Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves in tonight's 3-1 loss over the Carolina Hurricanes, and was easily the best Blues player who played tonight.
The Blues forwards were grossly outplayed tonight, despite putting up 28 shots on goal against Anton Khudobin. The Blues were were out shot, out hit, and completely out to lunch in tonight's loss.
The Hurricanes scored early, as Nathan Gerbe notched a powerplay goal just 3:46 into the first period. Andrej Sekera and Justin Faulk registered the assists on Carolina's only powerplay goal of the game.
David Backes would tie the game, six minutes later, on a nice heel-to-toe saucer pass from Derek Roy. Backes was alone in front of the Hurricanes net and ripped the puck just inside the crossbar. The puck bounced back out immediately and Khudobin acted like it never went in, the referee was not fooled. T.J. Oshie registered an assist on the play as well.
That would be the only goal the Blues would score all game, despite glorious chances from Steen, Stewart, and Bouwmeester.
Jeff Skinner scored early in the second period and from then on out, Carolina was in complete control of the puck. The Hurricanes were all over the Blues, beating them in races, winning board battles, and just flat out, outworking them all game long.
Alex Semin scored a empty net goal, unassisted, late in the third period and that would be it for the scoring.
There are a lot of factors from this game that really had Blues fans scratching their head.
The first had to be Brendan Morrow. Morrow took three of the four Blues penalties tonight (the other being a leaping hit by T.J. Oshie on Brett Bellemore). Yet every time he would leave the box, he'd get ice time. Morrow finished the game spending 7:43 on the ice. He almost registered the same amount in the penalty box. If that was Magnus Paajarvi or Vladimir Tarasenko taking those penalties, they would have been glued to the end of the bench.
Speaking of Tarasenko, he was benched for the first half of the third period. When you're down by a goal in the third period, why in the world would you have your best shooter sitting on the bench? Ken Hitchcock has a very knowledgeable hockey mind, but that decision is a tough one to swallow.
Lastly, why in the world was Chris Stewart promoted to the top line?
Don't get me wrong, when he started playing with Backes and Steen, he had a few chances to make something happen. This includes a glorious chance to put the puck in the net off a one-timer, and he shot it into Khudobin's pads. He also deferred to Alex Pietrangelo when he had a wide-open net in the second period. Stewart finished with 14:48 of ice time and my only question is, why did he do to deserve the bump?
The Blues fly home tonight in order to take on the Nashville Predators tomorrow at the Scottrade Center. Brian Elliott has been told he'll be getting the start in goal. The next question is, will Vladdy Sobotka be healthy enough to play in tomorrow's game? He was tripped, late in the third and driven hard into the boards. No penalty was called on the play. He stayed on the bench for the remainder of the game, but needed help from Roy to get off the ice at the final buzzer. He did not put any weight on his left leg. It's a worrisome issue with the Blues playing again in less than 24 hours.
Blues Rumors?
A tweet from Darren Dreger this morning has had the Blues and New York Rangers fans attention all day.
Western Conf teams suggest the Rangers are gathering intel on Chris Stewart. Callahan for Stewart would be a sweet deal for the Blues.
Then this evening he tweeted out the following;
Developing story, NYR grant permission to at least 1 team who has already talked with Callahan's agent. More on Sportscentre. #TSN
If the Blues and Rangers are discussing a Ryan Callahan for Chris Stewart swap, I wouldn't be surprised if Armstrong wanted to talk with Callahan's agent.
Callahan is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season and it's been rumored he's looking for a seven year deal making upwards of six million per season. I personally cannot see Doug Armstrong giving Callahan that kind of money. Of course it's one thing taking the word of Glen Sather, and another hearing it from the source.
I personally would support a deal in which the Blues would acquire Callahan for Stewart. I'd be willing to add, up to, a second round pick in the deal as well. Ryan Callahan is a heart and soul kind of player and he works his tail off every shift he's on the ice. You cannot say the same thing about Chris Stewart.
Callahan is the captain of the Rangers so unless Sather is really high on Stewart, I don't see it being a one-for-one swap. That would be heavily lopsided in the Blues favor.
Could that be the reason for Stewart's bump in ice time tonight? Are the trying to showcase him? It's possible, but we wont know unless a deal goes down.
You can keep up with me and all the Blues news you need to know by following me on twitter, @Blues_Buzz
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