The St. Louis Blues had a rough month of March as they continued to battle injuries and added some players back to the team. They finished the month with a record of 5-5-4 with a minus-13 goal differential.
The hardest part of their schedule begins in April when they play a heavy dose of games against the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Minnesota Wild. The time is now for this team to find its game, and it’s time for me to find three stars for March.
Third Star: David Perron
It’s back-to-back appearances for David Perron on the stars of the month articles, as he continues to lead the Blues in points while putting together a great statistical season in this third year back in St. Louis.
He has always been a consistent performer throughout his career, and his best fit as a player has been in the Blues system with head coach Craig Berube. Even when he didn’t play on a line with Ryan O’Reilly this month, he did tally good numbers.
He had 13 points in 14 games in March, six of them being goals with seven assists. He was one of the bright spots in an otherwise average month for the club. He only took two penalties in March – given his interesting track record of taking bad penalties, two is a good number for him. Overall, he has had another All-Star caliber season.
Second Star: Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Tarasenko finally returned to regular-season action after having shoulder surgery in November 2019 – he played a few games in the playoff bubble in 2020, but re-injured the shoulder and had surgery on it again.
I think if he can stay healthy, the goals should come at a rapid pace for him. He’s playing with some new players as well – his chemistry on the power play with Torey Krug should come. He tallied two goals and five assists over 11 games in the month of March.
He has looked good on his line with O’Reilly and Jaden Schwartz – they produced multiple goals in their two-game set with the Anaheim Ducks to end the month. Obviously, his defensive play has lacked, but I’m just happy to see him out there and producing goals. Cheers to a healthy Tarasenko for the Blues.
First Star: Ryan O’Reilly
There isn’t much more you can say about Ryan O’Reilly – he has simply been the best player on the Blues since he was dealt to St. Louis by the Buffalo Sabres. He’s had another terrific season.
Similar to the 2018-19 season, O’Reilly has been the best player on the team in 2020-21. He doesn’t lead the team in points, but he is in the top three and has been the best player in terms of consistent performance in all three zones.
He has scored five goals and nine assists in 14 games in March, while being a plus-5 in the plus-minus category. He’s been flat-out elite in all three zones, as he usually is. He absolutely deserves to be the first star of the month.
The bottom line for the Blues in April is to just win games – I know it seems like an obvious thing to say, but they are in a rough spot in the Honda West standings right now. They have a tough schedule coming up – they have to dig deep and find their game. They can make a similar run to the 2018-19 season. Maybe not winning the Stanley Cup, but at least getting hot going into a postseason run.
I trust that Berube can get team going, but these three players on the list are essential leaders to them being able to find their game. The leadership and skill on this team should not miss the playoffs, so they have to find a way to get in. It will be a massive month of April to come – we’ll see if they can find their game.
