The losing continues. The St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] certainly made it interesting in the end, but it was too little, too late and it is a seventh straight loss, this time 3-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets [http://thn.com/columbus] at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Saturday. The Blues have now fallen to 3-7-2 on the season and 0-5-2 in their past seven games. It's their longest such streak since they lost eight in a row (all in regulation) at the start of the 2022-23 season (Oct. 24-Nov. 8, 2022). Justin Faulk and Nick Bjugstad scored goals for the Blues, and Joel Hofer lost his third straight decision (four starts). Let's look at Saturday's game observations: * Where was second half of third period passion earlier in the game -- The Blues threw the kitchen sink at Columbus goalie Jet Greaves pinned into his net, getting 16 of the final 18 shots, including the final eight, of the third period, including the goal by Nick Bjugstad that cut the deficit to 3-2 with 10:13 remaining in the period. They were relentless, they were hunting down pucks and converging in the right areas of the ice. But the question begs to be asked: where was this relentlessness when the game was on the line n the second period when the Blues had all but four shots on goal throughout the second period until a flurry of three in the final minute when they were down a goal and when they established zero forecheck and barely were getting pucks through the neutral zone? Where was this passion at the start of the third period when a push was needed down a goal? Again, they played passive, and Columbus played like the more desperate team when they needed to be desperate to try and end their losing ways. It's just another example of a group not being able to put together a full game and they will now march forward more than two weeks since their last win, which was ironically arguably their only complete game from start to finish, a 3-1 win [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/observations-from-blues-3-1-win-vs-stars-for-first-home-win] against the Dallas Stars [http://thn.com/dallas] on Oct. 18. The Blues had so many chances there at the end, Bradyen Schenn with the best look with 2:36 to play, and Philip Broberg moments before that had a seeing eye puck hit off the nearside goal post and stay out. Mathieu Joseph had a breakaway off the left edge earlier in the period that was another Grade A scoring chance that Greaves, who by the way is 3-0-0 in his career now against the Blues having stopped 99 of 104 shots on goal, was up to the challenge. Yes, we can throw out there until we're blue in the face that Robert Thomas (upper body) and Jake Neighbours (lower body) are out of the lineup, but the Blues aren't the only team dealing with injuries. They're trying to build this thing back the right way. They took steps Thursday that should have resulted in two points. There needed to be more of it earlier in the game, and it just wasn't there. * Scored first for the third straight game, can't build on it -- The Blues had a solid start for a third straight game when Faulk's wrister from the edge of the right circle 3:37 into the game and led 1-0: It came off a good forecheck from Dylan Holloway and Oskar Sundqvist, who made a nice pass for his third assist in two games. It followed up leads they had on the Detroit Red Wings [http://thn.com/detroit] when Schenn gave them a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the game before losing 5-2 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/observations-from-blues-5-2-loss-vs-red-wings], and Holloway gave them a 1-0 lead at 3:23 of the first against the Vancouver Canucks [http://thn.com/vancouver] Thursday before falling 4-3 in a shootout [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/observations-from-blues-4-3-shootout-loss-vs-canucks]. Their inability to follow up with either good shifts or to build on leads is becoming an alarming trend of late that's contributed greatly in this losing skid. On Saturday, the lead lasted 1:01 when Charlie Coyle tied it 1-1 on a net front battle in which the puck caromed into the net off Faulk, who by the way now has seen three goals go into his own net off him: It followed trend in which the Blue Jackets were much sharper on forechecking, killing plays and gaining zone time because the Blues just weren't as sharp with the puck and putting it in areas where they could go to work as they needed to despite 14 shots in the first period. Columbus had 17 and Hofer, who has had three straight poor outings, was sharp, including making a key save on an Isac Lundestrom shorthanded breakaway late in the period: * Listless second period -- The Blues were creating little to nothing in the middle period, and once Zach Werenski put Columbus ahead 2-1 at 11:55, it marked the second time in three games in which the Blues scored first but ultimately would trail by goal at 2-1: There just seemed to be no mojo from a group that talked desperate, of being tired of losing. Again, they were never able to put pucks in deep and establish any kind of forecheck. Offense was non-existent it almost felt like a one-goal lead for the Jackets (7-4-0), who have won four in a row and six of seven, would be more than enough. There were too many east-west plays that got picked off and prevented any kind of checking period until the very end of it. * Encouraging game from Hofer -- Let's face it, Hofer wasn't good in his three previous starts, getting pulled from two of them. He had allowed 15 goals on 43 shots and just didn't look confident. He was much sharper in this game and was only beaten by two net front goals, including what turned out to be the game-winning goal by Sean Monahan at 5:07 of the third period and the Werenski's goal that went through him because he was screened by Broberg: Hofer kept it a one-goal game in the second period when the Blues had little to no push. If the goalie can build on that performance, it should bode well moving forward. * Big game for Nick Bjugstad -- Not only did Bjugstad take advantage of a Boone Jenner turnover and score his third of the season at 9:47 of the third period to make it a 3-2 game, but the fourth-line center was all over it in this game, and was a catalyst for that third period push: Bjugstad played 14:16 and was a plus-1 in the game but led all skaters with seven shots on goal, which is the most in a game since he also had seven on Jan. 13, 2024 with the Arizona Coyotes [http://thn.com/utah] against the Minnesota Wild [http://thn.com/minnesota] on nine attempts. Bjugstad had tipped a Broberg shot earlier in the period that Greaves got his body in front of that nearly tied the game and was implementing that large 6-foot-6 body in the middle of the ice and along the walls forechecking is a good sign moving forward. Bjugstad now has 20 shots on goal for the season but 13 of them have come in the past three games, so he's acclimating himself to the style of play and systems with the Blues more and more. Very encouraging. * Other noticeables -- Holloway had himself a nice game again and had six shots on goal himself and was a plus-1 in 19:28 of ice time, as did Sundqvist and linemate Pius Suter. That trio was creating positive shifts early and late. He wasn't so much a standout but I thought Dalibor Dvorsky had another productive game with one big shot on goal that again required a strong save, this time by Greaves. He was strong on the dot again winning eight of 12 face-offs and is now 17-for-25 in two games, having played 15:16 on Saturday. Blues have got to find ways to get the puck on his stick in shooting positions more often, because he's certainly not afraid to grip it ad rip it. * Special teams battle was costly -- They usually help make the difference between winning and losing, but the Blues were 0-for-2 on the power play, including one seconds after Bjugstad gave them momentum cutting the deficit to one, and by allowing Monahan's goal, it marked the ninth time in 12 games the Blues have allowed at least a power-play goal and are 27th in the league at a woeful 69.7 percent. That just isn't going to cut it, and is a trend that's seeped over from last season despite improvements in the second half of the season: Was the Nathan Walker hooking ticky-tack? Yes, especially since Alexey Toropchenko was obstructed moments before that and play was allowed to continue, but still, go out and kill the penalty. Oh and by the way, that was Columbus' first power-play goal this season on home ice (1-for-17). And by not taking advantage of either power play despite six shots on goal, it was a missed opportunity since Columbus is actually worse than the Blues on the penalty kill at 28th in the league (67.7 percent). Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/d78b533d-0259-4f6f-bd2a-e806e7d10a4c.jpeg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
