St. Louis Blues: 3 keys to victory in Game 4

After a tough loss at home in Game 3, the St. Louis Blues will be looking to bounce back and tie the series back up. Here are three keys to victory in Game 4.

Game 4 is a critical game for the St. Louis Blues. After a tough 7-2 loss on home ice in Game 3 to the Boston Bruins, they need to bounce back and regain some momentum in the series.

Goaltender Jordan Binnington needs to recover from his tough night, where he allowed five goals on 19 shots and the team in front of him needs to regain composure before they get sunk by the Bruins’ potent powerplay. Here are three keys to victory for a pivotal Game 4:

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3. Clear the lane

Three of the five goals that Binnington allowed were deflections. Those are out of his control and it is the responsibility of the team in front of him to clear the lanes so that he can square up properly to the shooter. His team needs to do a better job of tying up their opponents’ sticks and keeping them out of the slot. With massive defencemen like Colton Parayko and Alex Pietrangelo, clearing out the lanes should be no problem and it would make Binnington’s life much easier.

2. Shake it off

Game 3 was only the fourth time in Jordan Binnington’s career where he let in 5+ goals and it was the first time he’s ever been pulled.

That is a tough blow for him, but luckily for the Blues, the previous three blips that he endured were followed by strong performances where he didn’t let more than two goals. He has shown time and time again that he has a mind of steel and the Blues need him to bounce back because without him, the whole team sinks.

With a goaltender like Tukkaa Rask on the other side, Binnington needs to outplay him if his team wants to win the game.

1. Specialty Teams

The Blues surrendered four powerplay goals on seven chances. The Bruins’ powerplay has been lethal against the Blues and they scored four PP goals on just four shots. That’s not to say that the Blues aren’t getting their chances. The Bruins committed 8 penalties but only surrendered one goal. The Blues powerplay and penalty kill units are no match for the Bruins and they need to play as much even-strength minutes as possible.

St. Louis needs to keep their composure and stay out of the box at all costs because if not, they will get burnt.

The Blues need to win this game. They need to go back to Boston with the series tied up 2-2. Going back to enemy territory down 3-1 is a recipe for disaster. St. Louis needs to pull out all the stops for Game 4 or else the series is almost all but over.