Now I don't write this to simply tear down my hometown team, but I feel like to be a true fan you must be willing to call your team out on their bullshit just as a real friend does when you're being an idiot. What we saw in the Blue's home opener against the Winnipeg Jets was nothing short of the usual let down we as Blues fan are accustomed to seeing. We picked up some nice players with O'Riley, Bozak, and Maroon this off season and we were all excited to see how the team was coming together. Now I know this is just the first game and we shouldn't jump to TOO many conclusions, but knee jerk reactions are what sports is all about. Here are a few of the things that I took away from the first game of the season.
Is Jake Allen the Problem?
It was 0-1 game going into the 3rd period and the 1 goal that the Jets were able to put in came off a deflection of Colton Parayko's stick past Allen back in the 1st. Allen showed aggressiveness through out the game up until the 3rd period blood bath that would soon follow. A break away during the power play allowed Adam Lowry to put the Jets up 2-0 just 5:51 in the 3rd period. Now... this was allowed after a failed diving stop attempted and although the fact that the Blues allowed this break away to happen, you'd hope that your goalie (who is not no longer splitting time due to the trading away of Carter Hutton) would step up in a crucial moment and make that stop. Allen has shown us in the past he has the ability to make amazing plays and he's also shown us how inconstant he can be. Although the blame is kinda split here an 0-2 deficit is far from a run away game.
Shortly after (64 seconds to be exact) the blues defense allowed 2 Jets to get past them for another quick goal. This right here is part of the reason that I have defended Jake Allen for so long... because the blues defense doesn't. The lack of speed is a major part of what causes the Blues to do so poorly against the Jets. It's not that the Blues don't have speed, we saw their young guns line doing some good things and there were numerous moments in the 2nd period where we controlled the action in the Jets end. However, between the lack of defense in close, the lack of ability to keep up, and the thing that I have wanted to Blues to improve on for the past 5 years is their passing. We have a lot of young guys right now and even in the past the Blue struggle just moving the puck out of their zone and when they do it is usually followed by a dump and chase that only works out half of the time. Endurance, pass accuracy, and urgency in front of the net are things that this team needs to do to and I believe that once they do the goal tending will improve as well. Jake is a guy who can defend well when he knows his team is going to help him get the job done. However, when the team shoots 42 times and can only get 1 shot in the net you have to admit that our goalie isn't the soul reason we lost this game. ( The Pens gave up 6 and still won)
With the players that we added this off season this team needs to learn not only how to help defend, but how to capitalize on scoring chances even if the apposing goal is a freaking animal! (Connor Hellablocks). I feel like in the past when Jake has had a team around him that can get the job done on the other end of the ice he does a fine job at protecting the lead. Not saying the dude has never been the reason we lose a game, but so many people are quick to jump on the goalie for their short comings when there are glaring holes elsewhere in the teams performances.
0-4 on the power play
Out shot the opposing team 42-25 and only come off with 1 goal
57% face off win percentage (a good thing but does it matter if it's not translating into points?)
Sloppy Passing
Struggling to get out of the Defensive zone
Players falling all over the ice
The team's recent history against the Jets (The Jets have won 9 of their last 11 against the Blues and have outscored St. Louis 32-18 in those games)
Let's just hope that the boys in blue take a good look at some of these things from tonight and can hopefully give us something to get excited about again this season...as scary of a thought as that might be.
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