When Jim Montgomery was fired by the Boston Bruins five days ago, the immediate aftermath was that it was only a matter of time before the St. Louis Blues would come calling. My thoughts on Pavel Buchnevich comments after 3-1 loss to Islanders screamed of a player wanting a new voice However, had the Blues (9-12-1) started off with a better record this season, all of this may have been a moot point considering the fact the Blues gave Drew Bannister a two-year contract May 7 after finishing 30-19-5 last season. But with some of the additions the team made in the offseason, not all of them franchise-altering moves, to at least be competitive enough to be a relevant player in the Western Conference, things haven't gone according to plan. But following Saturday's 3-1 loss against the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] that dropped the Blues to 30th in the NHL in goals per game (2.36), the 13th time in 22 games they've scored two or fewer and seventh time they've scored one or fewer, Pavel Buchnevich, who has been one of the top players who has struggled offensively, had some straightforward, matter-of-fact comments postgame: Blues forward had telling comments following loss to Islanders Buchnevich didn't mince his words when speaking about the issues on offense. Remember, this was a player that was benched last season for the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-1 loss Dec. 19, 2023 after taking three minor penalties earlier in the game. "I don't know, he doesn't work on that," Buchnevich said, presumably speaking of Bannister. "We're working on d-zone. We've got to start working on offense, believing we can score. It's hard to win in this league like 2-1, 1-0. "I think we play defensively much better than last year, but it doesn't create any chances offensively. It's our biggest issues right now. (We're) probably lowest team in goals." Not lowest but close (30th, 2.36 goals-per-game), but the Blues sure looked like a much different team in the third period, despite losing. "We changed the breakout and we start playing better," Buchnevich said. "At least we got the speed on breakout. When we dump the puck the first period, we don't get the puck back and we just chasing puck around. As soon as we change breakout, a least we enter zone with speed, and then we can forecheck." As far as carrying things forward that they brought to the table in the third, Buchnevich was unsure what to expect. Of course this was all prior to the coaching change. "I don't know. We'll see," he said. "We score two goals a game. We can't win the games like that. Our goalies have to stop 50 shots every game is impossible. Our team has good players and we're (not) scoring. We've got to figure out offense. Offense is our biggest issues. Impossible to win with one and two goals. Just impossible." Buchnevich, who signed a six-year, $48 million extension prior to the season, has struggled to score goals (five) and has just 13 points in 22 games this season, was one player that certainly benefitted from Montgomery when he was an assistant coach under Craig Berube from 2020-22, putting up career highs in goals (30), assists (46), points (76) and plus-minus (plus-29) in 2021-22. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA5MjcwNjk1MDQ0MTI5OTk4/subscribe2024-tag-carousel.jpg]
