Panthers 4, Blues 0 – Blanked Again

“Oh no! We suck again!” O.K. so that is stretching the truth, but the Blues have now been shutout in back-to-back games and have yet to show any consistency. 12 games in and we have no idea what to expect this season. The Blues currently sit at 5-6-1, with 11 points, placing them last in the Central and 13th of 15 in the West. While the team does have a game in hand on a few teams, the bottom line is that the Blues have come out of the gates this season slow and apparently unable to finish on their scoring chances.

Playing at home is supposed to provide an edge to the home team, but so far the Blues have failed to capitalize in the Scottrade Center. Through six games on the Scottrade ice, the Blues are an ugly 1-5-0. On the road they are a stellar 3-1-1. Why the disparity and what is causing it? Are the Blues pressing in front of their home fans? Are the players mainly to blame due to injuries and the team leaders not stepping up? Or is a something coaching related? The most frustrating part of the year so far is we don’t know what the cause is and thus we don’t know what we need to fix.

Where to point the finger. Simply put, I think the blame can and should be spread across the team as a whole. Very few players have stood out and played well this season. In my view, the goaltending has been the best aspect of this team so far, but they are not getting any help in front of them.

Last night the team let in two goals in the first and found themselves behind early once again. For the second game in a row, amassing shots wasn’t the Notes problem. The team fired 34 shots at Vokoun but were once again kept off the score sheet.

While last night was filled with ghosts, screams and monsters, the scariest thing for a Blues fan is the awful .500 hockey we are seeing. Perhaps expectations were too high or perhaps this is just a trend the Blues will buck soon. Either way, the team needs to remember how to play at home and transition their impressive play on the road over to the Scottrade Center.