Yahoo Sports Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway Shine Bright For Blues
The first night of the season was a bit of a tough one for the Oilers.
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Not because they lost -- they didn't even play on Tuesday. But Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, who signed offer sheets with the St. Louis Blues over the offseason, have gotten off to good starts with their new team.
The pair both got onto the scoresheet in Tuesday's opener against Seattle. Broberg scored the second goal of a 2-0 Blues comeback that featured three goals in just under two minutes, while Holloway provided a secondary assist on the goal.
Holloway had an excellent game, splitting time between the Blues' top line with Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours and the second with Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou (who scored the other two St. Louis goals).
This is just the latest in a run of good play for Holloway, after notching three goals in his first two pre-season games. If he can continue to outplay Alexandre Texier at left wing, he could easily become a fixture on the first line in St. Louis.
Broberg had a tougher game to analyze. Of course, scoring a game-tying goal is huge, and his positive game score according to Natural Stat Trick reflects that. But other outlets weren't so glowing in their praise: According to MoneyPuck, Broberg's pairing with Justin Faulk had a truly awful expected goals percentage of 23.1%. Broberg's individual xG% came in at 23%, as well.
Now, neither expected goal numbers nor regular back-of-the-hockey-card stats are reliable after one game -- it is just one game, after all. The Blues certainly wouldn't give back Broberg's goal in exchange for a better xG%. But it'll be something worth keeping an eye on as Broberg tries to rejuvenate an old and weak St. Louis blueline.
It's all good for St. Louis right now, though, as they win their first game of the season by a score of 3-2. Broberg and Holloway will face their old team for the first time when the Blues visit Edmonton on December 7th.
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