Blues head coach Hitchcock fed up with club's slow starts
St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock isn't happy with the way his team has been starting games lately.
Hitchcock used an expletive, and some unflattering imagery, to describe his club's slow starts during its recent slide.
Ken Hitchcock on Blues' recent starts: "The shits." Imagine what he'd say about #Canucks starts. VAN allowed 1st goal in 23/31.
— Iain MacIntyre (@imacVanSun) March 30, 2015
The Blues have failed to score a first-period goal in each of their last five games.
St. Louis has only allowed three goals in the opening frame over that span, but they've lost four of the five contests by a combined margin of 14-7.
Their opponents on Monday night, the Vancouver Canucks, have allowed the first goal in 23 of 31 games, as the Vancouver Sun's Iain MacIntyre points out.
However, the Canucks have the third-highest number of wins (18) after allowing the first goal. The Blues are tied for seventh in the league with 14.
Despite their early-game woes, the Blues sit second in the Central Division with 99 points and the Canucks are second in the Pacific with 91.
Whether or not the clubs rectify their first-period issues in time for Monday's game remains to be seen, but at least we know the rest of the game will be exciting.