Observations From Blues' 2-1 OT Loss Vs. Kings

ST. LOUIS – If it sounds like January all over again, that’s what it feels like. At least it does for St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery.

The Blues followed up their most complete game of the season Saturday with another head-scratcher despite earning a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.

For two periods, the Blues (3-2-1) looked flat again and out of sorts before Justin Faulk’s power-play goal leveled the game, and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves in the loss.

Adrian Kempe scored the game-winner in overtime 1:50 into it on a one-time power-play goal, called by former Blues great play-by-play announcer John Kelly, in his first season calling Kings games:

Kelly was acknowledged during the first TV timeout in the first period, getting a nice ovation from Blues faithful:

Let’s look at tonight’s observations:

* It’s early, but the Blues have consistency issues yet again – The Kings came into town losers of four straight (0-2-2) and in dire need of a strong effort, and perhaps a win.

The Blues talked it up, they knew this, and yet, unlike their 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars in which they had the kind of start to finish game they needed, they inexplicably came out with zero urgency, and little to no execution.

“The intensity we started the game with, it wasn’t there, it was lacking, and we need to find more consistency with how we play,” Montgomery said. “… I would just like to see more 1-on-1 battles won, I would like to see us play faster, I’d like to see us play firmer in confrontational areas, whether that’s net fronts, it’s battles on walls.

“L.A. Kings were a desperate hockey team coming in here. I think they had lost three straight and one in overtime, so it looks like they lost four straight. This is the National Hockey League. Teams are going to be desperate. We didn’t match their desperation.”

The Kings were hungrier for pucks, they won a lot of the wall battles Montgomery was talking about. The Blues could barely put one pass together trying to move from zone to zone, let alone two, and simply looked sluggish.

“Obviously first two periods weren’t as good as we had hoped,” defenseman Tyler Tucker said. “Just weren’t doing the right things. Not playing the goal lines. I think in the third, you saw, we got rewarded playing hard hockey. But the first two periods need to be a little bit better.”

Why was it lacking Tuesday?

“That’s always the magic answer you’re looking for when you’re not playing well,” defenseman Justin Faulk said. ‘We know it wasn’t good enough, that’s for sure. We came out slow. They were determined. They were hungry. We knew what position they were in. They had one win so far this year. We knew they were going to be hungry and start their road trip off well. We didn’t get it going early enough, dug ourselves a hole and then I think we had a better chance than relying on OT to win tonight.”

Remember last January, when the Blues closed the month losing their last four games by a combined 16-4 and five of six before turning it around after the 4 Nations Face-Off? Montgomery said it’s a similar feel.

“It’s the same thing as last year, we’re going through the exact same thing as last January, and we’re going to have to get it changed, and we’re going to have to go to work together,” Montgomery said. ‘That’s how you gain consistency is through communication, it’s by players holding players accountable, coaches holding players accountable, and players holding coaches accountable. We’re not getting the job done right now with our consistency with effort and execution, and we have to demand more of each other.

“I think a change in attitude, of everybody thinking for the team instead of where their role was and their own situation might be.”

* Jordan Binnington gave Blues a chance – From his stop of Phillip Danault’s chance off a Jake Neighbours giveaway in his zone, Binnington was primarily the sole reason the Blues were on a one-shot game entering the third period:

When the Blues finished the second period only down 1-0 and only eight shots on goal, including none in the final 15:51 of the second period, the goalie gave his team a chance.

“We would have been down 2-0 after the first,” Montgomery said. ‘Game probably would have been probably 3-, 4-0 after the second.”

Added Faulk, “Binner gave us a chance there to get back in the game.”

* Where are Blues’ top-end players – The Blues just aren’t getting the offensive production from their top-end players.

Although Robert Thomas did make a nice play finding Faulk for the tying goal on the power play at 2:18 of the third period, he has just three points (one goal, two assists) in six games.

Last year, Thomas had just four points (one goal, three assists) through six games before going on an absolute tear with 29 points the next 25 games, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and see if the team’s No. 1 center picks it up again, but he had four giveaways in this game and just one shot on goal in 21:02.

And how about Pavel Buchnevich, who had the chance to win the game in the opening moments of OT Tuesday breaking in from the left wing but lifted his backhand wide of Darcy Kuemper on the backhand. He then takes a penalty, a hooking call, on an extended shift because the Kings never lost possession of the puck; he was caught on the ice the entire time and was called for the minor at 1:26. The Kings won it at 1:50.

Buchnevich has four assists on the season, but they seem like token points in broken-play situations. Six games into the season now he doesn’t have a goal. And after having seven shots on goal the first three games, he has just two the past three, including none Tuesday despite playing 18:41 getting top-six minutes.

And we mentioned Dylan Holloway earlier in the day and Montgomery feeling perhaps like the forward is thinking too much and pressing, the stats don’t lie and he has just one goal in six games. Maybe he’s still getting himself back from that oblique muscle tear he had surgery on in the off-season, but the Blues need to get the talented 24-year-old going.

Combined, that trio has two goals, six assists.

* Snuggerud stuck on bench – You have to remember that Jimmy Snuggerud is still a rookie, and the 21-year-old got a dose of reality in the NHL when he finished the game with just 9:48 of ice time, a season-low and only a 1:00 shift in the third period; the forward, who had three goals the previous three games, didn’t play after the 4:02 mark of the third period.

“He wasn’t skating tonight, wasn’t checking,” Montgomery said. “I didn’t think it was his night.”

* Joseph is staking claim to his job – He didn’t score or produce any offense Tuesday, but forward Mathieu Joseph was once again noticeable with his grit, determination and hustle all over the ice.

Joseph had a shot on goal and two hits in 12:53, but he was once again playing in the gritty areas making his presence felt.

Oskar Sundqvist is likely to return Thursday against the Utah Mammoth, and he will all but certainly replace Alexandre Texier, who played 7:55 after playing just 5:33 on Saturday, in the lineup. When Alexey Toropchenko is healthy enough to play, who does he replace? Joseph isn’t the likely candidate anymore.

And then there’s Milan Lucic, who the Blues haven’t decided what to do with nursing a groin strain back to health. If they do sign the veteran forward, again, Joseph won’t come out of the lineup quietly, nor should he.

* Blues did fight to get a point – The silver lining is that by Binnington giving his team a fighting chance, the Blues did fight back in the third period and gain a point.

In the home opener, they wilted away and lost 5-0, and last week against the Chicago Blackhawks, they also plunged out of contention. This time, they changed their fortunes, opened the period with a key shift from the Brayden Schenn line before Philip Broberg drew a minor 39 seconds into the period to set up Faulk’s tying goal.

“It took us until the third to get going. I’m proud of how we responded in the third,” Thomas said. “That’s what good teams do. Even when it’s not their night, they find a way to keep pushing and have a great third period, give us a chance to win the game, get a point. I feel like we could have won it in the third, had some chances too. That’s what good teams do.

“Good teams aren’t going to have good nights, good starts, but they find a way to get it done at the end. We’ve just got to keep on building on that. We’ve got to keep a strong mentality, we’ve got to keep cool and really believe we’re a good team and I think we’ll find more consistency.”

* Schenn, Neighbours, Walker, Tucker step up when spark was needed – When the Blues seemed to look lifeless, some of their more grittier guys took it upon themselves to try and ignite a spark, including Schenn, Jake Neighbours and Nathan Walker all with big hits.

Then Tyler Tucker took matters into his own hands and fought Jeff Malott at the 13:42 mark of the second period.

“Just trying to create a spark,” Tucker said. “Just trying to bring something.”

* Faulk atones for egregious error that led to first Kings goal – By his own admission, Faulk made a bad mistake that enabled Alex Laferriere to score on a breakaway 1:47 into the second period to give the Kings a 1-0 lead when he was stripped of the puck exiting the defensive zone by Kempe:

“I made a pretty bad mistake there on their goal,” Faulk said. “Obviously bad turnover there in the middle of the ice. I was lucky to have a chance to get it back, but ultimately things happen. You’ve got to move on. You can’t let one mistake affect the rest of your night or a couple mistakes, you have to be a big boy and get ready for your next shift and take an opportunity when it’s there. That’s just the way it goes and hope not to be in that situation very often.”

Faulk told his teammates he’d atone for the blunder.

“Right away he said he’d get it back,” Thomas said. “Took him until the third period, but it’s a huge goal for us and that’s one of our leaders. Makes a mistake, no problem. He redeems himself.”

* Home is where the heart is (not) – Including the playoffs when the Blues won 15 in a row to close out the 2024-25 season, Enterprise Center was a house of horrors for visiting teams.

The Blues have not lost three of four (1-2-1) here and have been outscored 16-7. They just haven’t been good enough for the home crowd, and Tuesday was no exception.

“You want it to be a tough place to play,” Faulk said. “Everyone’s a little more comfortable at home. You hope that when teams come in here, they expect a hard night. They want to know what the building’s going to be like where we want to make them know what it’s like. That’s the way it is. Some buildings you know when you go in there, it’s going to be hard. We want to be a team that’s like that and take advantage of that. Teams that are tired, teams that are traveling and what not and really make this a fun place for the fans to come watch us play and a fun place for us to get it rocking.”