The St. Louis Blues
opened the preseason with a 2-1
shootout loss against the Dallas
Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday.
The
Blues were 0-for-3 in the shootout (Dalibor
Dvorsky, Justin Carbonneau, Dylan Holloway),
and Sam Steel’s only goal in the first round proved to be the
difference. Carbonneau’s power-play goal was the only goal for the
Blues.
Here
are some observations from the game:
*
Binnington looked strong – Not that it’s any surprise, but Jordan
Binnington looked like he was in mid-season form.
His
save on Steel pushing from his right to left on a backdoor play in
the first period was the best save of his 19 after facing 20 shots
through two periods.
He
only allowed a Mavrik Bourque goal at 14:33 of the second period off
a one-time slap shot from the left point and rebound in front.
His
puck-handling was smooth, a strength of Blues goalies transitioning
pucks to the defensemen for smoother zone exits. A good sign.
Colten
Ellis, who took over for Binnington in the third, made a tremendous
save on Adam Hryckowian with just over three minutes remaining to
keep the game 1-1.
Blues
goaltending depth is anything but little.
*
Carbonneau didn’t look out of place – Besides the power-play goal
the 2025 first-round puck scored, the 18-year-old had some
particularly good shifts in the first period with linemates Dylan
Holloway and Dalibor Dvorsky, making a couple subtle plays off the
walls enabling Holloway to get some strong looks at the goal.
It’ll
be interesting to ask, but his goal looked like a combination
look-off from the left circle after taking a point pass from Logan
Mailloux 50 seconds into the second period to feeding Aleksanteri
Kaskimaki, who was positioned at the left side of the post.
This
kid has such a good shot that should only get better and more
assertive as he matures and gets the reps at this level, but I was
impressed with some of the puck-making decisions he made.
*
Walker/Toropchenko still got it – Nathan Walker, who just signed a
two-year extension on Thursday, and Alexey Toropchenko will – and
should be – a staple on the Blues’ fourth line this season and
they exhibited some of those traits in this game with good, strong
sticks, breaking plays up, killing plays and at the end of the first
period, drawing a penalty with an extended zone time shift.
Walker
showed why again he is a fan favorite, getting into a scrap just 4:21
into the game with Hryckowian.
That
line, along with 2022 third-round pick Kaskimaki, handled itself well
in the small areas of the ice.
Kaskimaki did have one hiccup on an ill-advised play in overtime that was picked off in the middle of the ice on an outlet that led to Carbonneau’s penalty. He will be seeing that one in video.
*
Mailloux looked sharp – What I like about Mailloux is his
no-hesitation putting pucks to the net from the point, and being
precise. He did a solid job in that area on Saturday.
But
what stood out for the 22-year-old was such a strong, defensive play
he made in overtime when the Blues were killing a penalty, with
Carbonneau in the box for tripping, killing a play that ended with
the Stars only getting one shot during a 4-on-3, and that defensive
stick was a large reason why the Blues were able to kill it off.
It
shows the confidence the coaching staff has in putting the defenseman
in those situations to see what he can do, and it was truly a moment
that will be shown to him through video on what to do correctly, and
do well.
Mailloux,
who was second behind Philip Broberg (26:15) in time on ice at 25:29,
didn’t have any shots on goal, but his willingness to get pucks
there, whether they get knocked down or not creating rebounds, should
be a benefit for the forwards when he’s on the ice to get to the
front of the net.
* Broberg, Holloway were strong – Holloway made his return to the lineup for the first time since tearing the abductor muscle off his hip on April 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins playing with Carbonneau and Dvorsky, finishing with a forward-high 22:09 of ice time and one shot on goal.
Broberg looked like he’s taken his game to the next level. He looked smooth, assertive and was a great complement on a pair with Mailloux, leading the Blues with a team-high four shots on goal, including a couple of poised plays to the backhand in the middle of the ice. A strong showing.
*
Some of the young guys looked the part – There were plenty of young
players in this game, and there will be teaching moments off of it
for the coaching staff, and the second period was a strong example of
the Blues playing too much in their end, getting hemmed in and not
making smarter decisions with the puck.
The
Stars outshot the Blues 12-4 in the second and 13-4 in the third
(34-15 for the game) in large part to the Blues not being able to
manage pucks well enough at times and another reason was not being
good enough on face-offs. The Blues won just 15 of 46 on the dot and
were chasing the puck a lot as a result.
