The Blues and Blackhawks met for the 312th time last night in Chicago in what was expected to be an exciting game. The Blues fell to the Blackhawks in OT at their first meeting back in St.Louis 5-4 after squandering a 2-0 lead. It looked as things were going to be the other way around this time as the Blues fought back from an 0-2 deficit to send the Hawks into their 5th consecutive OT game at 3-3. Alex DeBrincat was able to find the back of the open net to win it 4-3 against Jake Allen who recorded a career record 46 saves on a staggering 50 shots on goal.
Jake Allen is currently 2nd in the NHL for goals allowed right behind Chicago’s own Cam Ward. He has also faced the 6th most shots on goal of any other goalie this year. As I’ve said before Jake is a solid goalie that can get the job done when the rest of the team does, but he isn’t a pillar the team can rely to just lean on.
Watching last night's game I counted 5 times that Blues players fell due to their own misfooting. Add simple things like that with the 2 early poor penalty calls by the refs and the blatant no call on the interference of Schenn (see video below at the 2 second mark) right before the final goal and you have yourself a recipe for a loss.
The Blues have some exciting new talent on the team this year and we may need to just give them time for their chemistry to catch up to their potential. The defense definitely improved and we looked great against Calgary earlier in the week, but for some reason weren’t able to carry it into Chicago.
Once our offense finally starts clicking and we aren't relying guys like David Perron (who is off to a nice start) to carry us, things should start to turn around. The scoring potential is there and we have defensive players that can play. We just have to hope the boys find their fire and fast!
The Blues will be back on home ice tonight against the Anaheim Ducks who are currently 3-1-1 and are also coming off of a loss. We will also be seeing the debut of Blue’s newest goaltender Chad Johnson who has a GAA of 3.55 and a .891 sv%.
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