Mornin’, St. Louis. Travis Weigel here, and I'm tellin’ ya, I barely warsh’d the sleep outta my eyes before I was thinkin’ about last night. I know a lot of ya probably fell asleep after that second period, thinkin’ we had it in the bag, right? Well, the Islanders, bless their hearts, decided to play spoiler and snatched a Farty-Far win from us in overtime, 4-3. We absolutely peppered their goalie with 49 shots – I mean, we were practically makin’ toasted ravioli outta the puck in their zone – but it just wasn’t enough. Snuggerud, Broberg, and Holloway all found the back of the net, and that second period felt like old times, like the Enterprise Center was gonna explode. But then… well, then the third period hit, and it was a gut punch.
I’m still tryin’ to figure out what happened in that third, and honestly, the mood in the city this mornin’ feels about as gray as the Arch on a cloudy day. We had a two-goal lead goin’ into the final frame, and then two quick power-play goals from Ritchie and Horvat, just a minute apart, tied it up. Barzal, that little sneak, he got the overtime winner for the Islanders. I ain’t gonna lie, hearin’ that horn sound after a loss like that, especially at home after outshooting them by so much? It just… it leaves a bad taste, kinda like eatin’ provel plain. We gotta figure out how to close these out, because we were *right there*.
Now, what does this all mean? Well, we’re sittin’ at 25-29-10 with 60 points, still seventh in the Central, and way down in the Wildcard race. We’re on a one-game losing streak, albeit in overtime, and we’ve gone 5-4-1 in our last ten. Every single point matters right now, and givin’ one away like that, especially at home, it just stings a little extra. We gotta shake this off, because the schedule ain’t gettin’ any easier. We can’t keep playin’ like we’re waitin’ for the other shoe to drop. We gotta play like we *know* we can win, like we *know* we can make a run. And if you know, you know — Play Gloria.