St. Louis Blues Start Mike Yeo Era With Win

The Yeo Era Begins for the St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues started off the Mike Yeo Era with a big win. But how much of this was because of Yeo?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Yeo made some changes during practice, but he couldn’t have done that much in a day could he? The Blues looked better last night than I think they have all season, other than maybe a select few games, which is a huge turnaround from Tuesday night.

Last night’s team could make the playoffs. The team that played on Tuesday can’t, and they won’t. But that’s why they fired Ken Hitchcock, isn’t it?

The Blues that played on Thursday night will easily be able to string some wins together, which this team needs. It has been way too long since the Blues won a few in a row.

The Blues fixed up their defensive issues that have shown recently, which really helped Jake Allen in net. The penalty kill was great as usual, stopping all three attempts from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are No. 1 in the league on the power play.

Yeo did not change any lines before the game, leaving them the same as Hitchcock left them, but the players seemed happier to be there tonight. Now whether that was because of the score or the chemistry of the team with Yeo, I don’t know.

Many of the Blues seemed to mesh really well Thursday night, especially the line of Paul Stastny, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Jori Lehtera. The trio combined for a +4 rating, boasting two goals from Stastny.

Before the game, the Blues watched the great Bobby Plager speak during the retirement of his No. 5 jersey, which was very fitting, as the Blues ended the game with a 5-1 victory.

Feb 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (55) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs as defenseman Nikita Zaitsev (22) skates away during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports