No, the St. Louis Blues are usually not scoring targets proper now. Sure, it was only one play. Nevertheless it was a play that value St. Louis not less than some extent, possibly extra.
Bobby Brink’s redirection with 3:01 remaining despatched the Blues to their third straight loss with a 2-1 defeat in opposition to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Middle on Thursday.
Jordan Kyrou’s misplaced puck within the impartial zone proved to be a deadly because the turnover got here again to the Blues aim, and Brink redirected a Joel Farabee saucer feed to the web previous Jordan Binnington to ship the Blues (5-6-0) to their third straight loss during which they have been outscored 15-4 to conclude a four-game highway journey.
It was fairly a turnaround from a recreation 48 hours earlier during which the Blues had been fully embarrassed by the Ottawa Senators, 8-1, and will have earned a greater destiny when Nathan Walker, a wholesome scratch the previous three video games, scored within the third interval to offer the Blues some life.
The Blues competed exhausting on this recreation, they skated, checked, obtained pucks in and went to labored, received pucks again and obtained our bodies to the web.
However the backside line, apart from the expensive blunder from Kyrou — he was not less than producing some offense and had two posts within the second interval — the highest guys on offense nonetheless aren’t producing and it is obtained the Blues underneath .500 for the primary time this season, and all three losses on this journey got here in opposition to groups at .500 or worse.
Binnington, who relieved Joel Hofer on Tuesday, made 19 saves and was sharp within the recreation.
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The Blues had a pleasant begin to the sport however fell behind 1-0 when Garnet Hathaway put away a backdoor tap-in at 11:12 of the primary interval when the Blues forwards had been stick-checking by the impartial zone and allowed Ryan Poehling to bounce by and into the Blues zone, the place Matthew Kessel, as an alternative of stepping up and placing a physique on Poehling, backed off to the facet and Scott Perunovich, as an alternative of holding his place on the bottom, curled over making an attempt to remove the stick-handler and left Hathaway alone for the backdoor play.
The Blues’ penalty kill was sturdy on this night time going 3-for-3, however the energy play, though the second generated some momentum, was 0-for-2 and did not provide a lot inn the way in which of offense with the Blues getting solely two pictures on aim.
The Flyers blocked 24 pictures, because the Blues’ build-up for offense had some steam, however Flyers skaters had been getting in taking pictures lanes, or shooters are a fraction late getting pucks off sticks.
Nevertheless, Walker lastly broke the dam on Samuel Ersson within the Philly internet when he got here off the bench and completed a Philip Broberg move off a shot to the underside of the left circle at 9:58 of the third interval to tie the sport 1-1, the Blues’ first 5-on-5 aim in 145:56. Broberg now has a career-high 9 factors (two targets, seven assists) in simply his eleventh recreation with the Blues.
It was a chess match the remainder of the way in which till Kyrou tried going 100 miles an hour with the puck and as an alternative of taking part in it in and permitting he and his linemates to go to work, he over-skated it and the Flyers had been off the opposite method with Brink beating Ryan Suter to the web to redirect it previous Binnington.
The Blues obtained a puck into the blue paint late and had our bodies there however could not get it previous Ersson for the sixth-attacker aim.
Hear what coach Drew Bannister and gamers needed to say postgame:
“[Right now] the errors are amplified and it’s not simple to get out of those little slumps, so we’ve set to work for it.”
Nathan Walker, Philip Broberg, and Drew Bannister converse to the media following Thursday’s recreation in Philly. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/80TLZR9rnK
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 1, 2024