Blues must find missing ferocity on defense to get season back on track
ST. LOUIS -- Familiar mistakes in the defensive zone continue to haunt the Blues as their formerly red-hot offense begins to cool off.
Careless puckhandling and an ineffective penalty kill on too many penalties led to a 4-3 loss to Dallas on Saturday night, the first time St. Louis failed to earn points in eight games at home dating back to a 2-1 loss to Nashville on Nov. 8. Coach Ken Hitchcock blamed his team's struggles on a lack of urgency while noting they didn't win nearly enough board battles close to their own net.
"We're probably in reverse," Hitchcock said. "You'd rather lose a few more in the offensive zone and win a lot more in the D-zone. We're going to have to play with a much higher level of ferocity."
These issues are nothing new for the BLues, who've given up at least two goals and often more in 18 consecutive games. That's the second-longest such streak in the NHL this season and the longest by St. Louis since a 26-game streak in the 2008-09 season.
Unsurprisingly, those Blues went 9-17 during that stretch, and it's a credit to this year's team that they've gone 9-7-2 despite their defensive struggles. They could have easily gone to overtime or even beaten the Stars in regulation if not for missing some great chances, including uncontested shots in front of the net by Steve Ott, Maxim Lapierre and T.J. Oshie.
Still, it's asking a lot of St. Louis to keep erasing deficits as it has done so often this season, including four times in the third period. Even a balanced scoring effort and the outstanding play of Vladimir Tarasenko -- who scored his 21st goal of the season to tie the game at 2 -- hasn't been enough to sustain the Blues' success without more help from the defense, leading to just one point in the past four games.
"We've caught a lot of games that we've chased," Hitchcock said. "We could have scored quite a few goals in the third period today, but that's not winning hockey."
Goaltenders Jake Allen and Marty Brodeur haven't exactly been dominant in the absence of Brian Elliott, who could return soon from a knee injury if he performs well at Wednesday's practice. But the bigger problems are what's happening to give opponents quality chances, and nearly everyone on the roster shares some blame.
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Allen mishandled the puck behind the net and gave Stars forward Travis Moen a Christmas present, which he gladly put into an open net. Dallas regained the lead with another unassisted on a well-placed shot by Ryan Garbutt after he easily intercepted rookie defenseman Petteri Lindbohm's ill-advised pass across the ice in the D-zone.
Terrible turnovers aren't the only way St. Louis has put its defense and goaltenders at a significant disadvantage in recent weeks. The Blues have given up 31 power plays and allowed 10 goals in their past six games, including two more for Dallas as it built what proved to be an insurmountable lead in the second period.
"We're just going throuhg a little bit of a rough patch right now," Allen said. "I think we just need to go back to the basics, be awaare of where guys are on the ice and that's including myself. Just do the things we're good at."
It's a stark contrast to a year ago, when the St. Louis penalty kill ranked second in the NHL despite finishing near the bottom of the league in power plays allowed. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and forward Alexander Steen both said the Blues need to cut down on unnecessary penalties, and Hitchcock said far too many have been stick-related because of poor fundamental defense.
Whatever the case, it's clear St. Louis can't survive much longer while allowing so many goals, especially with an upcoming schedule that includes red-hot Colorado on Monday, followed by road games at Nashville, Anaheim and San Jose. The Blues have fallen from the top of the Central Division into a tie for fourth, and they're only six points ahead of Calgary, the conference's ninth-place team.
No simple fix will cure the defensive ills for St. Louis, which held its opponents to fewer than two goals seven times during a 12-4-1 start to the season. But eliminating giveaways that lead directly to goals sure wouldn't hurt, and they'd probably find the task easier if they spent less time playing 4-on-5.
Defense has always been where success starts for the Blues, and they'll need a return-to-form to get back on track.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
