Posted by After a promising start to the season in Sweden, the Blues have gone 1-3-1 since returning to the States. Following an atrocious loss to the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins (who are, probably, the best team in the league), an assessment of the team probably needs to be made. Not an in-depth, “our season will go down in flames if we don’t…” kind of assessment, but at the very least an examination of problems that have led to this slump. The Blues are still searching for some answers, and so are the fans.
Forgetting to play a full sixty minutes would be a good place to start. In every game, including the two in Stockholm, the Blues have not been able to get a jump out of the gate. The first period is either generally flat, or is spent trying to find footing. I’m not sure if this is due to Andy Murray’s line shuffling – perhaps that first period is spent trying to figure out how to play with the people you’ve been put with that night. Davidson had this to say:
“Once we get our rhythm going, we’re a good hockey team,” Davidson said. “But we’re not getting our rhythm going. We’re being outshot early, we’re taking penalties early, chasing (the opponent) early.”
Well, yeah. That’s been extremely obvious, considering that we have been behind in the first period of every game but 2. The shot totals and goal totals go up significantly past then, but there really isn’t an excuse for the Blues to be skating around trying to figure stuff out for 20 minutes – that’s what the morning skate is for.
What of those goals that need to be coming during the first period – or any time during the game in general? Paul Kariya is holding up his end with 4 goals and 2 assists in the first seven games. Keith Tkachuk also has been producing at a steady clip, leading the team in scoring with 3 goals and 4 assists. Defenseman Erik Johnson is trying single-handedly to reverse the scoring drought that plagued the Blues defensive corps last year, leading the team in seven assists. McDonald 3 goals and 3 assists.
And then it drops off. Our leading goal scorer from last season (who had a team high -20, but I won’t mention th… oh, I did) was Brad Boyes. The guy who scored 33 goals last season so far has just one in the past seven games. Boyes claims that he’s always paranoid that he’s forgotten how to score. Focusing on that paranoia is actually leading to it coming true this year. He seems to be over-thinking every shot, taking too much time to set up, and then completely shooting wide of the net. A common refrain at Game Time during the gameday threads is “Hit the damn net, Brad!” It’s a running joke. But it’s not funny when his lack of goal scoring is possibly costing the team momentum. Pure goalscorers whack it wide of the net – I saw Kovalchuk do it a couple of times last night. But Kovy’s still tied with the league lead in goals. Why? He hits the net more than he shoots wide. It’s really not complicated. He doesn’t let the times he misses the net get to him – he re-focuses and sets up the next play. Boyes seems to let every single missed shot weigh on him more and more, until he’s just firing pucks, hoping that they go in. The issue is that a puck fired wide doesn’t create a scoring chance. A puck fired on goal that creates a rebound does.
Defense is currently cycling between Petro and Strachan, biding time for Brewer to get back. Aside from Sydor’s poor play Tuesday, they’re not bad. Nothing amazing, but they’re still ok. Cam’s doing fine as our enforcer (even though King apparently is back). Goaltending is solid, though I can’t help but shake the fact that we pretty much have a 1A and 1B. The major malfunction here is consistency in offense – both in set up and in execution. I don’t know if it needs to take time to work itself out, but personally I think that seven games is more than enough.
Some Other Articles That You May Enjoy:
The Real Home Opener is Here.
St Louis Blues
Quick Introduction…
Sharks-Blues Game Preview
Can the Blues go back to Sweden?
Let’s see if we can start playing…
We hope you enjoyed this post. As always, leaving a comment below is both appreciated and encouraged. Thanks!
