Pros/Cons of the St. Louis Blues in Game 53 versus Edmonton, 2023–24
The St. Louis Blues essentially laid an egg against the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road, despite not being shutout. Their first game back from the road trip against the Edmonton Oilers did not make things any easier.
Nevertheless, the Blues scored first despite having a poor start. After a little over ten minutes, Robert Thomas made it 1-0.
Thomas’s initial attempt from the deep slot was unsuccessful, but he immediately tried again. He was discovered by the Blues at the back door, and he scored by banking the puck off the goalie.
The Blues were careless and committed too many penalties after that. To tie it, the Oilers would capitalize.
Jordan Binnington made some excellent saves during a scramble, and then Connor McDavid slapped the puck to the right, finding Leon Draisaitl. To make it 1-1, the sharpshooter slipped past a diving Binnington.
Late in the game, the Blues committed another penalty due to carelessness with the puck. With 27 seconds remaining in the first, the Oilers took the lead despite the fact that they would not score there.
Just over a minute into the second half, Jake Neighbours tied the score, averting what felt like a blowout. The go-ahead goal would also take into account the neighbors.
Neighbors caused himself a nuisance in front at 8:37 of the session before being stopped. He shot it straight back, allowing Torey Krug to score 3-2 after his second of the year.
But the Blues were very dependent on Binnington. Moments before Krug’s goal, the Blues goalie stopped multiple high-quality shots, including a shorthanded breakaway.
Later on in the second frame, the Blues were penalized. The puck popped loose to Jordan Kyrou on the left side of the crease following a scramble in front of the net, and he swept it home for a 4-2 score.
Until very late in the game, the power play remained extremely hot. After a Krug hooking call, the Blues got the penalty kick. They then found Pavel Buchnevich on the left, who made a similar play to Kyrou but without the scramble. The Russian forward tapped it in to make it 5-2 heading into halftime.
The Blues didn’t play particularly badly to start the third, but it did appear as though they were at ease attempting to maintain the lead. But the Oilers were approaching them.
Just over halfway through the third, Edmonton started to chip away at the lead. With less than nine outs, Corey Perry, the annoyance, scored one to make it 5-3. The Blues’ inability to score on a quick five-on-three power play or on a five-on-four play compounded that goal.
Although Neighbors waited himself into trouble and failed to secure a shot, St. Louis also had a late power play and a partial three-on-one during that power play. Nevertheless, a fantastic triple-zone shot into an empty net gave the Blues their three-goal advantage back.
In the end, St. Louis would prevail 6-3.
Advantage: Power play
One could argue that the power play wasn’t good enough statistically. They had eight power plays, scoring on two of them, for a nightly percentage of 25%.
That eight, though, is mostly what looks awful. 1-4 is also 25%, so that’s a respectable evening.
The disappointing part came when, with a 12-second two-man advantage, late in the game, we failed to score on two straight power plays.
After addressing the drawbacks, the main conclusion is that they remained hot. Though it’s surprising that the head coach can’t really make many changes in a season, the Blues power play has flourished. Still, we’ll take it.
An empty net goal doesn’t really matter in a game you win by two goals, so two goals on the man advantage indicates that was the decisive factor.
Advantage: Binnington
The Blues goalie was hit with waves of the game. He had some downtime even though the Blues were good. For the moments when the Oilers were playing well, he needed it.
Binnington recorded 35 saves for the evening. It wasn’t, however, just about the amount.
Too many shots were being allowed by the Blues from high areas. In the first period alone, the Oilers had ten shots from the slot, which is not typically a formula for success.
In the second quarter, Binnington again saved the day for the team. The Blues needed him to make some huge saves, including that breakaway save and two more huge stops on Zach Hyman, even though that was their best period overall.
Cons: Having your first period once more
The first period in Toronto was far worse than this. This isn’t among the Blues’ top five worst opening periods, in my opinion.
The way things turned out, though, was fortunate for the Blues. Eight shots on goal felt generous, and they were badly outshot.
What really kept the Blues in the game was the fact that they scored first. If Edmonton hadn’t been caught off guard by giving up that goal, the Oilers might have really found their rhythm.
It was not really possible to stop the first goal from happening. Had the Blues won a puck battle at center ice or had their entire line come back strongly on the back check, the second goal might have been avoided.
By all means, it’s not just the Blues; the single-digit shots on goal are also becoming somewhat stale.
Synopsis:
This match served as a preview for the Blues in 2023–2024. If they play a strong, cohesive game, they can prevail even when they’re not playing at their best.
Jordan Binnington had to be playing at the highest level for the Blues, and he did. Especially after producing zero against Toronto, they needed some of their big guys to step up, and they did.
Buchnevich, Thomas, Kyrou, and Neighbors all scored goals, which is encouraging. The team had a passable defense.
They’re not being pushed around in front of their net as much, but there’s still a general lack of physicality. Even though the team lost, a good effort was made.
Many will be dissatisfied with the inconsistent gameplay from game to game. That’s not to say I disagree, but we must quit believing that after each setback, everything will get better.
The playoffs are suddenly history after the Blues lose to Columbus. They lose to Toronto, and it’s all because of how difficult their schedule is; they might lose badly the next time out.
Actually, this team has performed admirably against the elite players on a fairly regular basis. The Columbus game was just one in a string of games against inferior opponents that the Blues thought they were better than they actually were. The Toronto game was more of an anomaly.
The Blues are what they are, a competent team with the potential to steal a round should Binnington heat up in the postseason. They demonstrated that against Edmonton, but we’ll have to approach each game as it presents itself because we never know what will happen next.
