Game Notes: St. Louis Blues @ Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers face another tough opponent on Saturday afternoon when they host the St. Louis Blues.
1. The Blues are unbeaten this season, but have only played two games against a pair of weak opponents, so there aren’t many conclusions we can draw about the team yet this season. They won their first game of the season last Saturday by a score of 5-2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets and they beat the Seattle Kraken in overtime on Wednesday.
2. Last year, the Blues finished third in the loaded Central Division behind the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild with a 49-22-11 record. They beat the Wild in six games in the first round and they lost to the Avs in six games in the second round, accounting for half of Colorado’s total playoff losses.
In two games, seven different Blues have already scored a goal. Tarasenko and defenseman Justin Faulk lead with two goals each while Schenn, Kyrou, Barbashev, Buchnevich and rookie Jake Neighbors also scored.
4. The Blues lost one of those 20-goal scorers this offseason when Perron signed a multi-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings, but the other eight are back. The hope in St. Louis is that 2020 first-round pick Jake Neighbors can internally offset some of Perron’s production. Neighbors scored 45 points in 30 regular season games for the Edmonton Oil Kings last season and added 17 points in 19 playoff games as the team won the WHL championship.
5. The other significant loss the Blues suffered in the offseason was the departure of Ville Husso, the team’s unsung hero in 2021-22. Husso came out of nowhere and supported the Blues while starting keeper Jordan Binnington struggled with inconsistent play. He posted a .919 save percentage over 40 games and cashed in as a free agent, signing a three-year, $14.25 million contract with Detroit. His replacement is Thomas Greiss, 36, who had an .891 save percentage in 31 games for the Red Wings last season.
6. Greiss could play better for a stronger team, but it’s essential for the Blues that Binnington has a rebounding season this year. He stopped 23 of 25 shots in the Blues’ win over Columbus and he stopped 32 of 35 shots in their win over Seattle. Not the strongest competition, obviously, but a good start for Binnington.
seven. The Oilers have allowed four goals against in each of their last three games. They were able to beat the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, an impressive performance against a team that is usually very good at keeping the puck out of its own net, but you can’t always rely on five or six goals to win games. matches. The Edmonton blue line needs to calm down and stop giving the other team so many quality looks. Breakout passes need to be crisper, then defensive zone coverage needs to be better.
8. The season streak between the Oilers and Blues was marked by high scores last year. Edmonton won the first meeting in St. Louis in November with a 5-4 victory, the Blues won at home in late December 4-2 when the Oilers tested positive for COVID-19, and the Oilers won their first game in Edmonton in March by a score of 6-5.
That’s at least four goals conceded in every game against the Blues last year. The goal for Saturday afternoon should be to allow no more than three. It would be a big win for a struggling blue line facing a team with a strong offense.
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