I really don’t even know where to begin. I have never seen a team work so hard at times only to be completely out worked less than five minutes later. The Blues play on Scottrade Ice is deplorable, despicable, and certainly lacking pride and enthusiasm.
As I watched Stewart’s first goal go in (and silent say yay since he is on my Keeper team) I really saw a flashback to the Pens game a few days again against Colorado. In the final 15 or so seconds of the first the Pens put out Malkin , Crosby, and Rupp. Those three combined to break up Colorado’s play and turn it up ice, resulting in a Crosby goal with about 10 seconds left in the period. The Pens went on to win 4-1 that night.
Colorado paid it forward tonight and pass it to the Blues. With less than 20 second left in the first period the Blues lost an important defensive zone faceoff. John Michael Liles quickly got the puck over to Kyle Quincey and in one motion he received the pass and made the shot. Chris Stewart was right in front for the tip. Bang-Bang play and its 1-0 with seconds left in the first. From that point on Colorado would really clamp down the game. There were parts of the second in which the Blues took it to Colorado, but Colorado answered every time.The Blues did their trademark 110% effort in the third, only to fall short of a comeback. When I hear Darren pang say “no lead is safe”, I comment back to the TV “unless you are playing the Blues”.
There were several key issues that really hampered the Blues.
1. Indecisiveness with the puck
- There were several times tonight where the Blues seemed to have no clue what they wanted to do in the offensive zone. Brad Boyes, David Perron and Erik Johnson seemed to be the worst. Perron would over “dangle”, Boyes looked clueless, and Erik Johnson cannot get a shot off quickly to save his soul. Players were getting in to position to get the puck on net and either passing or moving too much. Did they not pick up on how Colorado scored their goals? Get the puck and get it on net. Indecision lead to an insane number of blocked shots for the Avs, 20 total for the game.
2. Mental mistakes
- The Blues had generally done a solid job of backing up the man pinching, till tonight. Multiple times Blues forwards were changing instead of backing up the play. The biggest snafu was on Paul Kariya going off which lead to the 2-on-1 that lead to the Paul Stastny goal. That is a basic team play, backing up a player removed from his normal position. Where was the “team” element tonight? I saw 3 individuals in the offensive zone on each line tonight. Lack of support working for pucks on the boards was a major sticking point for me. This game could have been the home opener or any home game. The Blues were out worked and the opposition shut off the walls and slot. That creates a lot of blocks. The Blues also returned to jamming the puck down deep in to tight spaces. Why make plays when there is no room? Mental breakdown.
3. Pelt the wall
- My soccer team in high school had a saying about free kicks close to the net. The first one of the game needs to be straight in to the wall. Why? You back up the wall and you have more room to work. While it’s nice in soccer, you don’t want to do that in hockey. The 20 blocks for Colorado is just way too much. So if you aren’t pelting the wall, you are trying to lift it over. The Blues would have been on point if they were a soccer team tonight. Total Missed Shots for the night was 35 according to the ESPN box score. The majority of these appeared to be high and wide. Now in soccer, you can put spin on the ball to swing it wide and bring it back in. You can’t do that in hockey. So missing your target doesn’t work. The bottom line is that shots M-U-S-T be on net. Fore the goalie to do something. If you are trying to pick corners and tight spaces you will cough up the puck in some form or fashion.
Yes teams like San Jose, Washington, Pittsburgh have plays who pick the tight spots. However, 7 or 8 times out of 10, they are making the correct play in their system. They are taking calculated risks. The Blues are just trying to be cute it seems. Being cute doesn’t win hockey games. Being dirty and toothless does. Do the hard work and you will win.
Chris Mason..hard to fault him in this game. The Blues didn’t give up many shots and that makes it hard for any goalie to get in a rhythm. The two Stewart goals were deflections, not much he can do there. In my opinion the second goal (Stastny’s) was all on Kariya (which we covered) and David Backes. Backes came charging in to hit Wolski, only to run him in to Mason and leave the puck sitting for Stastny. Backes is a more defensibly responsible player than that, at least most of the time.
Players
Brad Winchester – Not sure what he did to warrant less ice time as the game went on, but he was solid in the first.
TJ Oshie, David Perron, Erik Johnson – All three were “OK” individually, but below average in terms of team play. I saw some rumoring online about TJ Oshie’s mental and physical condition during this game. Let’s just say I call BS on that.
Patrik Berglund – He keeps building on his good games from the last two or three. He was effective early on in taking it to the net and using his body in the offensive zone. The last three games have looked more like 2008, early 2009 Berglund than 09-10 Berglund.
Roman Polak and Barret Jackman – No where near as good as they were against LA and SJ, but then again there wasn’t much time spent in the Blues zone for them to really have to shut anyone down. All of Colorado’s goals were quickies.
Mike Weaver – Continues to be steady, but a massive liability in the offensive zone. He just cannot make a play.
Paul Kariya – Technically EVEN for the night, he deserves a Minus-1 for the Stastny goal. His play was good save for that one mental lapse.
McSteenbeen – Generally lacking impact. Just didn’t notice them much.
Andy McDonald – The little engine that could, but isn’t. Can’t fault the guy he is working hard to create space and chances, just no one can finish that he is playing with.
Should Cam Janssen have dressed to tangle with David Koci? Worth bringing up since the Blues seem to respond well to fights on home ice.
Kudos need to go to Colorado. They played the typical road game…like some many others have in Scottrade. Colorado is for real as long as they keep working. Stewart is finally catching on, Stastny has serious ability, Wolski is catching on playing with younger guys. There main line right now is just outworking other teams for chances. Throw in the big bodies they have down the line up, they can run with you, hammer on the boards with you, and throw more skill at you with Duchene, Hejduk, and Svatos.
Peter Budaj did a good job of eliminating second chances. Mainly because the only shots going through were straight on him or in areas he had covered. Any NHL goalie is capable of beating any team. Budaj is playing pretty well and is getting A LOT of support from his team. Something the Blues should be familiar with from last season.
Where do we go from here? Well, the Blues fly to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Wednesday for the fourth time this season. Those are not encouraging words.
Player of the Game
Chris Stewart
Stewart lead the Avs with two goals and an assist Monday night to defeat the Blues 4-0.
For those of you that care about football (remember, I’m a football guy first) . . . hopefully you enjoyed the Super Bowl and the commercials that came along with it. Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for a well-played Super Bowl and a victory that was earned and not handed. What a game! And as a lifelong Denver Broncos fans, all I have to say is . . . I guess the San Diego Chargers never really had a good use for Drew Brees, did they? But enough about football analysis . . . this is a hockey blog.