The Blues seven game winning streak has come to an end, as they fall to the Nashville Predators by a score of 2-1.
Jori Lehtera scored the only goal of the game for the Blues, while Filip Forsberg and James Neal scored for Nashville to give them the victory.
A few notes, the Blues just finished their sixth game in the last 10 nights. They just won seven straight games. They are due for a loss. They aren't going to win every single night. However the way they lost tonight is unacceptable.
Brian Elliott was hung out to dry, as the offense and the defense failed to produce. There were far to many turnovers in the offensive zone by the forwards. Alexander Steen seemed to cough up the puck every other time it was on his stick. Vladimir Tarasenko was even turning it over a fair amount tonight.
On defense, Ian Cole was the best defensemen on the ice, and that is a problem. Alex Pietrangelo looked gassed and at times, just flat out lazy. Backing off the line late in the game with an empty net is just unacceptable. Jay Bouwmeester's passes seemed to be off the mark all game long. Cole had one turnover in which you wonder what he was doing. He moved the puck up the ice well and played well in the defensive zone.
Elliott had a solid game, and the only gaff he had, happened to be a defensive breakdown when Shattenkirk and Pietrangelo were on the ice. Pietrangelo missed his defensive assignment, which happened a few times tonight, and Shattenkirk was playing a two-on-one the way you should. That's when James Neal capitalized for the game winning goal. His saves on Olli Jokinen and Colin Wilson were fantastic.
The Filip Forsberg goal was just a beautiful shot that beat Elliott between the glove and the pad.
The Blues goal came from a nice play by Tarasenko, who cut to the middle and fired a shot toward the goal. The puck deflected off of Jaden Schwartz's pad and bounced right to Jori Lehtera, who backhanded it past the outstretched pad of Pekka Rinne.
This team has to be held accountable, and relying on just one line to produce offense isn't acceptable. The Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko line has been one of the best in the NHL, but the rest of the team has been questionable.
The Alexander Steen, Paul Stastny, and David Backes line was painful to watch at times. Unable to control the puck, and failing to score on the chances they had.
Now anyone who watches Chris Porter play, knows he's a solid fourth line player. His speed allows him to crash and bang on the forecheck and plays smart in the defensive zone as well. So a team failing to score goals shouldn't be icing Porter on the third line over Dmitrij Jaskin or Magnus Paajarvi. If you want to rotate Porter in for Steve Ott, that's fine, but don't play him higher than the fourth line when you have other options.
Speaking of Jaskin and Paajarvi, the Blues need to give them more chances to succeed. When you only give Paajarvi fourth line minutes, and expect him to produce offense, you're going to be disappointed. With Jaskin, he needs more time in the line up to start producing. Fact is, he's still a young kid adjusting to the NHL game. He needs time.
The Blues are off for two days for some much needed rest, before getting back at it against the Buffalo Sabres on Military Night.
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