Biggest problem reared its ugly head again: not generating enough offense, refusal to funnel pucks to the net when traffic is there; when chances are there, not burying them with regularity; goaltending is trending up
It was a microcosm game for the St. Louis Blues: play the right way defensively but not generate nearly enough on offense. And when they do create quality scoring chances, not bearing down on them enough to make a difference between winning and losing.
The Blues found themselves in one of those knockdown, drag 'em out fights against a stingy New York Islanders, a game in which scoring would be at a premium for two teams struggling to score goals.
St. Louis got the goaltending from Jordan Binnington but for the 13th time in 22 games, the Blues scored two or fewer, and for the seventh time in 22 games, they scored one or fewer in a 3-1 loss to the Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.
It's becoming a recurring theme for this version of Blues hockey: start slow, fall behind, make a push, goaltending keeps them in games, only to fall short.
It's a recipe for little to no success, and it's enough that can bring forth change since the narrative hasn't changed much through 22 games, but that's a story for another day.
As for this game, here are the three takeaways:
* Not generating offense early enough -- For a team and players that spoke on Friday prior to leaving for this pre-Thanksgiving trip to the New York metropolitan area that they need to generate more offense and doing it from start to finish, the Blues missed the memo on Saturday.
They didn't generate much of anything for two periods, and most of the game to that point was played at 5-on-5, and all the Blues seemed to do was dump pucks in and not establish any kind of forecheck to win pucks back.
And when they did, there was too much hesitation to get those pucks to the net when they established a net front presence, particularly from Jake Neighbours, who scored the lone goal on the power play in the third period.
A lack of shooting has gone back quite a bit with this group, and it still doesn't seem to resonate that a shot-first mindset would be greatly beneficial, especially when it's a roster without a sniper/game breaker like Vladimir Tarasenko was.
Until that mentality changes where these skaters consistently are searching for the perfect shot and coming away with nothing, things aren't going to change.
* When Blues get Grade A chances, still not burying them with regularity -- As the game wore on and the Blues were gaining the Islanders zone with speed rather than just dumping pucks, they were creating quality scoring opportunities, but once again, they're not burying those chances.
Just off the top of my head: Nathan Walker, Matthew Kessel (2), Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, all had Grade A scoring opportunities that weren't put away.
Of course, there's a goaltender there (Ilya Sorokin on Saturday) than has something to say about that, but the Blues find themselves in these predicaments, it seems, most nights, and when you're scoring 1-2 goals per game, this one was no exception.
The Blues last time the Blues scored four goals without the benefit of an empty-net goal: Oct. 24 at Toronto. Almost a month to the day.
* Jordan Binnington is heating up -- Let's just say goaltending wasn't the issue on Saturday, and for the Blues, that's a wash, rinse, repeat formula.
Binnington has put together four straight quality starts and five of the past six.
Heck, Islanders captain Anders Lee alone could have netted himself a hat trick in this game had it not been for the goaltending.
If Binnington allows three or fewer goals per game, the Blues should give themselves a chance, and of the 30 shots he faced on Saturday, he was only beaten by a Kyle Palmieri wrister from the high slot after a P.O. Joseph giveaway, and in the slot from Brock Nelson all alone on the power play.
But this was another game in which the goaltending gave the Blues a fighter's chance.
* Listen to coach Drew Bannister, Pavel Buchnevich and Justin Faulk following tonight's game:
