ST. LOUIS – Remember when the St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] were dominant on home ice? Wasn’t that long ago. It sure as heck feels like it with the way they’ve started this season at Enterprise Center. And it was another inauspicious first period, this time against the Utah Mammoth [http://thn.com/utah], who staked themselves to a 4-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the game – thanks in large part to a Logan Cooley natural hat trick – before fending off the Blues 7-4 on Thursday. There was a push back, there was fight. It got really interesting when Philip Broberg’s wraparound less than six minutes into the third period cut the deficit to 5-4, but it was all for naught, and the Blues (3-3-1) fell to 1-3-1 on home ice. Pavel Buchnevich scored in his 600th NHL game, Robert Thomas picked up his 400th point, Nathan Walker and Pius Suter scored for the Blues and Joel Hofer was pulled for the second straight home – and overall – start. Let’s get into tonight’s observations: * Another poor first period – It’s been documented a number of times already, but the first period again was just not good enough. Coach Jim Montgomery lamented the team not starting on time Tuesday in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings. On Thursday, it was the response to the first goal scored – by former Blues first-round pick, Ian Cole, of all people, and it was a bad goal given up by Hofer (we’ll get into it below). But Montgomery wasn’t as upset Thursday despite being down four. “Actually, the first two and a half, three minutes, until the first goal was scored, it was just an up and down, even game, teams playing fast, playing hockey,” Montgomery said. “Don’t like our response after we give up the first goal. The rest of the first period was very lackluster. Then I liked the way our team played after that. We built something. We improved our intensity. Our habits got better. You’re down by four goals, it’s going to be a tough task and we got it close. Unfortunately we had opportunities on the power play to tie it up. We weren’t able to do it. They got a power play, extended the lead, and that sealed the game.” But why were the habits, the energy, playing with passion, checking, playing physical, once again an issue to start a game? The Blues have now been outscored 9-3 in seven first periods on just 29 shots. “I don't know. The first couple of shifts, it's not that bad, just a bounce here and there not our way,” Buchnevich said. “Couple penalties. It's not easy chasing the game all the time. We have to start on time and try to score first goal.” But it’s not happening, with a majority veteran group. That has to fall on somebody. “We’ve played seven games, five have been not good enough, two have been good,” Montgomery said. * Is it time to worry about Hofer – I’ll have to admit, I was taken aback when Montgomery announced Hofer as Thursday’s starter for not just a conference game but a divisional game, even with Jordan Binnington, who made 15 saves on 18 shots in relief, playing sharp the past two games. The Blues started a stretch of four games in six nights Thursday and Hofer has to play, but I honestly thought he’d get the cage Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings and Binnington goes on Thursday. Hofer would allow three goals on six shots and get pulled for the second straight game just 7:57 into this one. In his last two starts, including an 8-3 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks [http://thn.com/chicago] on Oct. 15 in which the goalie allowed seven goals on 22 shots, Hofer’s goals-against average his past two games is a ridiculously bad 10.83 and save percentage is even worse at .643. Montgomery had a word with Hofer during the game and offered no concerns that the goalie won’t rebound. “Just that he’s a really talented, young goaltender and we’re going to work out of this,” Montgomery said. ‘Just like our team didn’t play well, didn’t have a good start tonight. He’s someone that we believe in. He’s an extremely talented athlete and he’s really tough-minded. I just let him know that we believe in him and that it’s going to turn around.” But I have to be the bad guy here and dissect things. When Hofer allows another poor goal, like the one former Blue and first-round pick Ian Cole scored at 3:18 to make it 1-0, players can say all they want in the open, but after Hofer allowed multiple bad goals in the loss to the Blackhawks, seeing that one go in again has to be demoralizing: When the coach says he didn’t like the response after the first goal, it’s because the players were shaken by it. That’s their way of thinking too much and doing things out of the ordinary because they know they have a shaken teammate and it affects everyone else, and it showed. The goal that chased Hofer was Cooley’s second of the game at 7:57, one off the right side and through the five-hole, but it was evident that his confidence was shaken again. It was a stoppable shot despite the breakdown on the play leading up to it. * Home ice a house of horrors (so far) – Including the playoffs last year, the Blues won their last 15 games here. They’ve now been outscored 23-11 in losing four of five here to begin the season. “Good question,” Buchnevich said. “We've got figure out how to get out all together, watch some more videos, talk, maybe change some warmups, I don't know. It's a good question.” The Blues head on the road for two games, but it’s obvious something’s got to give. They’re allowing an average of 4.6 goals per game on home ice. “No, I mean everybody has been a professional for a long time,” Suter said. “Just get your routine dialed in and play a simple game. I don't think we need to throw the whole book away.” * Correctable errors costly – Some of you may look at Logan Mailloux’s stat line and see a minus-2 and now minus-9 for the season and say it was another bad game. But let’s be honest here, he was on the ice for Cooley’s first and second goals that made it 2- and 3-0, but the 3-0 goal is where Suter gave the puck away in the neutral zone while Mailloux was skating up ice, expecting the puck, and when it’s turned over, now he’s caught and looks like he’s out of position when he’s trying to do the right thing: “Really, it’s just all over the board, not just tonight,” Montgomery said of the mistakes. ‘But if you’re looking at the season, we’re giving up too many goals. It’s not the same line, it’s not the same D-pairing, it’s not the same people and it’s not the same part of our structure that’s failing at the moment. So right now, we’ve just got to improve our intensity. If we you improve your intensity and you make mistakes, the effort swallows that up. We just got to get back to that having 60 minutes where we just know what we’re doing and we believe in how we’re playing and we’re going. It’s just not there yet.” * Third goal result of being outworked – Already down 1-0 and having issues at the start of games, a sense of urgency should have set in. But when Cooley ripped a shot from the high slot that made it 2-0 at 6:07 that made it 2-0, it was a case of Utah winning all the races and puck battles in the zone after the Blues failed to move it out, and in the end, it was Dylan Holloway losing a 1-on-1 battle and the puck would eventually be worked to Cooley for the one-time rip from the high slot: * Fifth goal a killer – The Blues found their game in the second period, getting the game’s first seven shots and scoring twice, once from Suter at 5:58 and another from Buchnevich at 7:13 on the power play that made it 4-2 and momentum was theirs: Even though they didn’t generate at least a third goal to cut the deficit to 4-3, going into the third period down only 4-2 would have still been a better vibe for the third period. But the breakdown on Clayton Keller’s killer goal with 35.6 seconds left in the period to make it 5-2 was a bad breakdown by two players: Suter and Colton Parayko. It was an offensive face-off after the mammoth iced the puck, and despite Suter losing the O-zone draw, he was with Keller stride for stride into the neutral zone. Then he inexplicably allows him to get away, despite feeling he was grabbed, Parayko was out of position on the same side of the ice as partner Cam Fowler that opened the left side of the ice up for Keller: “He made a nice little play; felt like he grabbed me a bit, so smart play by him,” Suter said. “Then he had a couple steps and they scored.” Montgomery didn’t feel the players made it feel demoralizing despite the setback. “I don’t think it did because we came out in the third period, I thought, better than we were in the second,” Montgomery said. “We were attacking the net better. Offensively, I thought we were attacking the hard areas that we haven’t done consistently enough this year. So I was happy that we weren’t deterred by that goal because it was deflating. Definitely was deflating.” * Special teams did not come through – Yes, Buchnevich scored on the power play and it came at an opportune time, nut when the game was there to get grabbed, the Blues had two power-play opportunities in the second half of the second period with the chance to at the very least cut the deficit to one, and instead, the Blues generated one single shot and were outshot 2-1. There were shooting lanes, but as has been customary in the past, players were trying the extra seam pass, trying to get a puck in closer for the shot instead of funneling pucks to the net in search of rebounds. Bodies were not at the net in the ways the Blues needed. “We’re not converging at the net. That’s what I’m seeing,” Montgomery said. “Our eyes aren’t on the goaltender. Our eyes are on the next pass. So when you’re converging at the net, good things are going to happen because you’re going to outnumber people at the net usually. And right now we’re getting the puck and we’re coming away from the net. So we just need a little more convergence at the net, a little more desperation and urgency.” “We've got to shoot more,” Buchnevich said. “I feel like we sometimes we try to pass into the net. We have to shoot more pucks, and get more chaos around the net.” * Suter’s weird game – Suter was in the right spot when he scored his goal, near the net and in position for a loose puck, but for such a fundamentally sound player who’s been a solid pickup for the Blues, he was at the crux of a tough spot again. This time he was whistled for a delay of game, face-off violation when he grabbed the puck while falling to the ice that put Utah on the power play, resulting in Nick Schmaltz’s goal at 9:51 of the third period that for all intents and purposes, iced the game at 6-4. “Not great,” Suter said, who played just 12:56 in the game and was a minus-1 and lost four of six face-offs. “Just falling forward and get my hands in. I've got to keep them down, don't pull it back. I think it's fine if I fall on it. I pushed it back. It's a tough play by me.” * Philip Broberg was exceptional, continues to trend towards special player – Broberg was exceptional in this game for the Blues, finishing with a goal, plus-1 in 22:38. His calmness in all three zones, ability to skate and move pucks freely was evident, and his speed around the edge to score on a wraparound at 5:43 of the third to make it 5-4 was special and gave the Blues life: Broberg started the game with Parayko but played many of his shifts with Faulk but it doesn't matter who he plays with. He's making that defensive pair strong. * Walker, Sundqvist, Joseph setting example – Oskar Sundqvist debuted on Thursday after missing six games with a lower-body injury, and despite taking back-to-back penalties midway through the first period, Sundqvist had two assists, including a beauty to Nathan Walker that made it 5-3 just 2:19 into the third. His presence was definitely felt and provided the kind of identity the team will need: “He’s a great player,” Walker said of Sundqvist, who played 11:13. “I enjoy playing with him. I enjoy having him around the room and it’s obviously nice to see him back healthy again.” Walker, who was a plus-2 and Mathieu Joseph, who led the Blues with five hits, were once again menacing to the opposition. Their spark and physicality was once again noticeable and setting the tone for those that are paid to provide offense and structured plays for this team. * Fight was there – You really can’t deny the fight from the Blues. Did the start look bad? Yes. Has it been a recurring theme? Yes. But they were in a one-shot game when it looked like they were going to get blown out of the water for the third straight divisional game. The scoreline looks bad in the end, but the fight was definitely there. “You're down 4-0 after the first and I think the way we battled back was really good, showed a lot of character from us,” Walker said. “We didn't hang our heads. We stuck with it and tried to grind out a win. “Our second and third tonight is how we need start games and we're going to try and focus on that.” Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/c8c4e8a4-4299-47e6-bba4-d1ee9960e2a7.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.
