Pros and Cons of the St. Louis Blues in 2023–24: Game 57 at Detroit
Historically, the St. Louis Blues have performed poorly in games that start early. The hope was that they would play the Detroit Red Wings, knowing they needed points to maintain their playoff position.
It was the exact opposite. The Blues didn’t even enter the game until the last eight minutes, and by then, it was pretty much over.
After just 33 seconds, Patrick Kane scored on a one-timer. The Blues defense did not block any passing lanes; instead, they were merely meandering back into their own zone.
After roughly four minutes, St. Louis was behind 2-0. A two-on-one situation resulted from an offensive zone turnover, and Pavel Buchnevich was unable to return in time to assist.
The wheels really started to come off a minute later. On a rush play, Detroit was denied, and Kasperi Kapanen attempted to clear the puck out of the crease. Robby Fabbri’s body was used in the clearing attempt, which ended up in the net for a 3-0 advantage.
In the latter part of the first, St. Louis got a power play, but it was ineffective. The first opportunity Detroit had in those two minutes was a shorthanded breakaway. Oskar Sundqvist did give the Blues a look, but the save wasn’t as difficult as the announcement suggested.
Additionally, the Blues were unable to complete when they received gifts. With a backdoor look and an open net, Brayden Schenn fired off the post.
On the other hand, the Blues’ late penalty cost the Red Wings. During a break, Jordan Binnington unintentionally tripped Alex DeBrincat while challenging another rush play. DeBrincat was left unopposed on the left circle, so he took a few steps toward the net and roofed it to take a 4-0 lead.
St. Louis changed goalie Joel Hofer to start the second half. However, this was merely a change of pace, as the score could have easily been 8 to 0 in Binnington’s absence.
The Blues had a little more energy in the second half, but they did not immediately capitalize on it. They took one shot in the first seven minutes of the middle frame.
At least the Blues penalty kill kept things lively. St. Louis killed off a two-man advantage that the Blues had given the Red Wings.
Finally, St. Louis joined the board. When left alone in the slot, Zachary Bolduc scored his first NHL goal, putting the puck high and to the glove side of the hashmark. It was now 4-1 as a result.
However, that did not really wake up the Blues. About four minutes later, the Red Wings took back their four-goal advantage. Detroit’s strong cycle resulted in a pass that went off JT Compher’s skate and across the top of the crease without being kicked, making the score 5-1.
It was in effect for ninety seconds. Before the half, the score was 6-1 after another failed zone hold resulted in a three-on-two, which DeBrincat completed.
Other than being fortunate, the third was just as bad. Thirteen minutes into the third quarter, the Blues were leading Detroit 7-4, but the Red Wings still had more and better opportunities that they had missed.
The last five minutes saw another power play by St. Louis. Only one more sitter from the crease area escaped their notice.
The final score was 6-1. Not even close, really.
Initial phase
I try not to exaggerate things and dislike recency bias. But if the opening period wasn’t the worst hockey period this season, it ranks among the worst in 2023–2024, for sure.
I don’t usually doubt the team’s effort, but this nonsense of showing up to games late, being unprepared for first periods, and not even seeming like you came to play is absurd. Deal with it; both teams’ start times and routine modifications are the same.
At the beginning of games, you cannot consistently be outplayed; I don’t care if it’s subconscious or whatever. Right now, it almost seems unprofessional.
The players are responsible for this. I don’t care if the coach is a hardass or a player, who they are, or what the game plan is. All that matters is for the players to get out there and move, no matter how loud you yell or how inspirational you are.
For the first ten minutes, no one wanted to skate. The passing was terrible, there was no pushback, and there was no zone time.
And there was no offense at all. Don’t be duped by the eight shots. The Blues didn’t have a shot until eight minutes into the game, and if you’re being generous, maybe one or two of those were dangerous.
Advantage: Bolduc scoring
Bolduc hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire in his two games for the Blues, but he seems fine. As a trial run, this one is really too early to draw firm conclusions from.
Nevertheless, it’s beneficial for a young player to score their first NHL goal at a young age. It offers them a taste of success prior to the league’s difficulties.
There will definitely be cold snaps. There will be times when you can’t hit the broad side of a barn or the puck won’t find you.
Consult Pavel Buchnevich. Even though the player has 22 goals, the media and fans continue to discuss how disappointing his year has been, and with good reason.
The Detroit defense leaving him so wide open in the slot is the only thing that goes against the goal. But the Blues don’t care about that. Their concern is only that their next prospect completed a play that you want the scorers to complete.
Overview: There’s no use breaking this game down into individual cons because it was so bad. It’s just one more illustration of how far this team still needs to go.
The mental state of the Blues, both this current iteration and what we witnessed last season, is my concern. There have been plenty of instances where they perform on par with or better than the elite teams.
That indicates that the Blues have talent and are capable. It’s difficult to understand why they can’t or won’t put it together for extended periods of time.
The coaching change made a difference, but the issues persist. As the Blues triumph, they are performing precisely as Craig Berube had instructed, proving that coaching is not as important as people would have them believe.
In the end, this team can play with and defeat anybody when they show up. They can be just as bad as the league’s worst team when they don’t show up.
In Detroit, we witnessed something more akin to the latter. They simply don’t have anyone on this roster who isn’t wearing goaltender pads who can carry the team on their shoulders, and they didn’t show up for puck drop either.
To be honest, this game is probably 10 or 12-1 if Detroit hits the net and Binnington doesn’t play as well as he did in the first. Hofer was also pretty good, but his effort is more difficult to evaluate because the Red Wings started to miss more shots than they made.
They’ll take the fallout, but the defense wasn’t too bad. When you give up odd-man rushes and breakaways the entire game, turn the puck over near the blue line, and expect forwards who aren’t playing well to get back, you just can’t expect to win.
We’ve already seen how unpredictable this team can be. The next time out, the Blues might look like world beaters, and everyone will be saying that the sky is falling.
There is currently no cause to anticipate any carryover, either favorable or unfavorable. They defeat Edmonton after being humiliated by Toronto. You dominate the Islanders, and then you play Detroit without even putting on your skates.
Up and down, back and forth. In all honesty, this is a team that ought to be in the playoffs, but if they don’t, nobody should be shocked.
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