The St. Louis Blues have officially kicked off their 2023-24 season playing in two games while claiming three of the four points available to them. With a few days off between their second and third game of the season, let’s look at the past week and all of the news and rumors surrounding the team.
Tyler Tucker Opens Scoring on 2023-24 Season
The Blues opened the season on the road against the Dallas Stars. The first goal of the season came from an unlikely source as defenseman Tyler Tucker was the first to light the lamp.
The Blues defenseman, an unlikely guess to open the scoring on the season, may have not been so unlikely according to a few of his teammates. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Tucker was drafted by the Blues 200th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and has proven his worth to the organization working hard to make his way to the NHL. During the 2022-23 season, he scored one goal and four points through 26 NHL games, and three goals and 21 points through 41 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Blues’ Offense Slow to Start Season
To say the Blues are off to a slow start offensively is an understatement. According to Natural Stat Trick, the team has played 109:48 of even-strength play and compiled 44 shots to 58 shots against. Through the opening two games’ 130 minutes of play, the Blues have registered 49 total shots in all situations, and only two shots on goal while on the power play. The opposition has, meanwhile, had their fair share of opportunities recording 65 total shots in all situations. To date, St. Louis is registering one of the fewest total shots on goal per game (24.5) in the NHL and a combined team shooting percentage of 4.1 percent.
Penalty Kill Standing Strong
Despite the lackluster start to the club’s offense, St. Louis’ penalty kill is currently standing strong surrendering only one goal on five opportunities. After taking four penalties in the opening game of the season against the Dallas Stars, the Blues were only called for one penalty, a bench minor of too many men on the ice, against the Seattle Kraken during the team’s home opener.
After a below-average 2022-23 campaign, the Blues needed to turn around their special teams, especially on the PK that finished with a 72.35 percent success rate. One of the biggest contributing factors this season has come from the return of former Blue Oskar Sundqvist who is currently averaging 1:46 time on ice per game while on the PK.
Binnington Standing Tall Through First Two Games
Blues starting goaltender Jordan Binnington has been “incredible” and “excellent” according to a few of his teammates to start the season. Appearing in both games of the season, the 30-year-old has been stellar for his club stopping 63 of 65 shots against, with a 0.92 goals-against average (GAA), and a .969 save percentage (SV%).
While the goaltender has been sharp early on, he has also benefitted from a better defense in front of him. Through the first two games, the Blues have blocked 35 total shots with defensemen Justin Faulk (eight) and Colton Parakyo (seven) leading the way. Despite the number of blocked shots in front of him, Binnington has come up with multiple game-saving saves when the situation has called for him to answer.
Injury Report
The Blues, unfortunately, suffered their first injury of the season on Saturday (Oct. 14) against the Kraken as forward Pavel Buchnevich exited the game during the first period with an upper-body injury after only playing 5:27 of the game.
While the length of the injury is still unclear, Blues head coach Craig Berube did state that Buchnevich’s head can be ruled out as a part of the currently listed “upper-body” injury. After the team practiced on Sunday morning, Berube said that though Buchnevich did miss practice, he was expecting to find out more information later in the day.
“I’ll know more later today. He’ll get looked at later today. He feels not bad. That’s a good sign today the way he feels. Hopefully, I’m optimistic with the way it turns out.”
The Blues will continue their three-game homestand on Thursday, Oct. 19 against the Arizona Coyotes at 7 p.m. CST.
