ST. LOUIS — For 40 minutes, the Blues seemed on the verge with the proper response to an embarrassing result on home ice Saturday night.
Shedding the stink of an 8-1 loss — particularly the third period — against the Washington Capitals was going to take some work, but a power play that had been dormant, especially on home ice, found life. The Blues just needed some execution at 5-on-5 to end a five-game homestand on a winning note.
But that didn’t happen. As a matter of fact, it was another third-period collapse. This one wasn’t effort-based, it was more execution-based, and a two-goal lead turned into a stinging 3-2 defeat against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, sending the Blues (7-9-0) to their third straight loss.
Ouch.
This one probably hurts more than Saturday’s loss, because the Blues knew there was no turning back from that lack of effort. This one showed more of what is missing from the group as a whole: confidence. Right now, none of it exists, and the fashion in which this one ended, with David Pastrnak completing the comeback blowing a one-timer from inside the top of the left circle through Jordan Binnington, who deserved a better fate, was a bitter pill to swallow.
Here are seven takeaways from the game:
* Playing it safe — Instead of winning the game, the Blues played not to lose, or as in the words of Brayden Schenn, who shed the goal-scoring monkey off his back with a power-play goal, his first goal in 14 games, the Blues tried playing safe.
“We just played the wrong way in the third,” Schenn said. “We played a little bit safe and you can’t play safe in this league. There’s too many good players that feel that, that sense that that can make plays. Guys are able to put the puck in the net and that’s what happened tonight.
“We knew we had a job to do. I don’t know about messaging and whatever, but we just went out and we played too safe.”
Playing safe and playing smart are two different things.
“I think we played way too safe instead of go out and attack them,” said Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist, who also scored a power-play goal. “I kind of thought we backed off too much. When you play in this league, there’s a lot of good teams. If you play it safe, they’re going to stick it to you.”
The numbers backed the Blues. Boston (8-7-2) was 0-7-0 when trailing after two; the Blues were 5-0-0 when leading after two. The Bruins had been outscored 16-5 in the third period this season.
But Boston went out and collected 60 percent of its season total prior to Tuesday in 20 minutes against the Blues.
“I thought we backed off a little bit,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “We talked about it going into the third they were down to five D and we wanted to get our forecheck going and get a lot of pressure on their D and play more on our toes. There were times we were putting pucks deep and I thought at times we were trying to make plays. The plays might have been there, but I think the better play was just put it to the goal line, make their D turn, go back and get pucks and allow us to get back to the forecheck.
“Whenever you play safe, safe is dead. You still have to be able to play aggressive and you’re going to have to trust that when guys are being aggressive, that guys are still going to be over top and allowing your D to get pucks. But when you do play safe, you’re sitting back and you’re allowing a team to build speed. When you’re aggressive, you’re kind of pushing them back on their heels and you can slow them down that way.”
* Blues continue to suffer 5-on-5 — In getting outscored 3-0 at 5-on-5, the Blues are now minus-13 in 5-on-5 situations.
They generated just 16 shots at eve-strength for the game and aside from a few good looks, ever really threatened in that department.
“Five-on-five just in general, we’re not generating enough to tilt the ice,” Schenn said. “I’m not saying score goals, just to put them on their heels a little bit. We’ve got to find a way. Special was good tonight, they gave us a chance to win the hockey game. Our goalie was good. We just sat back in the third and quit making some plays. Not plays, just passes on the tape. They came at us, and we’re on our heels the whole third.”
Sundqvist said, “I think trying to get more pucks to the net, maybe a little bit better on the lies. It starts with me too. I had a bad turnover in the third. I think we played pretty good the first two periods. We kind of stopped playing the third. I’m not sure why, but that’s hockey sometimes.”
* Third periods are troublesome — To end this homestand, the Blues have been outscored 10-1 … on home ice … in the third period. A time when they should be drawing energy off its crowd, instead, they come away with little to nothing.
“We just stopped making plays, stopped putting pucks on the tape and let them come at us, played in our end the whole period,” Schenn said.
* Second, third battles lacking — Something that was happening throughout the game, even when the Blues were winning, was the Bruins coming up with lose loose pucks, more retrievals. It was evident on the tying goal and winning goal.
On Charlie McAvoy’s tying goal at 9:15, there’s a loose puck at the skates of three Blues, and none of them could come up with it. The Bruins put in the extra effort to execute and win it for the straightaway shot to make it 2-2.
And on Pastrnak’s game-winner at 18:13, the puck again is in the Blues zone. It’s loose after Pastrnak fans on his initial shot. All five Blues on the ice have a chance to bear down, win it and get it out of danger, eve after it’s dangerous around the net.
But the Bruins once again win the second and third efforts, something Bruins coach Jim Montgomery noted after the game, and a goal scorer got a second chance and blew it through Binnington:
* Puck management is an issue — We’ve addressed Jordan Kyrou’s puck gaffe’s late in games that have cost the Blues at least two points, up to perhaps four, in two separate games. And it’s been a result to of playing hero hockey instead of smart hockey, putting pucks deep in the zone and going to work.
It wasn’t Kyrou this time, but Colton Parayko.
It fueled the Bruins’ comeback when the defenseman, instead of putting a puck in deep near the blue line, tried to skate it past Pastrnak, who started the 2-on-1 that led to Morgan Geekie’s goal at 4:53 to give Boston life.
Parayko had not one, but two chances to put a puck in deep.
* Power play breaths some life — On a positive note, the Blues entered the game 0-for-20 on home ice with the man advantage. It grew to 0-for-21 before Schenn and Sundqvist each scored the greasy goals at or near the net that spotted them a 2-0 lead in the second.
“We were attacking more, talking more about shooting the puck,” Sundqvist said. “I think we’ve been passing up too many opportunities. I think it’s trying to shoot more pucks and be good at recovering them.”
* Good bounce back for Binnington — After being in goal for Saturday’s slaughter, allowing all eight goals on 27 shots, Binnington bounced back with a strong, solid effort. He looked confident, made all the necessary saves to give his team a chance until it didn’t.
“We played hard, played for one another, battled hard, we competed hard and then we just kind of … special teams was good and our goalie gave us a chance (especially) early there in the second period when they came at us hard there especially on some power plays and stuff like that,” Schenn said. ‘”Binner’ was great. That’s a frustrating one, definitely to lose a hockey game tonight.”
