Blues, Brodeur Blow 3-0 Lead to Kings, Drop 11th Straight at Staples Center 6-4 in Embarrassing Fashion

Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue.

The Blues, coming off a big win at home over the Kings, got off to a hot start at the Staples Center, scoring not one...not two...but three first period goals by David Backes, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Kevin Shattenkirk respectively. Two of them were on the power play, two of them were great tip-ins, and all three were heavily influenced by great front-of-the-net presence and strong offensive zone play by the defensemen. Basically, they were how you'd expect the Blues to score outside of the STL Line.

And so endeth the good part of the night.

*sigh*

Look, I don't feel like breaking down all of that individual bullshit play that led to the 6-4 final. Here's the highlights video.

#STLBlues blow 3-0 to lose 6-4 which snaps their five-game winning streak. And that's now 14 straight losses in Southern California.

— Sammy Stava (@SEMOStava12) December 19, 2014

I recall an article in @StLouisGameTime (print) detailing how Marty can't execute simple post coverage... #StlBlues

— Duke (@doubleohduke) December 19, 2014

Bad turnover and bad back check by 74. Yikes

— Art Lippo (@ArtLippo) December 19, 2014

For those keeping track at home, Darren Pang has said, "Right off the hop" four times tonight.

— Street Lightning (@socityhooligan) December 19, 2014

Martin Brodeur save percentage watch: .879.

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 19, 2014

It's late (or early), so just a couple of my thoughts:

• There were certainly other failing grades to pass around, but I'll go ahead and pull That Trigger: this is a loss that would not have been a loss with even an average level NHL goalie of "normal age." Even ***IF*** you think the last Dwight King goal from center ice was such a crazy bounce that anyone would have looked like Vesa Toskala, that still leaves three goals that were scored by either Martin Brodeur not able to move laterally fast enough (the Jeff Carter goal, 2-on-1 that it was, makes my knees hurt just watching Marty) or terrible rebound control.  If his contract really does pay him $10,000 for every standings point he earns the Blues, he should be $20,000 in debt this week. (Just like me - and I too am incapable of being an NHL goalie in 2014.)
• Having said that, the Blue Notes have given up 18 power play opportunities the last 3 games. Things were called tight tonight, but they set that tone early. Get your head out of your ass and pay attention to how they're calling the game. This Blues core has never been known for their situational awareness, and it cost them tonight just like it has before.
• Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester 's  perplexing seasons continued, as they put up Corsi figures of -19 and -23 tonight, respectively. They both did get the assists on Backes' goal (which was only Bouw's 4th point of the year, BTW), but no matter how much stock you put in possession numbers, when your franchise defenseman is getting out shot-attempted 2:1...that's not even bad, that's pitiful. That's shit. Against an opponent like Those Assholes Out West on the road, that's horrendous. Some idiots were being idiots and claiming we need to trade Petro, that he isn't a top-tier defenseman. These people are, obviously, idiots, but we're almost to the point where it's no longer Alex Pietrangelo having a bad start to the season, it's Alex Pietrangelo having a bad season.