Recap 12-27-09: Blues vs Sabres

Frustrating and inconsistent.

Those are the two words that describe the St. Louis Blues the best this season. Last night’s three goals against third period is a continuance of the SSDD play of the Blues.

Usually a loss gives you quite a bit to go over, however so much of what went wrong has been said before.

Blues cannot find a consistent effort.
They struggle to move the puck up ice at times.
Certain players are loafing around the offensive zone.
The goalie can’t make a big (or simple) save at a key time.
Too many shots off target or in to the chest of the goalie.

What was new were two very costly mental mistakes by forwards.

Case #1 – Brad Winchester
The Blues are changing lines and did it rather slowly in the second period. Tim Kennedy received a home run pass from Chris Butler at the Blues blueline. Winchester is back with Barret Jackman covering the play. Winchester is caught watching the Butler pass as Kennedy enters the zone. He pulls up inside the line and slides the pass right between the Blues defenders to Grier rushing in. Winchester was napping or though that another defensemen was back. That was not the case. Grier gets an easy tip in to make the game 2-1 Sabres.

Case #2  Alex Seen
Alex Steen had a solid game before a gaffe in the third. While on the power play he and Colaiacovo were backing up to cover Grier coming down the right wing. Alex Steen over pursues and bunches up with Colaiacovo on the right wall. There is no third man back checking for the Blues so Tim Connolly joins the play. Grier maintains control and finds a wide open Connolly who proceeds to do a shootout move and beats Conklin. This made the game 5-3 Buffalo and made it just about impossible to get the game to OT.

These two mental lapses cost the Blues two goals. Two goals that could have won on the game or assured at least a point. Instead the Blues lose their 12th game on Scottrade ice this season in 19 total games. Pointwise the Blues have taken 12 out of a possible 38 points at home. Last season the Blues were 23-13-5 at home, taking 51 of a possible 82 points (62%). Where did that team go?

The effort was there for the most part, at least at even strength. The team did work hard and I was surprised how evenly the board battles shook out in the end.

The conversions were there, to the tune of three goals. Then again chances were missed. None bigger perhaps than the Brad Boyes “whiff” in front of an open net. It’s not the first time his “scoring touch ” has failed him in transition lately. I will tell you right now there is something up with Boyes. He is no where near the player he was last year. He isn’t dynamic. He isn’t working hard for pucks (that has improved some). He isn’t working at the same speed as his line mates. McDonald can create all the space and time needed to get open, but Boyes isn’t doing it. You need your top producer to be that. Getting soft secondary assists doesn’t count. Backes had another off night, but he was better than the game in Minnesota. Kariya went down with injury and did not return. The key guys weren’t there to get it done. As of Monday afternoon, I haven’t seen an update on Kariya. I wouldn’t expect a call up if he can’t go.

Have the Blues improved on defense? Erik Johnson is still largely an unproven player and a lot has been rested on his shoulders. Shoulders that carried the load early on, but have sagged lately. He isn’t carrying the puck up ice. He isn’t getting shots through. He isn’t pinching and working down low. He has the skill set to be a Boyle or Green, but isn’t there yet. Part of it is experience, the other part is his leash. Is he really allowed to do more? I ask this question because in general the blueliners haven’t been carrying or pinching much at all for the first two periods of games. They are just putting the puck up to the forwards and allowing them to lug. That works, but not all the time. You need to be able to change it up and bring four guys in on the pressure with speed and not three. The Blues simply didn’t do that last night. Colaiacovo is a similar story with more mistakes. He is falling in to the space vacated by Jeff Woywitka and Christian Backman. His play has been that poor lately.

Power play isn’t very powerful is it? The numbers were skewed in my opinion making the Blues power play look better than they are. Several goals in the last 10 or so games have been scored on transition on the power play. Both units of five struggle to gain the zone and establish possession. There is no speed through the neutral zone. None from the carrier or the supporting players. This means you cannot break the wall on the blueline or retrieve the puck down low. This goes back to EJ and Carlo not carrying the puck, but I digress. The “top unit” of Steen-Colaiacovo-Boyes-Tkachuk-McDonald struggle more so than the other because they are all watching waiting for someone else to do something. The only player showing initiative on that group is McDonald. When you only have one person capable and dedicated to working hard, it makes scoring virtually impossible. Makes me wish Breden Bell was an option, but he isn’t.

Where have our goalies gone? Early on they were the bright spot, the lighthouse in the foggy harbor. Now they are as muddled as the rest of the crew. I think expectations are finally hitting the goalies. They were working well despite the shortcomings around them and now they are slipping too under the pressure. Mason and Conklin are the same goalie. You have to work hard to give them chances to stop pucks. They can make an occasional big save, but they aren’t athletic enough to do it all night. “Flukey” goals don’t help, but bounces go your way when you are earning them. The Blues didn’t earn them last night.

The Blues face a very tough Nashville team Tuesday night. It’s a tough task to face them when its a full squad working hard playing in a physical, tight system. They have ONE power play goal in their last seven games. Will the Blues find a way to make it one in eight games? They need to if they want to win.