Are the Blues capable of putting a string of wins together?
That’s the challenge lying ahead after destroying the Vancouver Canucks 6-1 Tuesday night in St. Louis.
Nothing like a good dose of Andrew Raycroft to get out of a scoring funk.
It’s never a good sign when the backup goalie has the flu but is forced to come in anyway.
At any rate it was just what the doctor ordered for the St. Louis Blues.
Now what?
Can they carry the momentum into Thursday night? Ooops! I forgot head coach Andy Murray doesn’t believe in momentum.
If anything Tuesday night showed us the Blues are capable of exploding offensively.
When your shutdown center leads all forwards in ice time it’s kind of understandable why the Blues have been so inconsistent in the offensive end.
Nothing against Jay McClement who I think is a fine hockey player but it’s time for other guys to see their minutes increased. I’ve said numerous times that St. Louis is by far the best place to play in the league for a role player.
I like what the Blues have going with Andy McDonald moved back to center where he belongs. He along with David Perron and Brad Boyes have been very effective the last two games.
What’s the over/under before they are split up?
Remember the days when you knew the lines certain guys played on? Keeping track of the Nasdaq is far easier than knowing who’s playing with who on any given night for the St. Louis Blues.
The McDonald line contributed 10 points combined vs. Vancouver as they badly outplayed the Canucks top line of Henrik Sedin, Burrows, and Bernier. It’s amazing what can happen when you allow your top offensive players to go head to head with the opposition’s best players.
Except in this case Murray felt the line combination of Kesler, Raymond, Samuelson was the unit to be aware of.
Murray handed the McClement line the responsibility of shutting down the Kesler line that had been playing well as of late.
I agree with Murray that the Blues defense has been solid but they also give up an awful lot of shots against. If the Blues goalies haven't been playing so well I don't think we would be hearing the coaching staff praising the defense as much as we have.
One encouraging sign for Blues fans was the play of Paul Kariya who definitely played his best game of the year since returning from Sweden. Are we starting to see him get his confidence back? It’s never easy to know the exact emotions Kariya is going through. Getting to personally know Obama is easier than breaking down the walls that surround Kariya. With that being said several teammates have told me they believe Kariya is certainly bothered with his lack of production so far this season. The word “rattled” has been used to describe Kariya as of late.
The Blues need this guy to at least somewhat resemble the player he was prior to arriving in St. Louis. Getting him off the point on the power play was a start. If you can’t one-time the puck then you shouldn’t be asked to play the point on the PP. I have no issue with him working his way back onto the PP, it only makes sense for the Blues to take advantage of his passing and playmaking ability on the wall. Right now he can’t seem to keep the puck on his stick without it jumping around on him. We are seeing him work some give and go plays and at least on Tuesday night he was able to get some shots off. Some believe he came into the season hoping to make a case to earn a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster. Hopefully he put those thoughts behind him and he’s more occupied with finding his way back on one of the Blues scoring lines.
Fans shouldn’t forget he missed nearly all of last season. I don’t care who you are, this is a tough league and it takes time to knock off the rust.
Rink Rats!
Some have thrown out the idea that Vancouver could move D-man Kevin Bieksa to create space for free agent Peter Forsberg. Memo to Canucks fans, you don’t have to worry about such a thing taking place. Why would Vancouver even consider making such a move????? Umm that’s because they wouldn’t.
Are the Canucks interested in Forsberg? Sure there is mild interest there but it would have to be at the right price. Team’s are out of their mind if they are considering paying real money for the former All-Star.
Blues Clues!
Injured forward Alex Steen has had his cast removed from his broken wrist. He has made some good progress as he continues to recover. He’s still at least a few weeks away from returning.
David Perron scored a hat trick Tuesday night with his parents and some friends in the stands as they made the trip down from Quebec. Prior to the game Perron’s mom made her traditional Bison meat spaghetti which he should consider sharing with his teammates next time.
It was nice to hear Penguins D-man Jay McKee sent Perron a congratulatory text as did former Peoria Rivermen forward Charles Linglet.
Congrats to Andy McDonald who played his 500th NHL game Tuesday night.
Word is Aaron Palushaj is struggling finding his game in Peoria.
Lars Eller may need a little more seasoning before he’s ready to become a full-time NHL forward but I have liked what I’ve seen so far. His intensity and grit is a mild surprise. He plays like a 190 pound power forward. He has the ability t hold onto the puck and make plays which will come as he gains more experience.
Maybe Eller will share some of that grit with Patrik Berglund who at times looks like a gentile giant out there.
It looks like D-man Carlo Colaiacovo is competing with Darryl Sydor to get back in the lineup. At some point the coaching staff will need to make an effort to get him back in there.
I'm told Eric Brewer has a get out of jail free card and is never a consideration to sit out a game. I'm not suggestiong he should be either. Since his return he's shown some flashes of playing the way he did just after Murray came on board.
Craig Woodcroft who runs the Northern Edge Hockey School has been hired by the Blues to work with their AHL affiliate in Peoria. Woodcroft, who lives in St. Louis, makes the trip down about once a week.
When the Blues were in Sweden Hall of Famer Bobby Orr asked GM Larry Pleau if he could get two tickets for a friend of his. Orr sent flowers to Larry’s wife Wendy as his way of saying thank you.
Word is the Blues are hesitant to send the Alex Pietrangelo back to the OHL considering his team in Niagara is one of the weaker teams in the league. The Blues also need to decide if they want to loan Pietrangelo to Canada for the World Juniors. For this to happen he would need to be made available to attend the entire camp before the tournament. Players need to report to the camp around December 10th. Even if he heads to the WJC’s he would still take up a NHL roster spot.
Alex Pietrangelo is my Blues Buzz guest tonight at Johnny Mac’s sporting goods on Watson road from 6-7 on 590 The fan.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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