Over their last five games, the St. Louis Blues are 1-4-0. They have stayed afloat at sixth in the Central Division but fell to 13th in the Western Conference. Many things are to blame for their lackluster play recently, but injuries may be the number-one issue that is the root of all of their problems.
The first one was the loss of defenseman Torey Krug, who was placed on injured reserve (IR) after requiring ankle surgery in September for an injury he was diagnosed with in July. Then the Blues received more bad news as defenseman Nick Leddy was put on IR on Oct. 22 for a lower-body injury, and finally, star forward Robert Thomas suffered a broken ankle on Oct. 22 against the Winnipeg Jets with an expected return for Dec. 5; however, none of these returns are guaranteed.
When it looked like the Blues’ injury plague was halted, they received more bad news on Oct. 29 after their game against the Ottawa Senators: Mathieu Joseph was out, and Kasperi Kapanen was day-to-day. Let’s look at what this has done to the Blues’ lineup over the last few games since the injuries arose.
Blues Are Struggling to Avoid Trailing in Games
The Blues have had many problems keeping the puck out of their net since the beginning of the season, trailing by one or more goals eight times in their last 10 games. They have a 3-4-0 record when trailing first as well, and compared to their 2-2-0 record when scoring first, it is not looking so good when they’ve struggled to keep up with the number of goals given up in their last nine games.
Related: Blues Prospect Report: Snuggerud, Korotky, Dvorsky & More
This problem could be caused by injury issues that have weakened their defensive lineup; Leddy or Krug aren’t available to help them solidify their own zone and prevent other teams from scoring first. While the Blues rank 12th-worst in goals against (36) this season, they also rank 25th in goals for (28), meaning, on the other hand, they are not scoring enough to surpass the number of goals they allow. The offensive side is now without Thomas on their top lines, and it’s putting a lot of pressure on them to rely on players like Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours, who are still trying to find their leadership roles within the club.
To make matters worse, the loss of Thomas will not help their already struggling power play, which has scored four goals on 26 opportunities. The Blues’ power play ranks 23rd in the league and needs it to flourish to improve their goal-scoring.
More Defensive Injuries Causing More Defensive Breakdowns
Once again, with the loss of Krug and Leddy, the Blues don’t have much to work with defensively despite loading up on depth over the offseason and haven’t been able to find a solution to their defensive issues. This has also hit their penalty-killing units and will most likely get worse—currently, the Blues rank 25th on the penalty kill (73.3 percent).
The defensive struggles have also affected their goaltending, with a struggling Jordan Binnington and a promising Joel Hofer looking to push for the starting position. After their 8-1 defeat against the Senators on Oct. 29, it is not looking that good for goaltenders at the moment, and it is the final straw for this team to figure out what is going wrong offensively and defensively.
Binnington is 1-4-0 in his last five games, followed by a relief appearance against the Senators, with a .894 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.97 goals-against average (GAA), while Hofer has a 3-1-0 record with a .916 SV%, a 3.13 GAA, and a shutout in his last four. It’s evident here that the Blues missing their most crucial defensive players is hurting their goaltending, which was great to start the season, especially with Hofer.
The Plan of Action to Avoid Further Damage
It looks like the Blues are out of options; however, this was similar to last season when they started with a record of 5-4-1 and were missing the key pieces required to put points on the board, followed by weak defensive play. This is head coach Drew Bannister’s first full-season opportunity as an NHL coach, getting the Blues to figure out a way to win with whatever they have left that has not been burdened by injury.
The good news is that the Blues still have some of their core stars and key role players like Colton Parayko, Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, Justin Faulk, Neighbours, and Philip Broberg, who have stood out the most amongst the entire roster, both offensively and defensively. The bad news is that they have to overwork those players to fill in the gaps from injuries. Hopefully, within the next few games, they will have the right amount of depth, and it’s also times like this when teams find great players who step up out of nowhere.
