I wouldn’t give the Blues a gold star last night, but they were good enough to deserve it. However, I just cannot reward them too much for not bringing in two points in a winnable game. That said, I still take the one and fly down to Atlanta.
The challenge last night was going matching the Flyers speed and physical play. The Eastern Conference seems to have a reputation for being softer than the West. Not sure I buy in to that so much anymore. The Flyers pushed the Blues on each end and for once the Blues really pushed back. The board play was there, the support was there, and most importantly the speed was there. The Blues kept moving and the game had a pretty decent flow even though there were 9 power plays. Power play…we’ll get back to that later. That is a whole blog in itself.
Impressive once again was the line of Lars Eller, Patrik Berglund, and TJ Oshie. For the second night in a row they were arguably the Blues best two-way line. They worked the boards and cycled fairly well, while still being able to make that nifty little play in the zone to create space. It was a very nice blend of work ethic and skill. There really can be no complaints about Eller. He really reminds me of Sidney Crosby in a smaller guy getting to the front of the net to fight for goals. Yes, the “cross-check” on Scott Hartnell with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd period was a bad choice. Then again, Hartell embellished that some. Eller worked over three pretty big names in Philly in Chris Pronger, Mike Richards, and Hartnell. He seems to have no problem getting his nose dirty. Speaking of embellishing, Dan Carcillo got what he deserved for being a drama queen, then skating after Keith Tkachuk.
The Blues were a little too open down the middle at times last night. One of the highlights of the night was Richard’s laser tape to tape pass to Hartnell. Richards was at the top of his own crease and shot it up ice right on the stick of Hartnell at the Blues blue line. I had to double take because I swore that was Pronger. The FLyers were able to get multiple stretch passes on the Blues. It was cut down on as the game progressed, but the Flyers were able to use it often.
The Blues transition “felt” better last night. The passes seemed smoother and more accurate. The good player movement the Blues had helped them to get the puck up ice pretty well against a good team. The forwards looked better in transtion than the defensemen did last night. Not to say that the forwards did all the work, but the forwards were more noticeable in transition last night than the defenseman. Eric Brewer did have a nice end to end rush…yes you heard that right. That’s two games in a row for him.
The Blues defense handled the Flyers pretty well. I know that sounds odd considering the Blues gave up 36 shots on goal, but the defense man good plays when they needed to. Brewer had his best game since he returned from injury. Daryl Sydor was steady as was Roman Polak. This was not Erik Johnson’s best game, nor was it Alex Pietrangelo’s. While it wasnt their best, it wasn’t their worst. The defense in general was stable and good enough to get two points.
Paul Kariya had his best game since returning from Sweden. A much needed positive sign for the Blues. Karoya is expected to produce for his $6 million a year price tag. After Sweden Paul has disappeared more and more. Kudos to Coach Andy Murray for removing Paul from the power play and putting him with Jay McClement and BJ Crombeen. AS the broadcast team alluded to last night, it seems like whoever is on left wing with those two plays well. Kariya used his speed and skill to get multiple scoring chances. He also worked the boards well, something you wouldn’t expect out of a smaller guy like Kariya. Maybe Murray will get Brad Boyes on that line if he continues to struggle. It was nice to see the shootout goal from Boyes, but his play before then still wasn’t up to level. You can see little flashes of improvement, but he just isnt there yet. The effort is getting better, so maybe getting that goal moneky off his back will help.
Can we ever say enough good things about Mason while he has been in St. Louis? I don’t think so. I know i said the defense handled the FLyers well and I think they did for the most part. Hwoever, Mason rose to the occasion when needed all night. No save better than the partial breakaway by Hartnell. Hartnl went backhand to forehand on Mason, trying to slip the puck between Mason’s skate and the near post. The move was similar to Oshie’s shootout goal versus Chicago last season. Mason got his right leg on the puckand kept it from going over. Unfortunetly that was also the play where Polak was upended and flipped over Mason. Romans calf hit the crossbar rather hard and it appears he injured his calf or ankle on the play. He was helped off the ice and didn’t return. Mason continues to lower his GAA and raise his Save %. Nice stats and poor goal support…sound familiar?
As I said in the Gameday blog, watch out for Richards. He came at Boyes late in the game as he crossed to the middle to take a shot. I know Richards doesn’t have a prior record and he is supposed to be an upstanding player. However, it seems like he is going out of his way to look for the open ice hit lately. He did it at least twice last night. Maybe someone needs to give him a little love tap reminder?
The shootout was won on a goal by Mika Pyorala as he took Mason to the cleaners high glove side. Most of the Flyers shooters did. The book on Emery looked to be go stick side, too bad we ran all right handed shots out there. Makes the shot difficult when the stick is on the goalies right as well. Excellent shot by Brad Boyes, but the Blues had 3 other lack luster attempts by David Perron, Oshie, and David Backes.
Tough one for the Blues to “lose”, but a point is a point. You take all you can get on the road and move on to the next game. The Blues will play the Ilya Kovalchuk-less Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday. The Blues need to be looking for two points as key players are set to return.
Blues Player of the Game
Chris Mason
Chris Mason stopped 35 of 36 shots in a Shootout loss to the Flyers.
