Watching the Blues from my couch this past week has been... well, it's been a lot. If you're looking for consistency, you came to the wrong team. We went from getting absolutely demolished in Chicago, to staying competitive but falling short on the road trip, and then finally—FINALLY—putting together a complete game at home. Let me break it down.
The week started rough on January 7th when the boys traveled to Chicago and got absolutely steamrolled 7-3 by the Blackhawks. Seven goals. SEVEN. It was painful to watch through my TV screen, and I can only imagine how it felt for the guys on the ice. The special teams were a disaster—Chicago went 3-for-4 on the power play while we couldn't capitalize on any of our five chances. That second period was brutal with four unanswered goals, and honestly, after the third one went in, I knew it wasn't our night. The loss snapped what looked like a decent little streak we had going, and it felt like we were right back to square one with all those same issues that have plagued us all season.
The road trip didn't get much better. On January 9th, we dropped a 4-2 decision to Utah, and then the next night in Vegas, it was another 4-2 loss to the Golden Knights. Both games followed the same frustrating pattern—we'd hang around, show some fight, but just couldn't get over the hump. Against Utah, we kept clawing back after going down, with Sundqvist and Buchnevich getting us on the board, but Nick Schmaltz was just on fire for them with two goals and an assist. The Vegas game on the second night of a back-to-back was tough too. Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours scored, but Mitch Marner (yeah, he's a Golden Knight now, weird to see) and Mark Stone were too much to handle. Watching Mark Stone extend his goal streak to seven games was impressive, but man, did it have to be against us?
But then came Monday the 13th, and finally—FINALLY—the hockey gods smiled on us. Joel Hofer put on an absolute clinic with a 33-save shutout against the Carolina Hurricanes. Watching Hofer stand on his head all night was exactly what we needed after that miserable road trip where we only scored seven total goals. Nick Bjugstad returned from injury and scored a huge shorthanded goal to break the scoreless tie, Dalibor Dvorsky added another, and Jimmy Snuggerud finished it off on the power play. Shutting out a team like Carolina, who had been rolling with a five-game point streak, felt like a statement. For one night at least, everything clicked—the defense was tight, the forecheck was relentless, and Hofer didn't let a single puck past him. Coach Montgomery called it the smartest game we've played all year, and from the couch, I couldn't agree more.
So here we are: 1-3 over this stretch, sitting at 18-21-8, still searching for that consistency that'll turn this season around. The offense is still sputtering (dead last in the league in goals per game at 2.48, yikes), but that Hurricanes game showed what this team is capable of when everyone's dialed in. Now we just need to do it more than once every four games. Let's hope this is the start of something and not just another false hope. Until next time, Let's Go Blues!