, he has 4 goals and 7 points, including points in 6 of the last seven games.
Overall, the Blues are second in the Central Division and Western Conference, 6 points behind the Dallas Stars who have one game in hand. They are 3rd overall in the 30-team NHL where Washington leads with a 24-7-2 record and 50 points.
Drilling down to find how the Blues have remained strong despite so many injuries over extended periods of time, defense is the one word which describes the origin.
Keeping shots low has helped as they rank 6th with allowing 28.3 shots per game. But they also take a lot of shots to with an average 30.2 per game and a 10th place slot. They lead the NHL in penalty-killing with an 87.8% survival rate. They power place is respectable at 7th overall with a 20.8% conversion rate.
The Blues travel to Philadelphia and Boston the next two games before the Christmas break. They then begin a home-and-home weekend with the Stars opening in St. Louis on Saturday the 26th before heading to Dallas for a game on Sunday the 27th. St. Louis closes out 2015 with two home games, Nashville on Tuesday the 29th and Minnesota on New Year’s Eve.
Follow me on Twitter at DMMORRELL and you can contact me at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com
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