St. Louis has played five of their 82 regular season games thus far and they find themselves with eight points and a (4-1-0) record. That’s definitely a record to be proud of and one to inspire the team to continue to build on their three-game winning streak.
As with anything, though, there are good things and there are bad things that they’ve experienced through even just the first five games of the season.
The Bad
First off St. Louis has had their fair share of injuries during the first week or so of the season losing Robby Fabbri to a concussion and losing Kevin Shattenkirk to a lower body injury. The Blues also moved Patrik Berglund to long-term IR. Injuries are part of the physical game of hockey, but St. Louis has to try their best to stay healthy in order to find success.
Secondly, the Blues have to be able to hold onto their leads with more confidence. In the third game of the season against the Calgary Flames St. Louis found themselves down a goal going into the first intermission. They then countered a sub par first period with a three-goal display in the second, giving them a 4-2 advantage. Calgary then scored a mere 1:42 into the third period to make it a one-goal game and giving them a legitimate chance to tie it up.
The Blues have to be able to protect leads and not just sit back trying to have time pass by. Establishing leads is good, but almost giving them up due to lack of effort isn’t.
The Good
On the more positive outlook the Blues have also come back from giving up the first goal to take the win and the two points along with it. That resiliency will undoubtedly help them moving forward and it’s also a sign of how the team can regroup after giving up the game’s first goal.
Offense in and of itself has been a positive for the Blues as they’ve scored three or more goals in each of their first five games, with four goals being scored in their last three. This sample of the season thus far proves that the idea that the NHL is a ‘first to three goals wins’ league may not be the case this year.
Overall
The season will have its ups and downs, but if the Blues can keep up their scoring and not sit back in the third period when they’ve established leads, they should find even more success in the regular season.
What do you think is the best and the worst thing the Blues have done through their first five games? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Allison Scott is currently pursuing a journalism degree at the University of Missouri. She is passionate about the NHL and is a fan of both the St. Louis Blues and her hometown Dallas Stars. More articles by Allison can be found on Blackout Dallas where she covers the Stars. Follow Allison on twitter for more hockey and random tweets! @allisonnnscott
