Another game to take for the St. Louis Bluesanother game that escapes in frustrating ways.
This time, another 3-2 setback for the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York on Monday.
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The Blues (7-10-6) got goals from Dylan Holloway and Brayden Schenn, and Joel Hofer made 17 saves in the fourth game of a season-high five-game road trip where the Blues are now 1-1-2 with a final game Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils.
“I didn’t think we played with the intensity, connection and puck support required like the previous three games,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.
Let’s look at the observations from Monday’s game:
*First 10 minutes of the third game where the match was lost — In a 1-1 away game, the Blues were well placed to grab at least maybe a point, maybe two with a strong final period.
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But they were stuck in their zone to start the third, had a chance to recover a puck that ended up flying away and a redirect forward by Alexis Lafrenière of Vladislav Gavrikov’s left wrist shot just 40 seconds later gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead and got this all-important goal:
And when Adam Edstrom made it 3-1 at 8:56 of the period on a close shot surrounded by three Blues on the play, it would be a tall task for a team that struggled to score more than two goals to come back:
This would be the Rangers’ 20th and final shot on goal of the game.
“It’s obviously not the way we wanted to start,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. “Hard to lose two points in third.”
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* Blues’ inability to win when they score first — Monday marked the 13th time the Blues scored first in a game, and it was a beauty of a goal when Holloway tied it up for the team lead with his sixth, and the line did a great job checking before pucks after Parayko’s initial hold from the right point:
It was the eighth time in the last nine games that the Blues scored first, but they fell to 5-3-5 in those games while on average across the league, teams that score first win about 67 percent of the time.
In just seven of those games, they continued to push forward and increase their lead, and it’s impossible to win every point by scoring first, but the Blues, who have 20 points this season, left 11 points on the table in this instance.
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“That’s what makes the difference when it comes to winning games, burying those chances,” Holloway said. “It’s good to have these chances, but we have to persevere and score.”
And given that the Rangers went a dismal 1-7-1 at home, scoring just 13 goals and shutouts in the franchise’s most games, this was a chance to not only extend their lead against a team that has struggled to score and lost four in a row.
*Rangers’ equalizer opened the door for a struggling home team – Leading 1-0, the Blues were in a good position until Vincent Trocheck tied it 1-1 at 10:06 of the second period.
The Blues had multiple forward lines on the ice that needed to drive the puck deep, but the puck never got past the opposing team’s blue line, and as a result, defensemen Cam Fowler and Logan Mailloux’s shift was extended far too long at 2:19 each. Oskar Sundqvist, who had a chance to get a deep puck but was knocked down in the neutral zone, keeping the Blues’ D on the ice, stayed himself for over two minutes until he was finally able to get a change right before the goal, and on the goal the Blues left an opening on a pass up the middle, creating a 2-on-1 that Trocheck sent into the top right corner:
“Yes, it’s a prolonged period and that’s why in the second half there are usually more goals scored in the league because it’s difficult to get turnovers in the second half and all five guys have to help each other to get their turnovers,” Montgomery said. “The forwards always leave the ice, the defensemen don’t because they have to stay. Then the next guys that come out, they have to make sure they’re guarding well and helping the defender, so they can get off the ice.”
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* Hofer made key saves early to give the Blues a chance to go ahead – The night’s numbers aren’t looking great for Hofer (.850 save percentage), but his saves on Braden Schneider at 8:24 of the first period and Mika Zibanejad at 15:45 of the first period kept the Blues in a 0-0 game.
*The number of goals has dried up — Monday marked the fifth straight game in which the Blues scored two goals or fewer, and it coincides with the fact that their goaltending has improved of late.
And that comes as Brayden Schenn, who scored his first goal in 12 games Saturday in a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders, now has goals in back-to-back games when Pavel Buchnevich’s shot beat the Blues captain and past Igor Shesterkin with 1:15 left to make it 3-2, but that’s as close as the Blues could get:
But Schenn missed a first-period breakaway at 8:24 of the first period, even though it was at the end of a shift. Jake Neighbors had a great chance to give the Blues a 2-1 lead at 16:42 of the second period on a shot from the slot after a pass from Robert Thomas. Schenn also fanned an open look into the bumper with 3:16 left with the Blues on a four-minute power play, and Holloway whiffed in a hard pass from Thomas in tight with 19.3 left that would have tied the game.
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The whole lack of goals has coincided with the best not getting it.
Jordan Kyrou hasn’t scored in five games; Thomas is 1 for 10 goals and no points in the last three games; Jimmy Snuggerud has no points in the last four games and one goal in 12; Buchnevich hasn’t scored in 15 games; and on the defensive side, Fowler and Parayko have yet to score this season.
This team needs its best players to produce, otherwise these results will seem all too familiar.
* The power play had a chance to make the difference — Yes, the Blues’ power play has been good, and they rank 12th in the league at 22.4 percent. But a 0 from 4 (the last one lasted only three seconds at the end of the game) did them no favors and they produced only three shots of their own.
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The one that must have been frustrating was a double minor awarded to Brett Berard for a high stick by Neighbors, who was also hit by Schneider in the second period, with 5:51 to play. That’s when Schenn fanned his attempt, and the Blues threw a few open looks with 2:41 left.
“Yeah, there were a few shots that were missed,” Montgomery said. “We sensed a great chance to tie, right in front of the net (Holloway’s chance late in the game), in a goalie-down situation. We need to start making some of those plays in those areas so we can get some wins where we’re coming from behind and start a streak.”
* Mailloux looked better — Mailloux, who was called up from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Saturday after playing in five games for the Thunderbirds (two goals), was minus-2 in the game and played 13:59, but I thought he was more assertive in this game than in any previous ones he played in before being sent off.
He attacked with more confidence, played a physical role and fired a shot off the post when Montgomery put him on the ice on the third-period power play. He couldn’t have done anything differently about the goals he scored while he was on the ice.
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“I thought Mailloux was very assertive,” Montgomery said. “I liked him on the PP there at the end when we gave him an opportunity. I thought he was very aggressive and had a good mindset for the first shot, but he made a few passes. The minus-2, I know the second goal, he had nothing to do with it.”
Mailloux, who played alongside Cam Fowler, had a hit and a blocked shot with a shot on goal.
“I felt more like myself,” Mailloux said. “I was moving pucks, participating in the game, making some shots. So an unfortunate ending, but I felt better, for sure.”
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