BluesHockeyOhBaby!

23 Years Old • Male

Blues Lack Closers

Maybe Davis Payne should bring Mariano Rivera in to lecture the Blues on how to finish goals and games.

After scoring two in the first four minutes, the Blues couldn't find the net the rest of the game and let 2 points slip away in a 3-2 shootout loss to Dallas.

But they had plenty of chances.

Patrik Berglund hit the crossbar on a beautiful move during a power-play. Brad Boyes missed the net on a golden chance in front. T.J. Oshie and David Perron had great chances on Kari Lehtonen but couldn't score. A lot of credit has to go to Lehtonen but the Blues had their share of chances and got a ton of shots, but they saw Dallas score on a couple of great plays despite it.

The Blues can get all the shots they want, they rank 2nd in the NHL in shots per game, but few of those chances have been turned into goals. So many times last year the Blues were plagued with a lack of finishing scoring chances and early on this year it seems the same thing is going on.

They have the talent and they're doing well to create those scoring chances this year, but they've still lost the last two games because they couldn't get a goal when they needed it.

The Blues have the potential to be one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL if they could only finish the scoring chances they create for themselves.

Another frustrating area: the Blues' power-play looks atrocious. I can't imagine it looking any worse. They keep passing back and fourth around the point, then pass it some more, just to finally get a shot from long-distance hoping for a tip or rebound. They seem reluctant to work the play a bit and get the puck in closer and create higher percentage scoring chances.

They couldn't score on a 5-on-3 for over a minute and they have had the 2nd most power-play chances this year and have not delivered. There needs to be more movement and switching and quicker puck movement. They seem to be standing flat-footed at the point when we all know that they're just going to pass it along the outside. It makes the other team's penalty killing that much easier. Dallas and Nashville have simply pressured the point and the Blues power-play looks lost.

The positive out of all this is that it's still early and the Blues can fix things as the year goes on. But they really need to close these games where they could have had 2 points and a victory, yet they let another game slip away.

We'll see how they fare against the champs in Chi-town on Monday.

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