Blues rue missed opportunities in loss to Lightning

ST. LOUIS --The St. Louis Blues are used to injuries altering their lineup. It's happened a lot this season. But playing the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL's best team, without forward Jaden Schwartz and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester was too much to overcome.
It would've been easy to blame their 3-0 loss at Scottrade Center on Tuesday to those injuries. They were missing Schwartz's firepower (35 points) and Pietrangelo's and Bouwmeester's leadership and minutes (25:45 a night for Pietrangelo, 18:18 for Bouwmeester). But missed opportunities were what hurt the most.

Vladimir Tarasenko semi-whiffed on a shot in the second period. Vladimir Sobotka missed a wide-open net, his shot skimming through the crease, and on the ensuing shift Nikita Kucherov gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead. The Blues had several 2-on-1s that ended without a shot or with one pass too many. And when the Blues did connect, Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy denied them on every chance.
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Frustrating? The lack of finish was. But Blues coach Mike Yeo was hesitant to criticize his team, which had the bulk of the opportunities.
"Yeah, guys competed hard tonight. I thought for the most part we limited them to not a lot of quality scoring chances," Yeo said. "Our [penalty kill] was good. We knew we'd have to play tight and we did that. We created turnovers, generated opportunities. There are some nights when the goalie deserves credit. That guy's pretty good."
Yes, Vasilevskiy was good -- he made 32 saves for his third shutout of the season -- although some Blues said they could've made things tougher on him. Forward Alexander Steen said they played along the perimeter too much, and goaltender Jake Allen said they "made it pretty easy for him." While there may be some debate regarding the opportunities and quality, the Blues agreed about the lack of finish.
"We've been scoring a lot of goals this season," Steen said. "But tonight, we needed one of those dirty, gritty goals and it was there for us if we just earn that next percentage."

Yeo said prior to the game that he would rather not talk about injuries. But considering how many the Blues have had this season it's been a tough conversation to avoid. Bouwmeester missed the first 21 games with a fractured ankle sustained in training camp.
Forward Patrik Berglund missed the first 24 games following left shoulder surgery in June. Steen missed the first six with a hand injury, and forward Robby Fabbri will miss the entire season with a knee injury.
And yet the Blues have played well. They are 21-9-2 and lead the Central Division by three points over the Winnipeg Jets. Their 44 points are second in the NHL to the Lightning's 46.
"It's unfortunate," Allen said. "You wish they were in your lineup but that's the way it goes. We can't feel sorry for ourselves and people won't feel sorry for us because we're missing three of our top players. We have good depth, guys stepped up. We really didn't miss too much of a beat."
The Blues were disappointed but not overly upset about the loss to the Lightning. They liked their overall game. They liked how they limited the Lightning on quality scoring chances.
"I mean, obviously the game is always made up of a bunch of little plays and we had some opportunities we wish we had back, [Vasilevskiy] made good saves too," Yeo said. "We gave ourselves a good chance. We didn't finish, we didn't capitalize. But if we keep playing like that we'll get good results."