Two weeks into the season, the St. Louis Blues are starting slow. Through seven games they have a 4-3 record, sitting at No. 5 in the Central Division standings.

St. Louis plays in a tough division this year that contains the Winnipeg Jets, the current No. 1 team in the NHL. The Blues lost to the Jets Oct. 22 3-2, keeping the game close against a top-5 goal scoring offense. 

As the Blues look ahead to the next few games, a few things stood out in their play so far.

A Standout Newcomer

New signee Philip Broberg has been productive, tallying five assists and six points. Broberg had a point streak of 6 games before taking on Winnipeg, scoring a goal in the Blues’ season debut against Seattle. 

Broberg most recently played on the second defensive pairing in place of the injured Nick Leddy, working alongside Justin Faulk. Broberg also played in the second penalty killing unit with Faulk. 

His scoring ranks No. 20 amongst all defensemen and No. 1 on St. Louis. After coming in through free agency in August, Broberg is proving he belongs in the top four defensive pairings for the Blues. 

Lackluster Special Teams

The Blues sit at No. 28 in power play percentage and No. 20 in penalty kill percentage, ranking in the bottom 10 in the league for both sides of special teams. This shone through when St. Louis played Minnesota on Oct. 15, as the Blues let up two power play goals and a short handed goal.

In total, the Blues have scored two power play goals this season, with both goals coming from the first power play unit. St. Louis’s penalty kill units let in 5 power play goals so far, ranking No. 15 league wide in power play goals allowed. As the Blues look forward, a troubling start shows cracks in special teams that need to be filled.

Offensive Consistency

Currently ranked No. 24 in goals for per game played, St. Louis’s lack of offensive consistency has been apparent. While keeping most games close down to the wire, the Blues need to win by several goals against teams like San Jose, who were ranked last in league wide standings. Instead, they only beat the Sharks 5-4 in overtime. 

While St. Louis has won more than they’ve lost so far, 6 out of 7 games played have been within one goal. The one outlier was a 4-1 — Blues’ loss against the Wild. Forward Pavel Buchnevich leads goal scoring on the Blues with 3 goals, ranked No. 89 in the league. As St. Louis plays harder opponents and looks to make the playoffs, they need to increase scoring consistency and frequency. 

Looking Ahead

The Blues won 5-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs Oct. 24 on the road. They began a four game road trip, finishing up with a 2-1 loss at Philadelphia on Halloween. 

Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Claire Bauer and Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com 

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com