ST. LOUIS -- An early look around the NHL is seeing a lot of pond hockey.
Yes, it tends to be normal this time of year when players come in trying to shed that run-and-gun style without the benefit of discipline and/or defense, or teams try and acclimate new faces into new systems, but it's not something that's conducive to winning hockey.
The key to success for the Blues this season will come from the likes of goalie Jordan Binnington (50) and defenseman Nick Leddy (4). The Blues are only one game into their season, a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday, but what they can already see is that in order to play winning hockey, getting back to a sound and fundamental defensive structure is the way to go.
"We're working on it a lot in practice, that's for sure," coach Craig Berube said. "We're going to continue to work on it and keep hammering away at it. I think that's the only way you get good at it. There's a lot of high scoring games. We can become better checking, that checking mindset when we don't have the puck. A lot of it is determination, a lot of it is being hard and physical to play against when you don't have the puck. It's a mindset more than anything. Yes, there's structure to it for sure, but it's a mindset. You don't have the puck, go get it back."
It's certainly reflective in the standings thus far. At the bottom, 0-4-0 San Jose has allowed 14 goals, 0-3 Minnesota has allowed a whopping 20 goals, or 6.67 per game; 0-3 Columbus and 0-3 Vancouver have each allowed 14 goals, or nearly five per game. And on the flip side, 3-0 Carolina and 3-0 Dallas have each allowed a miniscule three goals, or one per game; 3-0 Vegas has allowed five goals and 3-0 Boston has allowed eight.
Last season, the Blues were 11th in the NHL with 241 goals allowed, or allowing an average of 2.90 goals per game. They were able to withstand what would be considered substandard defensive numbers because they were able to outscore their opponents, averaging 3.78 goals per game, or 314, which was third in the league, but in years past, the Blues' success came from being defensive-minded and getting great goaltending.
"It's not the most glamourous thing," captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "Everyone wants to score goals, get points and beat teams like that, but when you chip away and you do things the right way and you defend well, you start to win games and that's when it really gets fun, everyone's a part of it and everyone's sacrificing a bit more and doing the hard things. That goes a long way and helps us get closer to the where we want to be. It's a focus for our group. We have one game and as we go, we'll keep growing at it."
With new faces in new places, that growing period may take some adjusting, especially in the beginning, but for the Blues, who begin a three-game trip Wednesday in Seattle against the Kraken, with the little amount of turnover their roster had, the acclimation period should help them get right into that defensive structure, even if it may look boring.
"You know guys' tendencies of guys, you know the system," forward Brayden Schenn said. "We've had the same coaches for a long time and guys are buying into the system. We haven't played a whole lot of hockey and preseason games weren't very intense by any means so you only have one game to kind of show what you've got so we're looking forward to putting some games together here and getting on the road.
"There's always chatter with defense and being stingy defensively. Those are the toughest teams to play against, going into the rink each night, knowing you're going to have a hard game. When you're playing against an opponent that's hard to play against defensively, it's never fun. You want to be one of those teams, we want to be one of those teams. We know we can score goals, but it's committing to defense first and the goals will come."
Of course the Blues' success will start and stop with the play of goalies Jordan Binnington and now Thomas Greiss, but the play of top four defensemen Nick Leddy, Colton Parayko, Torey Krug and Justin Faulk, along with Niko Mikkola and Robert Bortuzzo will help with the process.
One of those areas is shots against, which the Blues have typically been in the top of the NHL. Last season, though, they were 15th at 31.5 per game, and when they can cut the shots down, it also cuts down the high danger opportunities.
"You can always see when the regular season and the playoffs start, the intensity goes up, right, and guys are checking harder and doing things that they're desperate," Berube said. "You have to have that mindset throughout the season and be consistent without the puck. For me, it's a mindset more than anything."
"I think last year obviously we had a lot of success scoring and defensively we weren't great," O'Reilly said. "I think it's definitely been a focus for our group. We want to defend better, we have to make it easier on our goaltenders. We should have an advantage for that, for our team that only added a couple new pieces. I think that should give us an advantage. It's paying attention to the details, working for each other, communicating. I think if we do that, that's going to help us as we go."
So getting back to playing 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 types of games is the best course of action for the Blues. Sure, one would like to win games that turn out 5-4 or 6-4, or 6-5, but historically, the Blues are best at playing stingy.
"Historically, the games aren't as defensive to start the year for whatever reason," Schenn said. "The points are still as valuable, but I think maybe guys play a little bit more loose for whatever reason it may be, but in our room, we have to focus on defense and that's how you win hockey games.
"We know we can generate goals and score goals, but at the same time, we can't rely on our goaltenders every single night to bail us out and win hockey games. You've got to try and make it as easy as possible on them and then the goals will come."