GameRecap 11-26-10: Mental Mistakes Prompt 3rd Period Collapse
The St. Louis Blues rode a four game winning streak down to Dallas. Hoping to complete the washout of the five game losing skid predating the current run. Instead three mistakes and a lack of secondary scoring sealed the deal in a 3-2 Stars come from behind victory.
A typical road game effort was the standard in the first period. The Blues pushed the pace and put extended shifts of pressure on the Dallas defense. The inability to break the forecheck really cut the ice down by a third in the Blues favor. Andy McDonald would put the godo guys on top early. Netting his seventh goal of the season on a shorthanded attempt. A textbook 3-on-2 chance created by BJ Crombeen driving hard to the net and Alex Pietrangelo putting an uncontrollable shot on net resulting in McDonald rebound tally.
Dallas got their legs going in the second and slowly chipped away at the lead. The David Bakes and Mike Richards lines went head to head halfway through the period. Loui Eriksson, James Neal and Richards cycled the defense to death. Keeping the play to the outside till McDonald’s stck wasn’t in a passing lane. A cross ice pass to Richards and its a 1-1 game.
First Mental mistake? Nikita Nikitin has the option to box out a forward and allow Jaroslav Halak to pounce on a loose puck to get a whistle or clear it to the back of the net. He chooses to clear the puck away only to have the Stars regain possession. a couple passes later the puck is in the net. By periods end McDonald would answer to put the Blues up on an uneasy 2-1 lead. One of Backes’ few faceoff wins after the first period came back to Andy as he ripped a shot through traffic past Kari Lehtonen.
Entering the third period the game tilted on the edge of a knife. Outside of the Blues top line, offense wasn’t really being generated. The addition of Alex Steen on the Patrik Berglund line didn’t payoff. Nor did Brad Winchester playing to Jay McClement’s left. Dallas on the other hand had ramped up two lines. Jamie Benn, Mike Riberio and Brenden Morrow were combining to create chances as well as the Richards trio.
After allowing a few chances on the Blues lone power play, Benn saw blood in the water and attacked. Late on the man advantage Erik Johnson attempted a backwards drifting curl and drag move around the Dallas forward. Benn sensed the lack of speed and energy and pressured Johnson in to a turnover. Using his speed to break in and score a nifty SHG of his own. Momentum shifted. Game tied 2-2. Johnson’s lack of recognition of the situation marks the second mental mistake.
As the play went back and fort for the next ten minutes the teams traded chances. Lehtonen would stop the Backes line and the play cam back down to the Blues end. Halak ventures out to play the puck. Enter the third mental mistake. Jaro has two options. Play the puck up off the glass and out of the zone or pass the puck to Eric Brewer some six feet away with his back turned to oncoming presussure. Too often Halak won’t play the puck off the glass to clear pressure and he did so again Friday night. His pass ends up in Brewer’s skates and before he can tie up Benn the puck slides to the weak side attacker Riberio before Pietrangelo can react and tie him up. Game over 3-2 is the final.
While the defense must strive to prevent mental breakdowns, 100% of them cannot be avoided. Not even Jacques Lemaire or Jacques Martin teams weed out every mental gaffe. The offensive producers must provide a counter balance. In this contest only one line was able to push back. The Steen-Berglund-D’Agostini line failed to regain their chemistry from a week ago. Chances were few and far between from the plumber lines. The inability to score goals let the Blues down.
Credit the Blues defense where credit is due. They allowed just 22 shots on goal and blocked 16. Their transition passing improved.
A true test of a team is how they rebound from low points, not how they perform at the peak. Davis Payne usually has his boys ready to go following a stinker they need to forget. The House of Payne should be a rockin’.
Quick Hits
- Few lines work as well below the red line as the Neal-Richards-Eriksson line. Similar to the Kunitz-Getzlaf-Perry line that dominated the Blues a few years ago.
- Nikitin had another up and down game. Flashes of solid play followed by rather mundane. Two giveaways in just over 12 minutes on the ice.
- Dallas is not to be taken lightly on home ice. Scoring 3.18 Goals/Game and allowing just 2.45, a respectable .73 differential. The Blues road Goals For/Game? A lame 2.18. A full goal a game difference was the spread and held true.
- Was there really 16,675 in attendance? Didn’t look like it on TV for most of the game. Good for Dallas, but that number felt like a stretch.
- Yes, Jeff Woywitka lead Dallas in ESTOI with over 20 minutes played and ended up a Plus-1. Where was this version when he was in St. Louis?
- Pietrangelo has his moments where he doesn’t look good, but they don’t end up looking as bad as often as Johnson’s does. Still, Johnson had a good game going till the brain fart in the third period.
- Steen, D’Agostini and Berglund combined to be Minus-5 for the night. Didn’t play that well in the second and third period. Are we seeing the peak of D’Ags? If so, Blues ar ein trouble on the right wing. Time to put Backes at his natural position? Not with Berglund hitting his first real rough patch of the season.
- Porter and Janssen combined to barely break the 10 minute mark for TOI. Never a good sign when Payne can’t roll four lines effectively all night. Ideally Sobotka and his linemates would be in the 9 to 12 TOI range.
- Loosely called game resulted in just one power play opportunity for the Blues. A few chances came, but nothing overly threatening.
Three Stars
3. Andy McDonald – 2 Goals, 3 Shots
2. Kari Lehtonen – Stopped 25 of 27 Shots
1. Jamie Benn – 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 2 Blocks, Plus-2
Fight Night
Brad Winchester vs. Brian Sutherby – Winner: Winchester
Eric Brewer vs. Steve Ott – Winner: Push
Next Up
Blues and Stars finish up their home and home set back in St. Louis for a 7:00 PM Central tilt at the Scottrade Center. TV: FSMW (HD) | Radio: 1120 AM KMOX
