The St. Louis Blues have had a rough last three games, losing all of them. It began with their game against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 21, where they were pushed to overtime and lost 2-1. Then, they were blown away by the Utah Mammoth 7-4 on Oct. 2. They put the cherry on top by blowing a 4-0 lead to the Detroit Red Wings to lose 6-4 on Oct. 25. To put it plain and simple, the Blues are back to their losing ways they’ve worked so desperately hard to avoid. Let’s review where those major flaws show over the last three games.
Leaving Jordan Binnington Hanging to Dry on a Line
Jordan Binnington is not a bad goaltender, but the Blues’ defensive flaws make him look like one. In two of their last three games, Binnington had a sub .900 save percentage (SV%) and allowed three or more goals. In his past three starts, he has an .863 SV% and a 3.48 goals against average. The numbers would have been much worse if he hadn’t had a good game against the Kings in that 2-1 overtime loss.
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In those three games combined, Binnington faced 73 shots, and the pressure he’s facing is evident in the Blues’ goals allowed (15) being in the league’s top five in their last three games. Frankly, it was embarrassing when the Blues’ defense let the Red Wings walk right into their zone and score six unanswered goals to tie the game, secure the lead, and win.
Something has to change defensively because the Blues are already on the verge of exhausting their best goaltender, and we’re less than a month into the season. They aren’t a bad team at protecting the puck; they have the lowest number of giveaways this season (109). The problem is on the penalty kill, on which they are near the basement in penalty-kill percentage (72.0 percent). Once they go on the penalty kill they flat out fall apart and that’s where and Binnington get dinged the most.
This season is supposed to be special for Binnington, as he could be called to the Canadian Olympic team and become their starter, but his team leaving him hanging out to dry is not looking good for him.
Blues’ Goals For to Goals Against Ratio Is Not So Good
In the last three games, the Blues scored nine goals, failing to make up for the goals allowed. The ratio of goals for to goals against is not good, and if they are going to allow a lot of goals, they have to be able to compensate by scoring more. Offensively, the power play has been the only well-functioning part of their game over their last three games, ranking top five in efficiency (40 percent).
Another flaw in their offensive production over the last three has been the lack of production from some of their best forwards. Jake Neighbours, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jordan Kyrou are the only exceptions, as they had one or more goals in their last three. Outside of those three, there has been no sign of Brayden Schenn and Jimmy Snuggerud. The Blues don’t have Robert Thomas in the lineup after he suffered an upper-body injury in the loss to the Red Wings, which will set them back more offensively. However, before that injury, Thomas was producing nicely over his last three games.
Defensemen like Justin Faulk — who scored the lone goal in the overtime loss to the Kings — can help, but at least five of their six top forwards need to pick it up in the goal-scoring department. They cannot leave it to their bottom-six forwards or defensemen alone. If the top six can get going, the Blues can be an offensive powerhouse.
In the grand scheme, taking fewer penalties and being more aggressive on the penalty kill are necessary to get out of their defensive slump and give Binnington a break. They have many forwards who can be a collaborative scoring threat, and once they get some secondary scoring, the Blues have a good shot at winning more games. The Blues need to correct the flaws and faults from the past three contests going into their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday (Oct. 27).
