It could have been better. It could have been worse. That's your takeaway from a decent home game against the Nashville Predators. Matt D'Agostini gave the Blues a third-period lead with his sixth goal on the season on a breakaway from an awesome bank pass from Patrik Berglund. But the Blues couldn't hold it, couldn't convert a single power play and could have used the injured T.J. Oshie in the shootout. They lost 3-2.
Before the game general manager Doug Armstrong announced Oshie will be out at least three months after having surgery on his left ankle. Them's the breaks. Gotta keep moving forward.
In the post game comments on Fox Sports Midwest, Erik Johnson said it was good to play a night after losing 8-1 in Columbus so that they could "flush that one down the toilet." Very appropriate sir. And the guy is smart wearing St. Louis Police hat during interviews. You know, in case any knock on his window late at night.
The power play is a huge concern. Their last power play goal was back on Oct. 28. That seems like weeks ago. Conversely, the penalty kill came up huge by not allowing a shot during a 90-second 5-3 in the third period. Even more impressive, Jay McClement was in the box and Oshie obviously unavailable. They're two of the top three penalty killers on the team.
The game-tying goal for Nashville sucked. Puck fired in, hits the boards and bounces in front right to the stick of J.P. Dumont. Unlucky is what that is.
I'm exhausted. The last two nights have sapped my energy, my enthusiasm and my spirit. There were a lot of signs that the team is going to be able to rebound, but there are still huge questions about how this team is going to score in the near term and for the rest of the season. On the broadcast, they keep calling tonight a character builder. I don't know about that. I think this was a chance to illustrate what these players are made of and not the act of constructing them. It's a reflection. And it was a pretty good reflection, but not good enough in the end.
Hope that's not foreshadowing.
And something tells me we might have an F-You Friday coming tomorrow.