Just when it looked like the Blues were turning a corner with what had been a struggling offense, they returned to form on Tuesday night, being limited to one goal in a 2-1 loss at lowly Columbus.
After the Blues managed to score a total of six goals in back-to-back home games over the weekend, four of which came on the power play, they turned in an abysmal offensive effort in Ohio. St. Louis' lackluster offense has been a problem for the majority of this season. However, the amazing goaltending that the team has gotten from both Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott had kept the problem under wraps most of the time. The goalie tandem has combined for 11 shutouts this year, which leads the NHL. It's a good thing that the pair are keeping the opposition off of the scoreboard so often, because in four of those 11 games, the Blues still only managed one goal for 1-0 wins.
Even when the Blues are getting fantastic play in the crease, it often leads to problems later as they have found themselves in shootouts which usually have resulted in them being stoned three times and taking the one point. It's only been recently, twice in the past five weeks, that the Blues have managed to win in shootouts and in both of those games, they still scored just once in the breakaway competition. Getting Andy McDonald back could help this phase of their game, as he has been one of their better shootout players for the last few seasons. T.J. Oshie has had some decent success too, going 3-8 on the year.
The biggest problem for the Blues still has to be the power play. It's not just failing to score on the power play, but they're failing to create power play chances for themselves most nights. They only had one opportunity in Columbus and it ended with more than 14 minutes remaining in the first period. The Blues have to start getting more attacking and more buzzing around the net. There have been times this season when they've done that, it simply has to be more consistent. This especially has to be the case on the road, where they'll be playing the majority of their games for the remainder of the season. The Blues only have 10 games left at Scottrade during the regular season, compared to 16 out of town contests.
This team has an offensive punch, it just needs to get focused. David Perron has really turned it on lately. He made a beautiful pass on a shorthanded break to David Backes in Columbus, resulting in the team's only goal and in the four games before that, he scored six goals. Backes and Oshie have been strong on the forecheck as well. It's really Chris Stewart and Patrik Berglund that need to pick it up. Stewart was dropped to the fourth line today in practice, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the Post-Dispatch. Hopefully that will light a fire under him, because if he doesn't get going soon, he might get going out the door as the trade deadline looms.
No comments:
Post a Comment