Will the Blues Bounce Back for Game 2?

For the first time in the history of the NHL there is playoffs and regular season being played at the same time. Thanks to Covid the Scotia North Division is playing one last meaningless game between Vancouver and Calgary. Bottom line is there is hockey, for now. The St. Louis Blues and GM Doug Armstrong issued a statement about discrepancies in Covid test results relating to multiple players. There are three players in COVID protocol including David Perron, Nathan Walker, and Jake Walman. Walman is fully vaccinated and I want to highlight that you can still catch Covid even after being fully vaccinated.

By the time I finish writing this the NHL might have a new update but to my understanding there will be more tests this afternoon. Depending on the results game two might be postponed. With Covid outbreaks during the regular season and non playoff teams still playing there is a possibility some of these playoff games are postponed. Regardless what happens this vague statement from the Blues is not a good sign.

Despite the loss in game one, I think its safe to say that Jordan Binnington is dialed in. The Blues need to get some offense going to help the net minder otherwise we might see some brooms. Jordan Kyrou scored the only Blues goal and it was a beauty.

Scorpion Save! 🦂 #StanleyCup @binnnasty | @StLouisBlues pic.twitter.com/lXxqxXdOtV
— NHL (@NHL) May 18, 2021

Jordan Kyrou's first career #StanleyCup Playoffs goal was an absolute beauty. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/tLfsk0JCKk
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 18, 2021

End of Game 1. Jordan Binnington wants to fight Philipp Grubauer. pic.twitter.com/H5SmdaBLul
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 18, 2021

The Blues have what it takes to beat Colorado but can they actually do it? I love the confidence coming from captain Ryan O’Reilly who guarantees a series win. This statement comes before David Perron was put into Covid protocol and I wonder if O’Reilly would have said this after knowing Perron wasn’t going to be available.

O'Reilly on Colorado: "We know that they have a lot of talent over there and they work hard. But for us, it's an exciting challenge. We're going to have some fun and we're going to beat them." #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 14, 2021

O'Reilly said he spoke w/Perron briefly: "I think he's a little frustrated as well. We kind of talked briefly, but I think we all know it's just such a bad bounce. There's not much you can do about it and we have to stick with it and get through this while he's gone." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) May 16, 2021

Binnington, O’Reilly, and Schenn are going to bring their best but some of these other guys on the roster need to step up if the Blues want to win game two. Jordan Kyrou needs to maintain that offense and score another goal. I need to see Parayko step up on the backend because we need more from him. Sammy Blais needs to bring that heavy hitting edge because Colorado is going to come back even stronger for game two.