SAN JOSE, Calif. — This year’s Blues are a bit ahead of schedule.
In securing Tuesday afternoon’s 3-2 win in Seattle, the Blues accomplished something they had to wait more than two months to do last season. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ won a game in which they trailed by at least two goals.
Last year, the Blues lost the first 14 games that they trailed by multiple goals at any point. That included four in a row leading to Craig Berube’s dismissal in December. The first time they won one of those games was Dec. 16 against Dallas in Drew Bannister’s second game as the interim coach.
“You just keep going,†Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said after Blues practice Wednesday. “You know what’s happened. We didn’t have a good first 30 minutes. It just is what it is. It’s not like you can go back and change what just happened.
“You can just keep going and take it shift by shift and look for little areas to gain momentum and try and turn it little by little. Rarely is it, all of a sudden, you blink and you take over the game. A few things had to happen there.â€
Under Bannister last year, the Blues won four games in which they trailed by at least two goals, also including a miraculous third-period comeback vs. Chicago, a last-second win Calgary and an overtime victory in Seattle before the All-Star break.
But early on in 2023-24, they were one of the most predictable teams in hockey. For 25 straight games — after beating the Kraken on Oct. 14, interestingly enough — the team that scored first won the game, a streak that could have cost Berube his job in St. Louis. Across 5½ weeks, last season’s Blues didn’t score a game-tying goal.
Obviously, the one-game sample size this season tells a different story.
“(On Tuesday), we came into a rink where the team was going to have a lot of energy, the fans have a lot of energy,†Bannister said. “Even though we weren’t happy with our first period, we managed to sustain getting out of it 0-0. What was more concerning was when we came out a little bit flat in the second.
“I think I said this before: The bench was different. Guys were just (saying) ‘Stick with it, stick with it. We’ll get ourselves going here.’ Eventually, we get one goal and build off that.â€
Goaltender Jordan Binnington kept the Blues in the game early on by making 11 saves in the first period to steady a wobbly start. Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko mixed it up with the Kraken. So did Radek Faksa. And then, of course, Jordan Kyrou and Philip Broberg combined to score three goals in less than two minutes to completely change the game.
“The two scrums that happened got guys going a little bit, got guys involved,†Faulk said. “And we got a power play right after. So it’s three sequences there that started turning the momentum towards us. We just have to keep going. You have to realize that it’s all right. It’s going to happen. It’s not panic and just mail it in. There’s reasons to build.â€
The Blues also protected the lead well in the third period, shutting down the Kraken attack and limiting them to what Bannister counted as one chance from the slot during the final 20 minutes.
St. Louis outshot Seattle 6-4 in the third period. That may not sound all that impressive, but only three teams outshot the opponent (at all strengths) while leading last year: Carolina, Edmonton and Colorado.
“I just thought as the game went on, as we started to feel more comfortable, kind of build our game, we started to be more aggressive, and it was more instinct plays,†Bannister said. “Whether it’s us able to get to a forecheck which hems them in, easy breakouts, we weren’t really having to spend much time in out D-zone. A lot of it is puck management, being on the right side of the puck, getting to a forecheck to wear the other team down.â€