It is hard to say what exactly the cause is. It could be the fact that Brian Elliot has not played to the level that he did last year. Or it could be that the Blues' defense is not playing as it durin the team's hot start.
Whatever it is, I believe the season rests on the pads of Jaroslav Halak.
During the four game losing streak, the St. Louis Blues have allowed 21 goals and in their previous 7 games they allowed a total of 14 goals. More pucks are finding the back of the net with Elliot in net.
Halak is a better goaltender than Elliot, period. Elliot was fantastic last year as a back-up goaltender. But, when Halak went down in the playoffs, so did the Blues.
Is the four game losing streak all Elliot’s fault? No, but he is not helping the matter.
In Halak’s five games this year he has faced a total of 72 shots and Elliot has had 107 shots find the crease while on the ice. More pucks are finding their way to Elliot than Halak.
The defense as a whole has seen a dramatic drop off during the past four games. In the previous seven games, St. Louis goaltenders were facing the least amount of shots per game in the entire NHL.
I believe this horrible losing streak is attributed to an entire team effort. The offense is not controlling the way zone they once did. The defense is struggling to control its own zone. Finally, Halak's presence in the pressbox and not between the pipes has helped contribute to this horrendous stretch.
The Blues need to get back to want was making them successful early on.
The presence of Halak back in net will help as well.
If not, it could be a long, short season.
Anthony Wiber is a columnist for StlSportsMinute.com and is a main contributor on The Cruddy Show (@CruddyShow), a St. Louis sports talk show that airs on Tuesdays and Fridays at 9:30 pm CT. You can follow Wiber on Twitter as well (@AWibes).
