Through three games, the St. Louis Blues are 2-1-0, defeating the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks, but losing to the Minnesota Wild.
The season opener against the Wild was one to forget. The Blues were outmatched, taking a 5-0 thrashing. The response from coach Jim Montgomery's men was positive. The Blues won a tightly contested game against the Flames, scoring twice in the third period. Their most recent win against the Canucks was more resounding.
The Blues outshot the Canucks 36-29 and had the lead in the first period. Jimmy Snuggerud led the way, scoring twice and creating plenty of offensive chances.
There's been plenty to like, but also quite a bit to dislike, not uncommon at the beginning of the regular season. One thing that Montgomery presumably dislikes is the lack of production from Jordan Kyrou and Dylan Holloway. The duo have just one assist between the two of them, but Montgomery may like the process from his players.
Holloway has fired nine shots on net in three games, while Kyrou has thrown just four on target. Where Montgomery will be pleased with them is in some of their analytics. According to Natural Stat Trick, Kyrou owns 65.85 percent of the expected goals share at 5-on-5, and Holloway owns 57.21 percent. The Blues are threatening to score far more frequently with Holloway and Kyrou on the ice, and as long as they stick to the process, the goals will come.
Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich aren't exactly lighting it up, but they each have two points so far. Despite the respectable production, the Blues have been far less threatening to score with the duo playing than with any other player on the team. Thomas sits at the bottom of the team rankings in expected goals percentage, owning a whopping 23.13 percent. Buchnevich is only slightly better, clicking at 28.32 percent. The only other player close to Thomas and Buchnevich is Jake Neighbours at 29.27 percent.
The overall play from this line simply hasn't been good enough, but recent evidence from years prior should be a fair enough indicator to suggest it will turn around.
Although Logan Mailloux and Tyler Tucker have struggled with turnovers and defensive lapses, the Blues can begin to feel more assured. The Blues can create offense with the d-pairing on the ice, but they'll need them to get better at preventing high-danger chances. The Blues have allowed 10 high-danger chances at 5-on-5 with Mailloux on the ice and 14 with Tucker.
The season is still incredibly young, and these things tend to balance themselves out, but these are early signs for Montgomery to monitor.
Observations From Blues' 5-2 Win Vs. Canucks To Sweep Pair On Road
It was a clean sweep of a brief Western Canada road trip for the <a href="http://thn.com/stlouis">St. Louis Blues</a>.