Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images Back in 2008, way before SB Nation became part of Vox Media, Brad Lee asked me to start writing a weekly column for Game Time. Tuesdays With Hildy looked at an issue of the week facing the Blues, handling analysis with careful thought and consideration. Or something. I’m not really sure what it did, but it was interesting enough that in 2013, as the lockout wound down, Brad passed the website baton to me. Over nearly a decade, I’ve always tried my best - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - to make Game Time an engaging place for you to visit and read about ..read more

Can the Blues turn around a sinking ship? To say that the Blues’ play as of late has been uninspiring is being very generous. Mired in their longest regulation losing streak since Craig Berube took over as coach, the pressure is on for this team to play as well as they did during the first three games. Brandon Saad is still out for tonight, but the team has options, and they’ve chosen to exercise them. From stlblues.com, here’re tonight’s lines: Forwards Schenn - O’Reilly - Kyrou Buchnevich - Thomas - Tarasenko Neighbours - Brown - Barbashev Toropchenko - Acciari - Pitlick Defense Krug - Faul ..read more

Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images What is going on with this team? It’s been a while since Blues fans have been treated to a stretch of play this putrid. What began as a good effort loss to the Winnipeg Jets last week has slid into an absolute dumpster fire in which it looks like the Blues are actively trying to lose games. Their 6-2 loss against the Nashville Predators was bad, but their 7-4 loss on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens was atrocious. A blown 3-1 lead slid into a meltdown that was absolutely inexcusable, home ice or not. Hopefully coach Craig Berube was able to ..read more

Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images What lines will we see tonight against the Habs? If you saw the news that Pavel Buchnevich was activated from the IR and got very happy about the prospects for tonight’s game, well... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be in. He’s getting one more game’s worth of rest before returning Monday night against the Los Angeles Kings, and honestly, a healthy Buchnevich is worth one more game out. Will that make a win against the Montreal Canadiens harder for the Blues? Who’s to say? The Predators were struggling before their 6-2 vi ..read more

Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images Does this mean that scoring reinforcements are coming? The Blues’ offense has been sputtering thanks to the absence of Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad. Thankfully, part of the missing pieces are returning tonight. The Blues have announced that they have activated Buchnevich from the IR, and will be sending Josh Leivo down to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Buchnevich has only had the opportunity to play in one game, the team’s opening night win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He may not be in the lineup tonight against the Canadiens, and with the full ..read more

Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images This could be a tougher task than the Blues expect. The less said about the Blues’ humbling 6-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night the better. Goaltending was a mess of flubber and kicksaves straight to the opposing team. Defense, which has been strong through a bulk of the Blues’ season so far, followed the goaltending, making for discombobulated scene. The offense, which shone through the Blues’ first three games, has been nearly absent their last three. The Blues last three games have declined from a generally good effort in Winnipeg to a ..read more

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports Once on a five game losing streak, the Predators erupted to punish the Blues. Brayden Schenn blasted a one-timer into the roof of the net to make the score 2-1 midway through the second period. The Blues looked like they may break the game wide open against a Predators team on a five game skid. Instead, Schenn’s goal was the last time the Blues looked remotely interested in scoring for the remainder of the game. Absolutely Schenn-sational. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/dvylU4icm1 — St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 28, 2022 The Blues stalling on of ..read more

Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Blues wrap up their back to back against a struggling Nashville squad. The Blues, after losing two in a row to the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers, get to play another game tonight. The languid pace of the start of the season has evaporated, and despite the fact that the Predators have stumbled out of the gate they’ll still be a difficult opponent for the Blues tonight. Tonight’s a brief interlude on the road before the Blues return for a three game homestand, welcoming the Canadiens on Saturday, the Kings on Halloween, and the Islan ..read more

Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images After two losses in a row, the Blues’ goalscorers can’t seem to buy a goal. The Blues, after a strong three game winning streak to start the season, have started to falter. Two games, two back to back losses, and one goal. That’s where they’re at now as the pace begins to pick up. Tonight is the team’s first second game of a back to back, and it’s against a team that gives them fits - the Nashville Predators. The Jets always play the Blues heavy, and it works - St. Louis couldn’t even get a puck past Connor Hellebuyck. The Predators in recent years h ..read more

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports Despite 38 shots and a stellar performance from Binnington, the Blues come up short against the Oilers. On paper, the Blues should have walked away with at least a point from their second matchup in four days against Edmonton. The Blues fired 38 shots at a backup goalie, were the more physical team, and successfully killed all three power plays. Despite this, the Blues came up short in a 3-1 loss. The Blues started sluggish and gave up an early goal. Six minutes into the first period, Jesse Puljujarvi deflected a shot from Darnell Nurse to beat Jordan Binnington. Wh ..read more