Blues at Stars Round Two, Game Three preview: Blues are outworked but not outmatched

The Blues promised to tighten this up and play better on Saturday, after allowing 17 shots on goal during the third period of game one.

They did not.

Game two Saturday afternoon was a continuation of the third period of game one, which saw the Blues put themselves behind the eight ball in the first period, fight back, squander an excellent game by Jordan Binnington, and blow a last-minute power play that could’ve tied the game. You can be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at the lack of focus this series, but how long have Blues fans been complaining about “play a full 60 minutes” and yada yada yada?

There’s nothing that I can say that Dan didn’t already say in his piece. This team isn’t playing their best, and to be honest hasn’t played their best against the Stars once this season. Secondary scoring so far has looked flat - you can’t expect Vladimir Tarasenko to score every goal, and you can’t hope every goal comes on a power-play. It’s not helping that the Blues can only focus on one line at a time, apparently, because they’ve done a decent ob corralling Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, but they let some guy named Roope Hintz score twice.

The Blues can just as easily win tonight’s game as lose, but if they continue to play unfocused hockey, they’re going to have an issue bringing a series lead back to St. Louis.

Pat Maroon tossed out an interesting quote to Chris PInkert: “They haven’t seen our best, and that’s a good thing. I think once they see our best, it’s going to be a good series.”

They should’ve seen the Blues at their best in game one; the Blues shouldn’t give the Stars the courtesy of not showing up until game five.