ST. LOUIS --We can sit here and discuss Michael Markovic and Kyle Rehman until everyone's noses turn blue.
Yes, the officials in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win by the Boston Bruins over the St. Louis Blues were not good to say the least, but to say they were toe sole reasons why the Blues lost at Enterprise Center wouldn't do this game justice.
The Blues (21-18-2) fought back three times to at least salvage a point and for the first time in eight tries, they didn't lose a game in regulation trying to go over .500 this season. As a matter of fact, it's the first time in 11 tries the past two seasons in that scenario they haven't lost in regulation, which is a bonus.
But unfortunately, we have to talk about a missed non-call, as blatant as the Tyler Bozak trip in Game 5 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final that led to the Blues' 2-1 win, that helped Boston gain a bit of measured revenge.
Of course it doesn't mean anything close to what happened then, but we'll get into the missed call in a moment as we take a look at the three keys to why the Blues ultimately didn't earn a second point here tonight:
1. Too many turnovers -- The Blues had a good start in this game despite falling behind 1-0. They were on top of it in the first period and had a territorial edge in play.
But from the second period on, it was giving pucks away way too easily that fueled Boston's transition game and forecheck that led to lots of sustained zone time and prevented the Blues from playing in the offensive zone.
Charlie McAvoy, who scored the controversial OT goal, benefitted from a lost puck in the neutral zone by Alexey Toropchenko that fueled the goal that gave Boston a 2-1 lead.
"The first period we were pretty good in doing those things (winning wall battles and puck battles)," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "It wasn't a clean game for us, but they're a good hockey team. I didn't think we had a great second period, but we managed to get out of it. We had some extended shifts in the d-zone, at times, we didn't manage the puck well enough, we didn't support the puck well enough. I thought we got better in the third period at that, but certainly, we took a step back in the second period. It wasn't our best period. I thought we played well in the first and we managed to get our game back in the third, but there was still times that I didn't think we managed the puck well."
2. Poor, untimely penalties in third period -- In a tight game, staying disciplined against a top-tiered power play is crucial.
When the game was 2-2 in the third, Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist took penalties at untimely times that led to Boston's go-ahead goal by Brad Marchand to make it 3-2.
Schenn's hooking minor at 6:38 got the ball rolling, and then Sundqvist's interference on Kasperi Kapanen's shorthanded breakaway at 7:25 gave the Bruins a 5-on-3 for 1:13.
Marchand scored 18 seconds later on a one-timer from the right circle.
"I thought the two penalties we took in the third, we've got to be smarter in those areas," Bannister said. "We put ourselves in a tough position."
Was the call on Sundqvist soft?
"I think it might have been a bit of a soft call on 'Sunny'" Kapanen said. "They're not really in the play and I don't think he did much there. Same way goes for them. The penalty they [Hampus Lindholm] took on me ... it might have been a little soft too so I guess they kind of evened it out there."
Sundqvist, who scored the power-play goal to make it 3-3 in the third, owned up to his penalty.
"I put the team in a bad spot," Sundqvist said. "I don't really think it's a call, but I shouldn't put myself in that position in the first place. He's not going to catch 'Kapi' anyways. ... Happy to be able to get one back for the team."
3. Bad officiating -- Some might ask why not make this the top key? It wasn't really.
It had a direct outcome on the game, yes, but to say it was the sole reason the Blues lost is not fair.
But let's get right into it.
The Bruins (25-8-9) had the puck for most of the start of overtime after winning the puck, but Jordan Kyrou was able to get a steal along the defensive zone boards, flip it forward to Thomas, who was trying to split between David Pastrnak and McAvoy and was about to. But he was so blatantly tripped by Pastrnak, McAvoy took the puck back on a 2-on-1 against Torey Krug and beat Jordan Binnington high stick side.
Thomas put both arms out towards Markovic between the penalty boxes, and his response was putting his arms out as to say, 'What,' doubling down on his incompetence on the play.
Just admit you screwed up, or say you missed it, and move on, but that was such a bad look. And Rehman must have also been in la-la land because he had no clue what was going on either.
And it cost the Blues the chance at an extra point.
"It's disappointing the way it ended," Bannister said without criticizing the officials. "I don't need to comment on it that much guys, to be honest with you. I think the replays said enough. I've only been here five weeks. I'm smart enough to know I can't comment on certain things."
"It's easy to look at the replay and see something, but it's tough on those guys to kind of see it live action," Blues center Kevin Hayes said. "I'm sure if it was the other way, we would have been happy that it didn't get called. It's a tough way to lose for sure."
