The St. Louis Blues returned from the Olympic break tonight and lackluster fashion, losing to the Vancouver Canucks, 1-0.
This game could have gotten out of hand early for the Blues, as the Canucks threw everything but the kitchen sink towards the Blues goaltender, Jaroslav Halak. The Blues were outshot 14-6 in the first frame, and Halak was stellar, stopping all 14 he faced.
The Blues picked up the pace in the second period, but were still outshot, this time, 14-11. Halak again stood strong, making a handful of big saves, including two on David Booth. The Blues had quite a few scoring opportunities of their own in the second, but Canucks backup goaltender, Eddie Lack, stood tall and stopped all 11 shots he faced.
The third period was abysmal for the Blues, only registering three shots on goal all period long. The Canucks only registered seven, but a semi-breakaway by Jannik Hansen would result in a goal for Vancouver.
Hansen received a pass from Tom Sestito, and fired one past the blocker of Halak. This would be the only goal of the game, as Lack the Canucks would shutout the Blues. This marks the first time all year the Blues were shutout.
Now here are a few issues from tonight's loss. Why in the world are fans continuing to jump down Jaroslav Halak's throat after every Blues loss? Please enlighten me why tonight's loss was Halak's fault?
Halak stopped 34-of-35 Canucks shots and was the only reason why the Blues were in the game to begin with! Meanwhile the offense finds a way to put up 20 shots on goal, yet they missed the net over 17 times. But this loss is of course, blamed on Halak.
I've been one who voices my opinion on the Blues goaltending. While I do believe acquiring Ryan Miller would give the Blues an upgrade in net, I feel comfortable going into the post season with Halak and Brian Elliott. While an upgrade would be nice, it's not exactly needed.
Anyone who watches the Blues regularly should know that the biggest need on this roster is not a new goaltender. It is a second line center to play behind David Backes. While Vladimir Sobotka has filled in admirably this season, having Patrik Berglund or Derek Roy playing in the second position isn't cutting it.
Ken Hitchcock tried using Alexander Steen in that position tonight, yet his line produced nothing. Steen didn't look like the Steen that we are used to watching. During a Blues powerplay in the second period, he turned the puck over three times on the same shift. He didn't look on his game. Yet this is just one game, and the season he has put together, does outweigh one game.
Now onto my biggest issue, why in the world is Chris Stewart still playing over 16 minutes a night on this roster? Bigger question, why is Chris Stewart on this roster? Stewart played 16:15 tonight, including almost three minutes on the powerplay. What did he accomplish? One shot on goal, and right into the goalies chest at that. He turned the puck over countless times, and he couldn't make a direct pass to save his life. He doesn't back check, he gets caught standing around in the offensive and defensive zone, and is rendered useless in the Blues system.
Somehow he was credited for three hits in tonight's loss, yet I never saw one. Unless rubbing against someone on the boards in considered a hit? Which to me it isn't, since you can do that in women's hockey. He's been useless most of this season.
Stewart has 15 goals on the year, eight of those coming in a six game span. Three of them coming in one game against the Edmonton Oilers, one of the worst teams in the league. He hasn't score a goal in 15 games, dating back to January 9th.
So here is my question, if you're Doug Armstrong, what do you do with Chris Stewart? Keep him? Trade him? If you do trade him, where does he go, and what does he return?