It’s just preparation, right?
Yes, that’s right, but the St. Louis Blues are still looking for their first win after being defeated 3-0 by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
It was a game that saw a number of Blues, who were down 10-4 in losses to the Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and Utah Hockey Club, once again get some excellent goaltending from Joel Hofer (two periods) and Colten Ellis; Zack Bolduc continues to seize his moments and show he belongs in the NHL, and there were a few other good performances.
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As for the good:
* Hofer/Ellis — They worked together to give the Blues another chance. Once again, I liked Hofer’s positioning, ability to grab rebounds, and playmaking ability with the puck in midseason form. He stopped 26 of 28 shots, and neither goal was the fault of backup Jordan Binnington; Hofer made seven of eight saves on high-danger chances. And Ellis makes a case for seeing more action in Springfield with another solid outing, stopping all 12 shots he faced.
Ellis is taking steps, as is Will Cranley, to create some good depth in the organization’s goaltending. Right now you have Binnington, Hofer, Vadim Zherenko, Ellis and Cranley. Not bad at all.
* Bolduc deserves to be here — Not only has the youngster benefited from playing in 25 games last season, which has left him wanting more, but he has continued to do so this season.
Bolduc was a shooter tonight, and even saying that, despite leading the Blues with six shots on goal on 11 attempts, he could do it more often. But early in the game, playing with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, he seemed comfortable there, and Bolduc was dangerous early in the game.
* Justin Faulk looked good in his first healthy game since last season. And even more promising, Faulk was solid at quarterback on the best power play unit tonight; he had five shots on goal. Faulk skated well, he didn’t have any hits, but for a first game back feeling healthy, it was a good performance in a team-leading 26:44.
* The timeless Ryan Suter looked good in his Blues debut. He was alone behind Faulk and played 25:52, taking care of Matthew Kessel, who had a couple of fumbles early in the game but a great hip check (see below). Suter had five shots and two hits, but the 39-year-old looks to be a solid addition to the blue line.
* Let’s talk about the Kessel hip check. Columbus defender Jake Christiansen didn’t see it coming and was overpowered with perfect technique.
Of course d-partner Erik Gudbranson came to defend his partner, as he was supposed to, and got a small penalty for that, but you like to see the physical condition Kessel has to play with. The coaching staff will applaud him for that.
* The power play, despite going 0-for-6, looked very good early on. The first two, almost every one, were spent in the Columbus zone. It did everything but score, but started to dwindle as the game went on. Eight shots is nice, but out of six chances you’d like to see more rubber on net.
As for the mixed results:
* This trend of not standing up for teammates simply cannot continue, and it is a problem with this group that simply has to stop. Bolduc cannot be a punching bag like he was 32 seconds into the third period by Columbus forward Sean Kuraly. It doesn’t matter if it’s immediate, like Gudbranson’s reaction to Kessel’s clean hip check, but there has to be one, and once again it didn’t. Can’t happen. There were enough players with a physical presence (Tyler Tucker?) to make a stand for one of your prized young players.
* The Blues gave up 16 turnovers in the game, with Thomas having five, including one just after the game kicked off, negating a four-minute power play when they were down 2-0 that would have allowed the Blues to get back into the game.
* Trying to find the edge that Dalibor Dvorsky has in his bid to make the opening night roster, but it just isn’t there after two games. The No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft did play 17:55 and had three shots in the game, but there wasn’t that game-changing bite tonight. Perhaps it would help to play the skilled center with skilled players and not with fourth-line wings in Nathan Walker and Kasperi Kapanen, who play different games. Dvorsky was a minus-2, winning just 3 of 8 draws (38 percent).
* Thomas (21:51) and Kyrou (20:35) both played their first game of the pre-season and there just wasn’t much in it. They combined for five goals and Thomas won only 12 of 29 face-offs (41 percent). Kyrou did block twice. Yes, it’s pre-season.
* Tucker — On Columbus’ second goal, scored by Kirill Marchenko at 15:59 in the second half, Kuraly sent the ball well through the goal area for Marchenko to slam dunk. Tucker, however, had a chance to take out Marchenko and was easily beaten.
Tucker, who was -2 and played 22:20 with three shots and three hits, fought an intense battle for depth on the blue line. He had a few good moments, but those are the moments that could determine his chances of making the roster.
Injury Update — Defenseman Scott Harrington suffered an upper-body injury during his third shift of the game and was unable to return after just 2:42.
Hear from Hofer and Bolduc after the match:
