Pluses: St. Louis is going for the sweep of its season-opening three-game road trip. It started with impressive wins against the Colorado Avalanche (5-3 on Saturday) and the Arizona Coyotes (7-4 on Monday). Of the 12 goals, four players have scored two goals each (
Jordan Kyrou
, Justin Faulk, David Perron, Klim Kostin). In addition to Perron, who is probably the best player no one's talking about, a healthy Vladimir Tarasenko should boost the offense.
The Blues did a bit of retooling this offseason, losing forwards Jaden Schwartz, Sammy Blais and Mike Hoffman, and defenseman Vince Dunn, and adding forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad. But many players who helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2019, including goalie Jordan Binnington, remain.
Minuses: I would like to see them play with more structure. They've allowed at least one goal in five of six periods so far. And while they've scored 12 goals, the offense won't bail them out every night. The Blues also could be without Buchnevich, who had a hearing Tuesday for head-butting Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse on Monday.