The St. Louis Blues had an up-and-down slate of games last week. They played well in spurts, but overall it wasn’t a good week. There are some subtle changes that should be made with this lineup, but I’m afraid the team isn’t willing to make those moves.
The schedule only gets more difficult from this point to the end of the calendar year. The Florida trip was the start of a gauntlet for the Blues. They have to find more consistency throughout the next few weeks, but I wouldn’t bet on it with their complete lack of consistency this season so far.
Blues’ Winning Streaked Snapped at 7 Games
The Blues started the week with a win over the Anaheim Ducks. They won 3-1 despite not playing as well as they should have. Acciari scored early in the game, but their offensive production was stagnant for a while. It was a 1-1 game until late in the second period when Justin Faulk scored the game-winner from Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou on the power play. This game got the streak to seven games, but it ended with authority in their next contest, as they got smoked by the Buffalo Sabres, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back. The final score in that game was 6-2 Sabres, as they scored three goals in the second period after the Blues made it a 1-1 game.
Related: Blues Owe Winning Streak to 4th Liner Noel Acciari
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Things got worse against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as the Blues allowed three goals in the first eight minutes of the game. The Lightning took it to them, and I wouldn’t blame Jordan Binnington for the loss. It was another game where the defensive coverage was brutal, thus hanging the goaltender out to dry. As for the game against the Florida Panthers, winning it may have saved the Blues’ season. They played a poor first period and trailed 3-0 out of the gate.
The Blues were outshot 17-11 in the first period and 16-6 in the second. The Panthers led 4-1 after two periods, but the Blues turned it around with three goals to tie the game in the final 12 minutes of the third. It started with O’Reilly scoring, then Kyrou and Vladimir Tarasenko followed that up with goals of their own. The overtime winner scored by Kyrou was a breakout sprung by a glorious Torey Krug stretch pass. Don’t look now, but Kyrou is up to 18 points in 21 games after a rough start to the season. After the comeback win in Florida, the Blues finished the week with a surprising 2-2 record.
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