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The Blues’ penalty kill is getting better, inching up to 27th in the league with a 65.4% effectiveness rate. That’s good, because the Blues are sixth in the league in penalties right now. They’ve been disciplined in previous seasons, but this year that’s apparently being tossed out of the window. Craig Berube is not happy.
Berube on taking five more penalties tonight: "I don’t know what to tell you guys about penalties. I really don’t want to talk about them. I’ve talked to you guys, I’ve talked to the team about them. It causes a lot of problems." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) January 24, 2021
One way to limit penalties could be to give the team a refresher on how to count, because the frustration on taking a completely avoidable too many men on the ice penalty probably isn’t helping Chief’s blood pressure right now.
Giving the Kings a five on three is a terrible idea, even if the average age of the PP unit that scored on Jordan Binnington last night is about 35. The offense had a strong night, and Torey Krug netted not just his first goal as a Blue, but the Blues’ first power play goal. Here’s to opening those floodgates, boys.
The Kings are 1-2-2 on the season, but according to their team website, they have a lot to show for it. This is a sign of a team who is looking for some moral victories. It’s not hard for them to find them in a loss to the Blues, but the key part of any moral victory is that you have to have an actual loss to go along with it. Los Angeles, despite playing well last night, still isn’t going to be a problem for the Blues in the West. That problem comes Tuesday night, when the Blues fly to Las Vegas. Taking two more points from the Kings while avoiding penalty calls (even tacky-tack ones) could go a ways to get them mentally ready and confident to see old friend Alex Pietrangelo in a couple nights.