When you look at the St. Louis Blues’ 5-2 loss against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday at Bell Centre, the first thing that fans pointed out following the impressive 5-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs was, “Yeah, but can they sustain it? Can they do it against teams below them in the standings?”
That was one of the bugaboos for the Blues last season: losing to teams well down in the standings.
Yes, it’s early, but the Canadiens had lost four in a row (0-3-1) while being outscored 20-9, including three straight home losses and getting outscored 17-6, including a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Canadiens coach Marty St. Louis was left answering questions about his young defensive group in particular, one that allowed high danger looks and attacks off the rush but one that plays with plenty of speed.
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Get into a track meets with the Canadiens, do so at your own peril.
But this loss wasn’t about getting into a track meet. It was the Blues simply not matching the desperation of a team that was down on the ground ready to be kicked again.
For whatever reason, the Blues didn’t come out to play with the intensity needed to match a team desperate for a response.
The Canadiens used the first shift in the game to play get a puck in and work it in the Blues’ zone. The Blues didn’t match the physical intensity needed and the Canadiens fed off the momentum despite blowing a 2-0 lead.
Here are my takeaways from Saturday’s loss:
