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So, the Blues haven't scored much this month, have they? Skating by on the strength of their defense and goaltending, the Blues once solid (in January) offense has dwindled down to nearly nothing. Shut out on Sunday, and only scoring one against Columbus, the Blues absolutely must score more than a goal here and there to win. The defense isn't going to be perfect every game. The goalies can only do so much to help. Sometimes getting a few in your column of the scoresheet is a good thing.
Dan O’Neill has an excellent breakdown of how the offense is doing nearly nothing. David Perron? Hasn't scored in over a month. Ditto Pietrangelo (though one could argue that's not really his primary job). Alexander Steen? Chris Stewart? Bupkis. Backes had a moment or two this month, and then absolutely nothing which was awesomely highlighted by his jab Sunday at Ben Bickell. I'm sure that I wasn't the first person to laugh at David Backes' "do you even play?" comment, because I know a lot of us have been thinking the same thing about him recently. T.J. Oshie isn't coming back any time soon, and you can't rely on Chris Porter and Adam Cracknell for your offense. You really can't. What do the Blues need to do to get someone to score around here?
Ken Hitchcock has an idea: add Dmitri Jaškin! Why not. The kid's had enough practice time. He scored 46 goals in 51 games with the Mocton Wildcats of the QMJHL, so that's sure to translate into at least one goal at the NHL level. Right now, with the Blues' not being able to buy a goal, that might be what they need.
In the last six games, the Canucks have 23 goals. The Blues have eight. They absolutely must win this game tonight, and if they're going to, they have to put the puck in the back of the net. Having the case of the yips is hard to shake off. It's even harder when a whole team has them.
Tonight is about as make or break as you can get. Make some goals, people.
Break this drought.
For fun, here's Jaskin chatting up the media before the game: