FERRARIO FIVE – THE QUARTER MARK OF THE SEASON
The last few weeks for the Blues has been like eating a full Thanksgiving meal and then hopping on the front seat of the Screamin’ Eagle. You feel disaster is coming but at times you avoid it but at others you just can’t keep it down any longer. The quarter mark of the season is here for the Blues and these are five trends that stick out to me.
CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT
If there’s one main thing that sticks out to about to me about this team, that it’s nearly impossible to get a read on them. On one hand, you can’t overlook that fact that the Blues have put together a 4-7 record against “playoff teams” and have allowed 33 goals compared to scoring 14. But they played some of their best hockey against Edmonton in two games, as well as, Colorado and Vegas. The ability to win games is in that locker room but only for a stretch. They haven’t put a string of wins together for a full 60 minutes against “playoff caliber” teams this season. Injuries and scheduling have played a part in this but you can say the same thing for other teams that have found a way to get the job done. The Blues, yet to be determined.
IS JOSH LEIVO THE SECRET SAUCE
Every team will have their surprised candidate on the roster by season’s end and I’m pretty sure I can select Leivo as that player now. Prior to their loss against Dallas, they were 9-0 when Josh Leivo played north of 10 minutes. He also has brought the best out of Ryan O’Reilly who has 1 point when playing with anyone other than Leivo and Saad, with those two he’s scored 9 of his 10 points. It’s pretty simple with him, he possess the puck and puts it on net which is something you can’t say about a majority of the forwards. I thought Monday’s game was a perfect example. Led the team with 6 SOG and earned the primary assist from just throwing the puck on net. His line also held Jason Robertson’s line to 1 scoring chance.
TURNOVERS CONTINUE TO EXIST
This has been the narrative for the last couple of seasons but this year it seems to plague the team worse than it has in the past. Just looking at their last 4 games, it’s been pucks turned over attempting to exit the zone, pucks overskated in the neutral zone or shots that missed the net that resulted in odd-man rushes and high-danger scoring chances. The Blues seem to be unable to overcome their mistakes or create offensive zone puck possession and spend more time in track meets. Craig Berube has talked about eliminating the “hope plays” on the ice but it looks as if it still exists in their game.
TOO FANCY
Robert Bortuzzo and Brandon Saad both spoke post-game on Monday about passing up scoring opportunities which surprises me about this offense. Saad said that it’s difficult to earn Grade A scoring chances in this lead but when you do you need to bury them. Blues had 11 high-danger scoring chances against Dallas and none of them resulted in a goal. Meanwhile, Dallas had 11 of the same chances and scored 3 of their 4 goals. Some of it has been superb goaltending but you can only say that so many times before you speak more about the offense the team is creating. If you look at the heat map (map on Natural Stat Trick that labels where the scoring chances are coming from) it’s everywhere but the front of the net. Sometimes dirty goals are the best answer to fixing an offense but the Blues seem to be unable to possess time there.
KYROU’S PLAY
Here’s something nobody can complain about anymore, Kyrou’s play. In the last 10 games he has been the 2nd most point producer in the NHL behind Jason Robertson. His point streak snapped at 8 games vs Dallas but he continues to play a brand of hockey the Blues need. Speed and skill. That comes with mistakes and turnovers but his 200-foot game has improved. In the stretch of 10 games he also leads the league in takeaways. Joe Vitale has stated on the Blues pregame show that Schenn spoke about having conversations with Kyrou before the Boston game in early November about being more responsible and the scoring chances will come. Since then he’s been spot on and one of the Blues best players on both ends of the ice.
