10-31-09: Blues vs Panthers

I don’t like starting off saying “I told ya so”… so I won’t. However, I’m not going to do a straight “recap” on this game. More of a general though on what’s happened lately and how it pertained to Saturday’s game.

Before we delve in to the game/trends, I want to acknowledge Tomas Vokoun. It seems that more times than not a fan is more willing to blame their own team than recognize the other. Vokoun stopped all 34 of the Blues shots, while his defenders blocked 20 shots. From my seat in 318, it looked like more than 20 were blocked. The shutout was Vokoun’s first this year and 32nd in his career. Just like Bryzgalov the game before, he was on his game at the right time.

As I said in the Gameday post, do not count Florida as an easy win. Those do not exist anymore. The compete level of every team is at 110% right now. You win games by scoring opportunistic goals and playing a positionally sound game. This is how Florida beat the Blues with minimal sustained pressure. Is there a cure for the scoring drought that produced the first back to back home goalless games since 1997?  I hope so.

The blocked shots are worth mentioning and the fact that it seemed like more than the 20 the NHL registered on the score sheet. The Blues did a fairly good job of moving the puck up ice. One obvious benefit of having Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo playing. However, the Blues are going down and coming back with too many one and done chances on net. Florida seemed to easily recognize the thee or four similar plays the Blues ran all night. The Panthers collapsed hard in to the slot and crease. Wen that happens, very few players are going to sneak a shot through six or seven bodies. Nor will a short pass from right behind the net materialize in to a legitimate scoring opportunity. Too much congestion that the Blues couldn’t break up.  This is where the Blues five man offense needs to improve. Going low to high to change up the angles. Too many pucks went in to the slot with little or no room. Get the puck out to the point and bring the forwards back out to open up the shooting lanes. I am really very tired of seeing players come down the wing and try to snipe the far corner. The puck will ring out of the zone 90% of the time and result in a turnover or lost offensive zone pressure. I have seen Brad Boyes, Paul Kariya, and David Perron do this more than anyone else. It needs to stop.

Where did the board work and support of the late playoff push go? We have the same 12 guys out there, why is it so different now? The Blues forecheck was impressive at the end of the 08-09 season. Really getting the puck in deep and pressuring the other team. So far this season (Out side of the Sweden games) the Blues have had very poor forechecking support and pressure. The forecheck is a five man effort. The defensemen to get it in and hold the line and forwards to work the action to cause turnovers. Right now the Blues are lucky if the forecheck is more than a two man effort. I’m watching guys like Winchester and wondering…where did it go?

I know teams want to play in open ice and open ice at even strength is hard to come by. Please, stop throwing asses across the ice to the opposite boards. Florida picked off several of these the same way Phoenix did. There is no excuse for turning the puck over five or so feet in from the blue line. Again, Florida had a positionally sound game and that’s why they could pick off the passes. Another one and done turnover going the other way. Another one on Brad Boyes…chip it past the defender and let your line mates work. That way you can go about looking for openings to get shots off.

Going scorless at home as a playoff potential team cannot be tolerated by the coaching staff. They get the players out there to do a job and if someone isn’t they need to be told. That way you can adjust and produce. Why then was McClement, Crombeen, and Stastny on the ice for a faceoff in the Florida zone after an icing? Why not The Berglund or Tkachuk line? If Coach wanted McClement to win the faceoff, why not put Backes and McDonald out there?

All is not lost, as we saw last season. However, the ship needs to right itself quickly. It should as TJ Oshie and Barret Jackman are to return soon. Pietrangelo will have some hiccups, but is playing well overall. As much as I liked the idea of the Brewer-Pietrangelo pairing, it’s starting to look like a failed experiment. Both players have picked the other up on mistakes. Then again the majority of goals scored against the Blues have involved that pairing on the ice. Brewer doesn’t quite look up to game speed yet. I’m hoping to see the pair split and have Polak with Brewer and Weaver with Pietrangelo. Once Jackman returns pair him with Pietrangelo.

Did anyone take notice of some of the Panther’s players? Denis Seidenberg had a very good game. He notched a goal on two shots on goal while blocking 3 and ended up a plus-3 in 20 minutes of even strength time. Want to know why Carolina was not playing as well, his departure is a reason why. I am a big fan of Seidenberg from watching the Pens play the Hurricanes the last couple seasons. Seidenberg is a good player who is under the radar. Was silently pulling for the Blues to send a little after Jay McKee was bought out to bring him in. Nathan Horton had a pretty good game as well. Both are key players who need to step up for Florida while Dav id Booth is out had good games. I really feel hockey fans under estimate the Panthers. Watch out for them if they are healthy and Vokoun keeps them in games. They can make it in, they nearly did last season.

Overall the Blues effort was there, but the fine tuning isn’t. One or two key breakdowns are killing their chances to win games. The only solution is more games and more experience. Sometimes teams take a step back. The Blues rewarded Murray with an extension this summer, it’s time for him to find a way through and turn the ship around faster.