Blues Drop 3rd Straight, Fall to Wildcard Spot in Playoff Race

St. Louis Blues vs Dallas Stars - Game 60 Recap

Goal: Schenn (24)

Record 34-22-4

My thoughts on the game

• Unlike the other two losses this week, there wasn't any point in this game where you could say that the Blues "just fell apart". A couple of costly mistakes late against Pittsburgh cost them a game at home on Sunday, and a complete letdown in the final period in Nashville on Tuesday, giving up a 3 goal lead were troubling, to say the least. But in this one, they played a solid game from start to finish.
• So, why didn't they win? Did our goalie give up soft goals? No. Did the team fail to put forth a solid effort for 60 minutes? No. The answer simply was, a lack of offense. 
• 1 goal isn't going to win many games in the NHL. In fact, there have been 892 games played thus far in the 2017-18 season. There have been 97 shutouts. Do you know how many of those games ended with a score of 1-0? Well, you'll have to read to the end to find the answer, but I'll give you a clue.... it doesn't happen very often.
• The Blues played a solid first period and seemed to control the puck for more of the period than did Dallas. However, most of the time spent in the offensive end of the ice was mostly spent on perimeter passing, looking for openings and shooting lanes, but Dallas did well to clog the middle of the ice.  
• St. Louis had two power-play opportunities, and had 2 or 3 good shots but couldn't convert against St. Louis native, Ben Bishop. Tarasenko had a great shot on goal during the first one and then during the second one, Schwartz had a good chance and Tarasenko hit the post on another shot.
• Dallas had one power-play in the period and the Blues held them without a shot on goal. In fact, the Blues outshot Dallas 8-3 in the period.
• The 2nd period started with an inadvertent tripping call on Parayko who rarely ever sees time in the penalty box. The 6'6" 230 lb defenseman has played 1,361 minutes this season and has only had 13 minutes in penalties. 
• Dallas has been successful just over 20% on the season when having the man advantage. They capitalized on this opportunity but only due to some blind luck. A shot taken from along the left boards was several feet wide of the net but was square on the right shinpad of Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson. The puck ricocheted into the net behind Allen to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.
• St. Louis again outshot Dallas in the period with 12 shots on goal to the Stars' 7, but couldn't find the net. Schwartz hit the crossbar, Schenn made a nice move to get in front of Bishop but couldn't finish. Tarasenko had a good open look and Schenn had another chance at a tip-in goal but all were stopped by Bishop.  He was good in net tonight.
• My first note in the 3rd period was "hit the net with your shots". I get frustrated when they stand out on the blue line and take the big shots and can't get it on net. 85 MPH on goal seems better to me than 100 MPH and 3 feet wide or high. Maybe it's just me, but I'm thinking a shot on goal might produce a rebound.
• Dallas got another power play a third of the way into the period. St. Louis killed it off. But soon thereafter Stephen Johns took a puck that was bouncing off the right boards and wound up for a big slapper. Alex Radulov was screening Jake Allen in front and the puck was perfectly placed, beating Jake on the short side just inside the post. Dallas led 2-0.
• Pietrangelo had a nice rebound fall on his stick and a wide open net to put it into, but again Bishop came up with a save.
• Dallas was whistled for high sticking when Sobotka took a blade to the face. The contact drew blood, resulting in a double minor with just over 4 minutes to play. I saw a St. Louis fan doing the power play dance behind the Blues bench! As much as I have a personal dislike for the "dance", I had to chuckle seeing it in the big D.
• Steen had the first good scoring chance on the 4-minute power play with an open net but one of Dallas' D-men mad a nice block.
• With 1:44 left in the game and 1:26 left in the power play, Yeo pulled Allen for the extra attacker. With the 6 on 4 advantage, some nice passing by Tarasenko and Schwartz found Brayden Schenn on the back side for an easy tip-in goal to cut it to just a one-goal game with 1:14 remaining.
• St. Louis kept the puck in the offensive zone and managed to earn 5 face-offs in front of Bishop, but just couldn't find an opening for the goal they needed. They lost 3 of those 5 face-offs which minimized their control of the puck in crunch time. 
• The Blues outshot Dallas 29-16 on the night but only scored the 1 goal.
• The loss drops St. Louis into a wild-card spot for the first time all season. They still have 3 games against divisional opponents remaining this month, so there are still chances to stay in the race.
• Are you still with me? Remember the question about how many times teams have won games this season with just one goal? Well, the answer is 12. Of the 97 shutouts this season by goalies in the NHL, only 12 times have they been 1-0 shutouts, 6 times by Eastern Conference teams, and 6 times by Western Conference teams. To answer the question, only 1.345% of the games have been won with just 1 goal. On average, only 1 game per season, per team. We need to find a way to score goals if we are going to win.

#AllTogetherNowStL #LGB