December 2, 2021
On Tuesday the Blues faced off against the defending, back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. This game served as a test to see if the Blues could get back on track after a series of terrible performances in the month of November. The first period of this game went poorly for the Blues; they gave up three goals in three and a half minutes, including two goals only five seconds apart. Despite these early woes, the Blues marched on and were able to defeat the Lightning in a shootout.
Keys Takeaways:
While defeating the reigning two-time Stanley Cup champions sounds good on paper, there are several factors that stop this from being an overly impressive win for the Blues. The Lightning played this game without their arguably best four players, and the Blues barely snuck out a win. Notable absences from the Tampa Bay lineup included their captain Steven Stamkos, the former league MVP Nikita Kucherov, all-star Brayden Point and their playoffs MVP, goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky. The Blues did win against a good team, but with the Lightning’s key talent missing, this game wasn’t a monumental victory.
On a more positive note, the Blues once again proved how resilient they are as a group after they erased a 3-0 deficit. This is an encouraging sign, especially for a team with playoff aspirations. The NHL is slowly learning what many Blues fans have known for a long time — never count out the Blues.
The Blues defense certainly looked better on Tuesday than it has in the last several games, but the blue line still looks shaky. There were highlights, such as the performance of Scott Perunovich, but the overall product leaves a lot to be desired. The entire Blues defensive core looks indecisive at times, and this results in Jordan Binnington being left to fend for himself time and time again. This game was a small step in the right direction, and hopefully the Blues can work through these issues soon.
Blues Bits Three-Stars of the Game:
Third Star: Jordan Binnington.
This game certainly didn’t start out in Binnington’s favor. The Blues goaltender gave up three goals on the first nine shots he faced, including an absolutely improbable goal halfway through the first period. The puck bounced off the top of the glass and traveled diagonally straight towards the goal before it ricocheted off the post and went in the back of the net. Needless to say, things were not going Binnington’s way. But after this goal, Binnington bounced back, stopping 24 Tampa Bay shots and getting the win in the shootout.
Second Star: Scott Perunovich.
Scott Perunovich. The 23-year-old Blues defenseman played the best game of his young career on Tuesday, picking up his third career point and nearly scoring his first goal. Perunovich had the puck on a string the entire game. His mobility and precise passing is exactly what the Blues need on defense, and it is encouraging to watch Perunovich play at such a high level.
First Star: Ryan O’Reilly.
In this game, Ryan O’Reilly showed why he was named the Blues captain. O’Reilly scored the goal that started the Blues’ comeback and the shootout winner. But his performance went beyond goal scoring; O’Reilly’s defensive game was even better than usual. He excelled at every aspect of the game, whether it was face offs, shot blocking, goal scoring or intercepting passes. To put it simply, O’Reilly was the reason why the Blues won this game.
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