Pre-Scout: Are the Blues as bad as their seven-game losing streak suggests?

The old saying from Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Parcells infamously goes, “You are what your record says you are.”

Well, the St. Louis Blues are 3-8-2, losers of seven straight games. Coach Jim Montgomery called out the team’s defensive errors last Tuesday against Detroit as “shocking.”

“It’s shocking, to be honest. The amount of Grade-A chances we’ve given up… something ugly is rearing its head every game,” he told reporters.

They hung around with Vancouver on Thursday, but captain Brayden Schenn punted the puck into the corner on his shootout attempt, and the Canucks won on the next shot. They outshot the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, but Jet Greaves stopped 36 shots, and a couple of bounces went Columbus’ way for a cannon-firing night in Ohio.

When things go wrong, they go wrong in a variety of ways for this Blues team.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for St. Louis this season. After some momentum from last year’s seven-game war against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, many thought this could be a playoff team again — maybe even one that could host a round.

What no one anticipated was that the Blues would have arguably the worst goaltending in the NHL (with Ottawa right in contention, too), as neither Jordan Binnington nor Joel Hofer has been able to provide the big save.

Binnington and Hofer rank fifth and sixth worst in Goals Saved Above Expected as of Sunday, according to Moneypuck. JFresh on Twitter has the Blues as the sixth-best 5v5 Expected Goals Against per 60 — but collectively, they’re dead last in Goals Saved Above Expected in all situations… by a lot.

The goaltenders are struggling, but the big defensive lapses, as Montgomery says, aren’t doing St. Louis any favours.

A big defensive mistake and the goalie can’t bail you out — sound familiar, Oilers fans?

At the very least, Montgomery thinks their game is trending in the right direction, despite the losses stacking up and the team losing ground in the tough Central Division.

“We’re trying to stay in the moment. That’s the way we always are with our process. And right now, the last two games, our process has been good, and as we continue to improve upon it, the results will come,” he said after the loss on Saturday.

The Blues need the big boys to step up

But are they really that bad?

They’ve got talent, but some of their hottest forwards are missing time due to injury, and no one has more than four goals right now.

The team has missed Robert Thomas, who led them with 81 points a season ago. He’s missed four games and is still listed as day-to-day. Former Oil King Jake Neighbours reached a career-high 46 points in 2024-25 and had seven points in eight games before being placed on IR.

Jordan Kyrou has finished between 67 and 75 points in each of the last four seasons and, at 27, leads the team with eight points. Someone needs to lift them out of the mire and find a way.

Jimmy Snuggerud was discussed as a Calder Trophy dark horse following an impressive NCAA career with the University of Minnesota and his playoff debut. He’s been one of the few bright spots, converting four goals.

I’d be most disappointed, though, with Pavel Buchnevich. He’s on a $48 million contract spread over six seasons and has been pedestrian (2G, 4A). Last season was his lowest point total in four years with the Blues (57 points), and at 31, he’s a player who needs to lead the way. Instead, he’s minus-eight, and there have been just as many games where he’s been on the ice for more high-danger chances against than for.

Then again, some advanced metrics suggest they’ve been unlucky offensively. After Saturday’s game, St. Louis sat fourth in expected goals, eighth in Corsi percentage, and seventh in expected goals for, according to Moneypuck.

What about those former Oilers, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg?

Holloway has six points and leads all forwards in ice time across all situations, averaging 19:23 per game — a full 2:34 more than his career high last year. Montgomery clearly trusts him.

Philip Broberg has often been paired with Colton Parayko, and they’ve charted well 5-on-5. We remember how he started last season with a six-game point streak before cooling off after an injury, finishing with 29 points. Defensively, though, the numbers suggest he’s been reliable.

Both Holloway and Broberg are arbitration-eligible RFAs and will command much more than the bargain contracts the Blues inked them to after snatching them from Edmonton.

Notes:

• Pius Suter is providing some secondary offence, tied for second on the Blues with seven points. Following a career-high 46-point season with Vancouver, he and Oskar Sundqvist (five assists in six games) are chipping in.
  Former Oiler Nick Bjugstad has three goals, nearly halfway to his total of eight a season ago, his seventh NHL team.
• St. Louis took a chance on disgruntled prospect Logan Mailloux. Twice an AHL All-Star, he’s struggled mightily defensively and was scratched Saturday. So far, Zach Bolduc is making Montreal look like the early trade winner.
• The Blues’ power play? Pretty good at 23.5 per cent. The penalty kill? Not good, below 70 per cent.
• Veteran Milan Lucic was gaining steam on a PTO, but through injury was released. The club said they’d “circle back,” but this could’ve been the last chance corral for another former Oiler.
• Head-to-head, Oilers vs. Blues is pretty even lately, with Edmonton winning six of the last ten. The Oilers are 2-1-1 in their last four games at St. Louis.