Sagging offense dooms Blues as struggles against West's top eight persist
ST. LOUIS -- Throughout a three-game homestand, the Blues proved quality matters more than quantity when it comes to shots on goal.
St. Louis couldn't find enough quality again in a disappointing 3-1 loss to Minnesota on Saturday night, despite taking a 1-0 lead at home for the first time since the All-Star break.
Since scoring four goals on eight shots on goal to take a 4-1 lead over Winnipeg last Tuesday, the Blues have found the net just twice on 96 shots on goal, including 42 against red-hot Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
"We have 42 shots, we only get one goal," captain David Backes said. "It doesn't matter who's in net, we need to have better production than that, finishing our shots and finding ways (to score)."
Another 41 shots either missed the net or got blocked by Minnesota defensemen, and coach Ken Hitchcock blamed an inability to get closer. Even in a dominant second period that saw St. Louis outshoot the Wild 21-5, Dubnyk faced few rebounds or point-blank opportunities.
The lone goal provided a glaring exception, when Alexander Steen fired a long shot and Backes deflected it into the net from his familiar position in front of the goal. Sustained pressure on the power play created the chance, even though it came nine seconds after Mikko Koivu came out of the penalty box.
Alex Pietrangelo had one of the better shots from long range, but Dubnyk flashed his glove to rob the Blues' defenseman. Despite the result, he took a more positive outlook than Backes, noting St. Louis played a great game outside of a brief letdown that resulted in two Minnesota goals in 17 seconds.
The two Wild goals both came from right in front of the net, thanks to sloppy play by goaltender Brian Elliott initially and then Vladimir Tarasenko.
Minnesota looked tired from a 2-1 home loss to Anaheim on Friday for most of the night, but they gladly took advantage of their rare, golden opportunities.
"I think the thing that concerns me is that we've given up points here lately in the third period," Hitchcock said. "We've had games where you've just got to take points from games and we've let them slip."
He also expressed concern that some line changes haven't resulted in production, even though Steen continues to play well with Dmitrij Jaskin and Paul Stastny, while Chris Porter brought some energy on the top line. Jaskin led the Blues with seven shots on goal, followed by five from leading scorer Tarasenko as well as T.J. Oshie.
It's an easier problem to fix than not creating chances at all. But it's still something St. Louis must figure out soon with six road games looming in the next 10 days, starting with Dallas on Sunday.
HAT TRICK
• Michalek makes debut. Perhaps the most important of three trade deadline additions finally appeared in a Blues jersey for the first time.
Zbynek Michalek played nearly 17 minutes alongside Jay Bouwmeester and Hitchcock liked what he saw from the new defenseman, even though he finished with a minus 1 rating after a costly mistake in front of the net. Tarasenko lost control of the puck and nearly tripped over Michalek to give Kyle Brodziak a point-blank shot for an unassisted goal that put Minnesota ahead 3-1.
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Michalek hadn't played in a full month since suffering a concussion while with Arizona, but he's expected to be a critical component of a deep group of defensemen down the stretch and into the postseason. The 32-year-old veteran knew he'd probably be traded with his contract set to expire at the end of the year, and he's eager to contribute to a playoff run.
"I'm sure it wasn't an easy deal to get done, but that's why I really appreciate the Blues, the trust they put into me even though I was hurt," Michalek said Saturday morning. "Hopefully, I can play well for the team and thank them for the trust they've given to me."
• Struggling against contenders. If the regular season is any indication, St. Louis could be in trouble again come playoff time.
The Blues fell to 7-10-2 against the top eight teams in the Western Conference according to the standings heading into Saturday, including a 4-7 mark against those in the Central Division. However, St. Louis has won all three games against Winnipeg, which moved into eighth with a win at Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon.
A dominant 20-7-2 record against the Eastern Conference combined with 16 wins in 20 games against the bottom six teams in the West could help St. Louis grab one of the conference's top seeds. But that success won't do anything to help the Blues avoid a third straight first-round exit.
• Goal or no goal. It's rare to see one goal disallowed in a game, but two in two periods felt more than a little bizarre.
Both teams saw a goal taken off the board and both calls appeared to be correct, even though the referees initially missed them on the ice. It was an understandable mistake on Minnesota's apparent goal in the second period, when Zach Parise kicked the puck into the net after missing a deflection with his stick.
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The decision to initially award a goal to Patrik Berglund less than two minutes into the game appeared quite a bit more puzzling, since the puck never actually went in the goal. But for some reason, it took a second review, which was called for just moments before a faceoff, to determine the deflection hit the outside of the net, even though the red light came on.
"I think it's like football," Backes said. "You line up and kick the extra point before they can review it and call it no touchdown. We should have had five guys standing at center hoping to drop the puck after the first review, but you live and you learn."
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
