Recap 01-16-10: Blues vs. Rangers

Welcome to 2010, the Year of Payne. I think fans were expecting a year of pain, but Coach Davis Payne has the fans and team buzzing at Scottrade. Last night’s 4-1 defeat of the Rangers capped off a perfect home stand and stretched the Blues win streak to four games. The win gave the Blues two needed points and brought them to 8 Points behind the 8th Place LA Kings.

The game started off a “typical Payne game”. The Blues came out quick and hard. Payne’s Go North & Conquer style lead the Blues to an aggressive forecheck that pressure the Rangers defense. Which lead to an early power play when Marc Staal tripped Paul Kariya. Now the Blues didn’t do much with the power play, but they were able to create chances. Bonus for momentum gained. David Perron drew another penalty while working the boards. Wade Redden decided it would be a good time to show how the game is passing him by by being lazy and hooking Perron. Another power play. What did the Blues do this time? Score, courtsey of the infraction drawer, David Perron. Nice puck movement and the Blues caught Johnson too far on the right wing side of the net. Puck gets over to Perron and its 1-0.  Kariya drew another penalty late on Artem Anisimov which was also fruitless in terms of generating a PPG. The power play was a big key to this game. Generating momentum (and goals) while keeping Gaborik off the ice.

The first period really was typical Payne. Rolling four lines and applying pressure, contesting every play. I have to say that Patrik Berglund was a beast with the puck. He was making moves and trying to get to spaces. His big body was creating space, but he passed up opportunities to shoot. One step at a time is fine and good, but he needs to take some shots as well. Sean Avery and Roman Polak got in to it a little working the boards.  Avery is no more than an annoying little gnat you want to hose down with bug killer. Polak did try his best. Blues out shot the Rangers 8-5.

The second period the Blues faltered a little. The passing was not as good as it was in the first and the Rangers picked up their forecheck. This did give the Blues problems but they were able to take teh game back even after a Brian Boyle goal. I bet if you talked to Chris Mason after the game he would tell you that’s one he should have had. Boyle came around the left wing side of the net and shot the puck between Mason’s body, glove, and pads. It’s a goal we’ve seen him give up too many times this season. However, he recovered well from that point on.

The third period was something fans haven’t seen at Scottrade too often. The Blues widened the lead and kept the pressure on. The scoring opened up with Roman Polak 45 seconds in to the period. A shot from the point found its way through. It sure looked like it went off of Brad Boyes and in, but Roman will take it. He doesn’t get too many multiple point games. The Blues continued to play well when Alex Steen came barreling down the ice and got wide with speed on his defender. He wrapped around the net as Chad Johnson came off the post. There was just enough room for the puck to eek in between Johnson and the post. Its 3-1 with about 12 minutes left in regulation. The Blues continued to press the play and didn’t really give the Rangers much of a chance to get back in the game. David Backes and TJ Oshie later hooked up for the empty net goal that made it 4-1.

I didn’t really notice anyone from the Rangers throughout the game, besides Avery. Gaborik did have a few chances, but Mason had decent position for them. In 21+ minutes of ice time Gaborik was a Minus-2 with 4 shots on goal. It did seem like Michael Del Zotto is a little over exposed at 24 minutes a night. Fear not for you Ranger fans out there, the kid will grow and become a solid hockey player. Marc Staal, the forgotten brother, had a good game by the numbers. He had 19 minutes on the ice with an Even Rating, 2 Shots, 2 Blocks, & 2 Hits. Staal, Matt Gilroy, Del Zotto and Bobby Sanguinetti will give the Rangers a stable core of defensemen to build around long term.

Overall, there are few complaints about this game. The Blues played hard, finished their checks and scoring chances.The Backes line worked well against Marian Gaborik. While they didn’t contribute a goal (save for the empty net) they really controlled the play in all three zones. Patrik Berglund started off strong and tailed off. Brad Boyes is playing the role of a checking winger fairly well, but now is the time to start adding point production in to his game. Payne has got his effort back (I thought it sagged a little last night), now its time for his next gear.

Chris Mason stopped 21 of 22 Ranger shots and Chad Johnson stopped 21 of 24 from the Blues. During this four game winning streak the Blues have allowed an average of 23 shots on goal a game. The Blues have also killed 13 of 15 penalties in those four games. The Rangers were the 5th best road penalty killing team coming in to last nights game and the Blues touched them for a goal and several good chances. They were outworked at times when entering the zone, but once they were in the chances came. TJ Oshie played in his 100th NHL game last night. Erik Johnson did not notch a point for his 6th straight (15 out of last 16 are pointless as well), but he played a solid game. He held is own in the defensive end, carried the puck up ice multiple times to clear the zone, and made a few good offensive zone plays. His game is still coming around, but he is in the same boat as Boyes.

Backes and Oshie lead the way up front with over 19 minutes of ice time last night. The pair combined for 1 Goal, 2 Points, 9 Hits, & 3 Takeaways to 1 Giveaway. The Jackman-Polak pair logged 21 minutes each to lead blue liners. Those two combined for 1 Goal, 3 Points, Plus-5 Rating, 4 Blocked Shots, & 3 Hits.

Next up for the Blues are the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus Monday night. The Blues are kicking off another three game road trip taking them from Columbus to Montreal, and then Ottawa.

Blues Player of the Game

Roman Polak

Polak had a beast of a game and chipped in a goal and a helper. Image via blues.nhl.com