ST. LOUIS — The Blues’ offense has lacked stability in the opening moments of the season. Ryan O’Reilly missed four games because of COVID-19. Brandon Saad did too. Brayden Schenn missed his third game on Thursday with an upper-body injury that is likely a hand or a wrist. Pavel Buchnevich missed two games because of a suspension, and most of a third. Torey Krug may be a defenseman but he also quarterbacks the power play.
So it’s no surprise that the Blues’ offense has lacked consistency in that window. In the five games leading into the Blues’ early-season showdown with a revived Nashville team, they had scored no more than two goals in four of the previous five games.
The Blues got to three goals in regulation on Thursday, two by Jordan Kyrou and one by Vladimir Tarasenko, to send the game into overtime, the second game in a row and the third time in the past five that 60 minutes couldn’t settle matters. Nashville’s Matt Duchene scored 2:01 into the extra period to give Nashville a 4-3 win and continue a Blues’ streak of alternating wins and losses that has now hit eight games.
