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Look, there were legitimate gripes.

In the Blues’ home opener Tuesday, they scored a goal that wasn’t counted as a goal. And the refs made some other controversial calls.

But if this was the unveiling of the “next-step Blues� to the home fans, it appears they might’ve actually lost a step. No, I’m not predicting gloom all season long. But four games into this, the Blues have logged periods in which they were off and others they were awful.

Consider that the Blues have trailed by two goals or more in all four games.

Consider that Jake Neighbours doesn’t yet have a point (and is minus-5).

Consider that, suddenly, Nick Leddy is looking like a liability (though the struggling defenseman did miss practice Wednesday with a lower-body injury, so perhaps that affected his performance).

The home opener should’ve been a statement.

First of all, the Wild missed the playoffs last season and don’t seem to be a playoff team on paper this season. Second, the Wild were without two notable players in captain Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek, who scored 30 goals last season. Third, the Wild only played with 11 forwards, forcing some Minnesota line-mashing.

Fourth, it was the home opener! But the Blues didn’t match the crowd’s energy when it mattered most — in the third period, ºüÀêÊÓƵ didn’t have one high-danger scoring chance, per the site Natural Stat Trick.

And yep, the Blues lost, 4-1.

“I think there are still some areas in the game where we could have probably tightened up — and kind of put more pressure on them, even,� said defenseman Justin Faulk, whose Blues are 2-2 heading into Thursday’s home game against the Islanders. “I think we’re a little sloppy with the puck coming out of our zone and just kind of coming through the zone and whatnot. We probably could have put our foot down a little bit more, knowing they were a shorthanded group tonight, just 11 forwards, and a couple of their top guys were injured. So just thought there was more to be had there tonight.�

And on the power play, the Blues didn’t even look like they had an advantage.

“I thought (the Wild) did a good job at controlling the blue line and not letting us get in with, really, any possession,� Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “Sometimes you just have to put it in (deep in the zone) and go get it back. We didn’t do a very good job at blue line.�

As for Neighbours, he has just six total shots on goal in the four games. He tallied an eye-popping six hits in the first game but three total in the next three. And look, Connor McDavid doesn’t have a goal this year, either. But it sure would be nice for Neighbours to get a net-front goal to boost his confidence.

Overall, the Blues had a bevy of scoring chances in the Minnesota game — but they missed the net a frightening 20 times. And Minnesota effectively blocked shots at ill-opportune times.

A stat to follow closely this season is based off a stat from last season. In 2023-24, the Blues were 10-29-4 when the opponent scored first. Minnesota scored first in the home opener this year.

And the two-goal deficits have been the biggest alarms of the 2024-25 team. Sure, of course, give the Blues credit for their crazy-exciting comebacks in the wins at Seattle and San Jose.

But in the Minnesota game, ºüÀêÊÓƵ did not respond well to adversity. Every time they were dealt a blow, the Blues seemed to lose steam. The refs became opponents.

A good hockey team is fueled by adversity. Odd that we saw it in some of the road games but not the home game.

Now, OK, there have been a few positives for the boys in blue. And the Blues’ biggest exclamation point has come from one of their bigger question marks coming into the season: Jordan Kyrou. In my season-opening column, I wondered if the kid had the mental and physical strength to become an elite player (and score 40 goals)? Well, he has two goals already, as well as four assists (for a team-high in points). Kyrou has been active and aggressive. And he was the one who had the goal stolen Tuesday — the puck wasn’t covered by the goalie, but the ref blew the whistle, just as Kyrou thwacked the puck in the back of the net.

Meanwhile, the defensive pairing of Philip Broberg and Faulk has exceeded expectations. Heck, Broberg has a point in each of the four games. Yes, Broberg’s late high stick essentially sealed the game for the Wild. But this pairing is a reassuring situation, notably because the other marquee defensive pairing has been brutal.

And the ºüÀêÊÓƵ fourth line has been a net positive, even finding the back of the net. And credit the feisty Nathan Walker, who had the wherewithal at Seattle to start shoving an opponent to show that the Blues, indeed, had some fight in them. Soon after, linemate Alexey Toropchenko got into an actual fight. And the Blues, down 2-0, mounted their first comeback.

But maybe that was the signal that something was up. In the very first game of the whole season, it took a couple of second-period scraps from fourth-liners to fire up the whole team.

Moving forward — and if ºüÀêÊÓƵ wants to move forward into the playoff picture — the Blues need to be fired up by “home of the braveâ€� (or “we stand on guard for theeâ€�).