ST. LOUIS _ The last time the Blues met the Florida Panthers, way back on Oct. 12, St. Louis scored the game's first goal only to watch the Panthers romp to a 5-2 victory.
A similar thing happened Tuesday at Scottrade Center. St. Louis scored the game's first two goals in the first period, only to watch Florida take over and romp to a 7-4 victory before 18,783.
The Blues' defense has been the one constant this season, but not lately. The Blues have allowed 17 goals in their last three games _ all losses _ a season-high total for any three-game stretch this season.
Part of that undoubtedly has been due to shoddy defense. On Tuesday, most of the Panthers' early goals came right in front of the St. Louis net. But with each goal, you could see goalie Jake Allen's confidence slipping. He was pulled at the 16:37 mark of the second period, after Vincent Trocheck's goal made it a 5-3 lead for the Panthers.
He replaced by Carter Hutton to the cheers of the crowd at Scottrade.
Any hopes for a comeback faded when Colton Sceviour scored a short-handed goal _ the fourth against the Blues this season _ 13 minutes into the period for a 6-3 lead. Tage Thompson scored his third goal of the season for St. Louis, but then Trocheck scored again into an empty net to take any suspense out of the finish.
The Blues head into their bye week at 26-17-3; Florida improved 18-18-6.
