The St. Louis Blues welcomed former teammates in goaltender Jake Allen and forward Mike Hoffman back to the Enterprise Center when the Blues took on the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night. St. Louis looked to snap a three-game losing streak, while Montreal hoped to build off a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The final buzzer sounded and the result did not favor the home team, which can only be described as a melt-down of epic proportions by the Blues.
Kyrou Finds Scoring Touch
After struggling to find his scoring touch over the last four games, Blues forward Jordan Kyrou logged two of his team’s first three goals of the game. Fans have been critical of him after receiving an eight-year, $65 million contract extension and scoring only one goal through his first six games of the season. His first goal was a fluttering puck that he deflected and was originally credited to Brayden Schenn but was switched to Kyrou before the start of the second period.
Kyrou extended the lead over Montreal on a power play goal that needed only seven seconds on the man advantage. His goal was the last the Blues mustered up before allowing five unanswered goals. Three of the goals were scored over 4:50 in the second period, and the final two were scored in 40 seconds in the third period. As they look to break out of their four-game slump, they will look to players like Kyrou reclaim his success from the 2021-22 season to help dig themselves out of the hole.
Schenn Continues Dominant Start to Season
After playing only 62 games last season, Blues forward Brayden Schenn has put an exclamation mark on the start of his season, producing two goals and nine points in his first seven games of the season. His performance against the Canadiens resulted in a team-high six hits while receiving only 17:38 of ice time, his second-fewest of the young season.
Blues Mistakes Lead to Power Play Goals
Heading into the game, the Blues’ penalty kill ranked fifth in the NHL at 92.3%, while Montreal’s power play only scored one goal on 24 chances. Montreal flexed their offensive talents by converting two of three power play opportunities, both coming during a second-period goal surge by forwards Cole Caufield and Jura Slafkovsky, taking their first lead of the game and closing out the period up 4-3.
Related: 5 Observations From the Blues’ First 5 Games
Reviewing the plays and goals scored by Montreal showed a clear level of mistakes made by veteran players. Their first goal scored by forward Nick Suzuki stemmed from a turnover play by Blues defenseman Nick Leddy. Montreal’s third goal was due to a hooking call on Ivan Barbashev. Blues defenseman Colton Parayko was quickly called for a tripping penalty that resulted in Caufield’s second goal of the night and the Canadiens’ fourth goal. A turnover by defenseman Justin Faulk, along with poor coverage by Leddy, led to Christian Dvorak’s first goal. Finally, a turnover by Schenn and Parayko’s net-front coverage produced Dvorak’s second goal.
When asked about his team’s performance and mistakes, Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko said: “It’s unacceptable to play like this. We have some time before next game to figure out and we have to play better at home…You seen the game. We can’t play like this. I don’t see the reason to find issues right now. It’s unacceptable and we should fix it.” He appeared frustrated but optimistic when asked how the team fixes their mistakes moving forward: “Working on our mistakes. Stay close as a team. This is a long season. We cannot only go up every time we win a game. As long as we stay together as a group, I think we’ll be fine.”
Blues Missing Shots and Opportunities
When the final buzzer sounded and the game came to a close, the Blues officially recorded 14 missed shots, including several open net opportunities that could have tied or won the game. After the game, Blues head coach Craig Berube said: “We missed four empty nets tonight. I don’t know how many times we went down, where we have a real good shooting opportunity and we miss the net. Maybe I’ll tell you tomorrow when I look at it.”
The game concluded with the Canadiens totaling 10 puck giveaways and multiple opportunities for the Blues to score. However, in what was a very loose, back-and-forth game that had the feeling of an NHL23 game, the team continuously failed to seize opportunities, force passes, and create scoring chances that were not there. The Blues will look to its veterans first to correct their mistakes moving forward and capitalize on opportunities to break the losing streak.
Fourth Line Played Like Blues’ Top Line
In their attempt to scrape and claw their way back into the game, the team’s fourth line featuring Noel Acciari, Alexei Toropchenko, and Tyler Pitlick was deployed to provide any spark they could. Earlier in the game, Acciari and Pitlick, along with Buchnevich, produced a rebound goal that reclaimed the lead.
Though the fourth line did not produce the level of offense their team ultimately needed to help push them to a victory, they showed tremendous strides in helping to collectively score four goals and produce a multitude of scoring opportunities. One of the club’s best features in the past has been the depth at the forward position and its ability to produce and prevent goal-scoring from all four lines. While it is still early in the season, the Blues have limited chances to capitalize and secure victories in games that should have been won. The Blues will look to break the losing streak in their second game of a three-game homestand on Monday against the Los Angeles Kings.
