The month of December has seen the St. Louis Blues play some very average hockey. Injuries have once again popped up and become a major issue, but the majority of the concern surrounds the team’s offense and their recent inability to find any … offense.
The Blues’ power play has been awful of late. Over their last four games, the Blues have come up empty on 11 different attempts. That stat doesn’t even tell the full story. During several of those 11 power plays, the Blues failed to even threaten the opponent’s goal. Their approach has been slow, predictable and frustrating.
Alexander Steen believes the power play is the biggest thing the Blues need to figure out in order to start righting the ship.
Steen, via STLToday:
“I think the biggest thing right now is special teams for us. The last two games, if our special teams had been a little bit more crisp, we can walk away with two wins in those two games. I think our penalty kill has been pretty consistent throughout the year; we’ve had a little lull every once in a while in that, too. I think that’s an area we feel like we can start winning games and it’s actually cost us the last two games.
The biggest thing and easiest thing to get from a power play is the momentum. To say you’re going to go out and score two out of four power plays is harder. That’s the ultimate goal, to have a high percentage power play. You at the very least want to create a larger momentum swing than we have been.”
As Steen notes, the beef should be with the power play over the penalty kill. There’s always room to improve both units, but the power play has been the uglier of the two.
Injuries – specifically the serious one to Jaden Schwartz and the not-as-serious one to Alex Pietrangelo – have played a major role in the recent slump on offense. Their absences have forced the Blues to mix and match players across different lines, including the special teams units.
Simply, the power play has to improve. It’s tough to have players missing due to injury, but it’s a fact of life in the NHL that every team has to deal with throughout the year. The larger concern should be on the overall approach – or lack of approach – seen from the Blues with the man advantage.
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