The Blues' dangerous power play hit its low point at the worst possible time Tuesday night in Nashville.
St. Louis entered the game leading the NHL with a 24.7 percent success rate, despite a recent slump that continued throughout the first two periods. Then things got even worse with 10:58 remaining when the first shorthanded goal scored against the Blues all season proved to be the difference in a 3-2 loss.
"It's tough and our power play had some chances and couldn't bury them," defenseman Ian Cole told FSMW announcers John Kelly and Darren Panger after the game. "We really needed one and couldn't get it done tonight."
A blocked shot in front of the Predators' net led to a 2-on-1 breakaway, and Shea Weber made it count with an unstoppable shot off the pass from fellow defenseman Roman Josi. The shorthanded goal was the first all season for Nashville, a team ranking just 17th in the league at 80.4 percent on the penalty kill.
But St. Louis struggled to find any openings in four power plays, which saw only five shots from the Blues. Puck movement wasn't good enough and clearances were far too easy for the Predators, who've won three of four against their divisional rivals.
Wild inconsistency has been the story all season for the St. Louis power play, which has converted on just one of its past 12 chances. Before that, the Blues were red-hot with seven goals in 13 power plays over four games, despite going just 1-for-5 in a win at Colorado during that stretch.
Aggressive play from defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has typically been the catalyst, and he leads the lage with 19 power play points. That's nearly two-thirds of their 30 goals, which have been spread out among a talented group of forwards.
It's a valuable weapon St. Louis has utilized effectively in many of its wins this season, but it continues to come up empty in the team's biggest games. The Blues are 0-for-15 on the power play in four road games against the three teams ahead of them in Western Conference standings.
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Poor special teams play isn't the only reason St. Louis has lost all of those games, and certainly it could have been better in 5-on-5 play Tuesday night. But power play goals sure would be a nice way to gain an edge and get over that hump.
Elliott busy in return
Nashville made sure Brian Elliott couldn't ease back into his spot in front of the net after missing more than a month with a knee injury.
The Blues gave up a season-high 47 shots against their top goaltender, who was activated from the injured reserve Tuesday morning. He stopped a wraparound shot from Seth Elliott just 34 seconds into the game and showed little rust in his first appearance since leaving with a 2-0 lead in the second period at Ottawa.
Jake Allen would give up two goals and lose in a shootout, continuing a trend of opponents scoring at least twice that didn't end until Monday's 2-0 shutout of Colorado. The Blues' high-powered offense would still carry them to wins in seven of their nine games without Elliott before their shaky defense and goaltending finally caught up to them during a four-game losing streak.
A day after allowing a season-low 16 shots thanks to great puck possession, Elliott may have been hoping for a light workload against a Nashville team known more for its defense and goaltending than its offense, which ranks 12th in the NHL with 2.8 goals per game. Instead, he needed to use all of his tools to withstand the relentless Predators attack.
Elliott didn't produce many highlight-reel saves, aside from one late in the second period when a shot bounced off his shoulder pad and he reached back to cover it just before it crossed the goalline. But the 29-year-old positioned himself well enough to make stopping shots from all angles look deceptively easy, and all three goals came on well-placed shots that he had little chance to stop.
Even though he took the loss, Elliott still tied a career-high with 44 saves and improved on his .931 save percentage for the season, which ranks third in the league.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
