Recap 12-26-09: Blues vs Wild

Are the Blues suffering from the dreaded Holiday Dinner coma? Where your old uncles and dad pass out on the couch watch meaningless College Football games because they ate way too much? Then the next day you’re in and out of the bathroom trying to remove 3 servings ham/turkey and all the fixings…the Blues looked about that sluggish last tonight.

The key word for fans to focus on with this game will be “frustrating”. Minnesota really took the Blues to task physically and mentally. Minnesota always seemed to have an answer for a Blues hit or scoring chance. They always seemed to have good coverage and really check the five guys on the ice very closely. If it wasn’t for great singular efforts by McDonald and Perron (ok, and a few from Mason early on) this game would have been a 5-0  or 6-0 wiping. Backstrom and Mason were not strong, but the five in front of Backstrom played much better than the five in front of Mason.

Case in point might be the 3rd Wild goal, scored by Kim Johnsson. Both Erik Johnson and TJ Oshie try for the big hit and miss. What happens? Out of position players and a Wild goal. I just laughed on the couch and wished my Coke had some adult flavor enhancers in it. Truly a comedy of errors.

The Quick and Dirty

Where did the Backes line go? – This has been the Blues top line for the last 7-10 games. The FSMW broadcast showed a statistic that those three combined for over 30% of the teams goals in the last 15 games.  This lines effort and conversions were carrying the team. Last night there was no effort. Fans are right to feel very disappointed in Backes especially. TJ kept his feet moving most of the night, but Backes wouldn’t or wasn’t able to. I am a huge Backes fan and he had a great 10-15 game run, but last night he fell off the horse. This line deserves another shot, but Backes more so than Kariya needs to get his feet moving again.

Can’t Stop the Stretch Pass – Minnesita is not well known for moving the puck. They are not Detroit, San Jose, Washington, Pittsburgh, etc. They do not boast a top notch blueline. What they do boast is a quick thinking blueline who can all make an outlet pass. Multiple times the Blues were caught on a change where Minnesota stretched blueline to blueline passes. That is something that Detrot has really perfected since the lockout. Using one forward at the offensive blueline and using him to get pressure while you change. It doesn’t always result in chances or even sustained possession. What it does do is put the puck 200 or so feet away from your net and about 10-15 from your opponents. At the very least the other team is forced to go up ice all over again.

Where Are You Chris Mason? - I have defended Mason quite often lately. Last night was another example of the team not stepping up and helping their goalie. Mason is not the guy to steal you a game just on his effort alone. Few goalies can do that. He can steal games when you give him the chance to see shots. I’ll give him a pass on the Hnidy goal, but the Johnsson and Latendresse goals are stoppable. Mason continues to slide behind poor efforts in front of him.  I know the Blues want to extend him, but the last month or so has gone far to change my mind in that regard. Anything over $3 or $3.5 million per is too much at this point. I’d have a hard time being ok with more than a 2-year deal as well.

Carlo the Inconsistent - Where has his play gone? He is becoming the Jeff Woywitka of the offensive zone. Carlo is struggling to get the puck away from the forwards covering him. He isn’t getting pucks down low. He isn’t rushing or lugging the puck. He isn’t pinching. What is he doing? I don’t know but he needs to not be paired with Weaver. Weaver should give him a safe partner to attack more often, but that isn’t happening.

The Effort of One – Was Andy McDonald the only Blues forward to give a &@^% about last nights game. He was the only forward skating with purpose and desire. He was all over the ice (as usual) attacking and creating openings. Honorable mentions go to Berglund, McClement, and Steen, but the Blues didn’t get much from anyone else. I know people questioned Andy’s contact and are so now since he had been struggling. I just don’t think you can do that anymore. The guy puts out 100% effort each game. He showed what he can do in Anaheim with a talented team, too bad the Blues aren’t close to matching that to get Andy with his full potential. He was a man among boys last night. Kudos for David Perron making a strong individual effort as well. This road trip has shown to me that Perron and Berglund deserve more ice time.

Boys vs Havlat – I thought this would be an important “match up” key producer vs key producer. Havlat was invisible…Boyes on the other hand? This was another game of minimal effort and multiple poor plays while still “earning” points. I am supposed to feel all warm and fuzzy about two secondary assists where he did none of the work? Some secondary assists are legit assists. However, neither one were on his effort. He lost several one on one battles and had at least one preventable give away. This team lacks physical play, it really does…Brad Boys is doing nothing to improve that deficiency.  I don’t mean grinding it out, but the ability to win battles and fight to get in to scoring areas. I wish some of what David Perron does would rub off on Boyes.

No time to worry about this game, which is likely a good thing. The Blues face off against the Buffalo Sabres Sunday Afternoon. Buffalo is tops in the Northeast Division and 3rd Overall in the East. Can they resolve their home ice issues? It will be a very tough task against Ryan Miller.

Blues Player of the Game

Andy McDonald

McDonald had the Blues first goal (his 10th) of the game and was the most consistent player on the ice.