Mistake on puck dump-in/line change; bad penalty; unable to add on to lead all keys for Blues' third straight loss, sixth in eight games
The effort was there. The mistakes were minimal. The goaltending did its part once again.
But in the end, it was a tough loss for the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 in overtime, against the Edmonton Oilers when Connor McDavid capped off a three-point night with a goal with 25.3 seconds to play in the extra session as the Oilers (35-20-2) overcame a 2-0 deficit within the first five minutes.
The Blues (30-26-3) got the production from their top line once again, which accounted for both goals but it was a game in which the Blues failed to capitalize on gaining an early lead, didn't back up the stellar goaltending of Jordan Binnington (32 saves) and dropped their third straight game (0-2-1), sixth in eight (2-5-1).
Let's jump into the three keys to a tough loss for the Blues:
1. Failed to execute possession, ensuing bad line change -- Against a team like the Oilers, mistakes have to be minimal, and the Blues didn't have many, and when they did, Binnington was there to make the saves.
But on one particular play early in the second period, there are veteran skaters on the ice that should know better.
It starts with Colton Parayko with a puck on his stick, and knowing he and partner Nick Leddy were in need of a change, make sure to get the puck to the forwards so possession isn't lost and go off with no issues.
But Parayko instead of getting a puck straight to either Jake Neighbours or Alexey Toropchenko, who were on the ice, he hoisted a puck in the air, Neighbours was in offside, so the two Blues forwards didn't attempt to play the puck.
Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard had his pick of the litter with three Blues inexplicably anyway going off for a change; he had Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman with free real estate up the left side. And although Justin Faulk and Torey Krug tried to get on after the ill-advised change, Hyman was knocking in McDavid's pass past a diving Binnington, who got a piece of the shot with his outstretched glove, to tie the game 2-2 at the 4:54 mark to erase what the Blues had built.
2. Costly late-period penalty -- The Blues, for a change, had managed a first period well. They had built themselves a nice 2-0 lead on the second of back to back games and were on the verge of a two-goal lead heading into the second period.
But a costly, unnecessary tripping minor on veteran Kevin Hayes at 18:08 of the first period put one of the league's lethal power-play units on the ice, and eight seconds later, a 2-0 lead was 2-1 when Hyman was scoring the first of two goals.
It was a momentum swing, one that could have been avoided.
3. Not converting on scoring opportunities -- Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich gave the Blues a 2-0 lead 4:49 into the game, scoring twice in 2:30, to set the early tempo.
They would be two of several quality scoring chances that the Blues had for the game. Unfortunately for them, there were chances to extend the lead, and opportunities to extend their lead.
And then there was Zack Bolduc, who had a terrific chance in the third period of a 2-2 game that Stuart Skinner made a fantastic blocker save on, or how about the Thomas shorthanded breakaway that he never got a shot off on because he was caught from behind by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
It was another one of those games in which one shot would have made the difference, and in an all-too-familiar situation, someone other than the top line needed to step up and didn't get the job done.
