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Blues fans last night sang the Boos and/or the Blues and based on the comments after the game, the players weren’t very happy about it but more on that later.
For as much confidence as the Blues had early in this season, they seem to lack confidence at the same levels now. The team has been flat out bad recently with uninspired, lackadaisical, error prone play. They have lost 4 of the last 5 at home, getting outscored 17 to 5 in the 4 losses. They have lost 5 games in a row, including blowing a multi-goal lead in Nashville. They have 2 wins the entire month of February. It’s about time to cue that Jim Mora Playoffs clip.
Last night seemed to illustrate how the team allows things to snowball and has a hard time pushing back recently. The Blues started the game with the 1st 7 shots. It’s even more than that when you consider the Jets had blocked 4 shots at that point and the Blues had 3 missed shots. The Jets had not even attempted a shot at the net through 6 minutes. The Blues had 14 already.
Everything changed after a terrible giveaway by Chris Butler, midway through the 1st period. Butler fails to make the smart outlet to Vince Dunn by the net, and gives away the puck.
On the play, I’d like to know what the forwards were thinking. Butler had no good options outside the zone as none of the three forwards were supporting the puck. NONE. Two were coasting around at the far blue line, on the far side of the ice no less, and the other was well covered between the red line and the far blue line. It looked like a pee wee team more than a NHL team. Were the forwards either completely lazy or oblivious? It shouldn’t have been a situation where they didn’t know where each other should be given it was Scottie Upshall, Kyle Brodziak and Chris Thorburn.
Look at another angle see how nobody is support Butler other than Dunn.
Of course, that doesn’t excuse Butler. A non-offensive defensemen, playing in his 2nd NHL game this season tries to force that pass rather than making the routine pass back to Dunn? Not smart. As I predicted last night, the result of last night’s game was Butler being sent back down and Jordan Schmaltz being called up.
Just to be clear, Jake Allen had very little chance on the 1st goal. What happens 45 seconds later is a different story and can’t happen as Allen lets in a weak goal from Blake Wheeler. Allen was off his angle severely by NHL standards, allowing Wheeler to beat him on what should be a very routine stop. At this point, the Blues are up 8-4 in shots but down 2-0 thank to bad mistakes and this weak goal utterly compounds and deflates the team, killing any notion of a potential push back. Unfortunately, all of these things seem to be growing trends.
Interesting enough, Allen let in a goal very similar to Wheeler’s in the third period from Patrik Laine.
The mistakes weren’t limited to Allen, Butler and the 4th line though Chris Thorburn compounded things by taking a couple of lazy, dumb penalties. The Blues more than tripled the number of Jets’ giveaways. Overall, it was another uninspired effort at home.
Going back a few of days to Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Sharks, you’ll see a few of the same mistakes illustrated. On the 2nd Sharks goal, Patrik Berglund does a fore-check fly-by in the neutral zone, taking himself out of the play and helping to create an odd man rush the other way.
Hutton compounds the situation by staying down (low) after he moves to attempt to square up to the shooter, making it easier for Joonas Donskoi to score on the play.
Speaking of Hutton, he had some bad luck on the Sharks 1st goal. Some poor footwork puts his right leg underneath himself, taking away any efficient and appropriate recovery. Notice the right leg here.
Even with the poor footwork, he still almost knocks the puck to safety but Logan Couture controls it and scores.
The Sharks 3rd goal looks like a local St. Louis beer league play with the Blues fumbling possession and positioning as they come through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, turning a 4 on 3 for them into a 3 on 2 for the Sharks and a goal against. All three Blues forwards end up aligned with the top of the circles, still skating toward the net without applying the lightest of forecheck before the puck goes the other way. Note that the 3 forwards were Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Watch it here:
In the Sharks game, Ivan Barbashev showed again why the Blues hope one day he will turn into a 20 goal scorer with yet another good shot off the rush for a goal.
Vince Dunn also showed his offensive poise at the offensive blue line before getting the shot that turned into Tarasenko’s power play goal.
Of course, it was too little too late.
Let’s turn back to the comments after last night’s games. Fans are likely focused on the comments of some of the players such as:
- Yeo – On the slump - “maybe it’s the fact we played, both of them combined…..to come out of those two games (Nashville and Dallas), how hard we played, how well we played and come out with one point.”
- Yeo – “We’re not handling adversity as well as we can now….. It’s a matter of us figuring out how to handle it, how to face it and what you need to do.”
- Yeo – “You have 3 or 4 players whether you get down in a game or you know you need a win that are trying to more and trying to do extra and taking themselves out of their game and then you have a couple of other players who freeze up in the moment then obviously you are not playing to your abilities”.
- Yeo – On whether or not newcomer Nikita Soshnikov will play Sunday, “what have we got to lose?”
- Pietrangelo – On getting booed, “we don’t like that, especially me”.
- Pietrangelo – On the fans getting on Allen, “I don’t like it. It’s been bothering me. I’m not going to say anything about the fans but it’s disappointing to heart that. We got his back.”
- Tarasenko – On the fans getting on Allen, “one thing I can address to every one of you and the fans too, the goalies are the last guys who we can blame on this. This is just embarrassing to hear…If not for the goalies, we’d be in a worse spot right now. They (the fans) came blame us, they can blame everyone, but don’t touch the goalies”.
- Allen – “Too many mistakes throughout 60 minutes, including myself. But you see the turnovers were making against a top team like that…..We need to limit those”
- Allen – “We have to find a way to put it together, get a goal, get back in it and regroup”.
- Allen – “We’re giving them the opportunities that they get and they’re making the most of them”.
I don’t have a problem with Pietrangelo and Tarasenko’s comments. You want them to stick up for their teammate but I’m really disappointed in Allen’s quotes after the game. His teammates really spoke up for him and he takes little responsibility before seemingly focusing on their mistakes. Consider me not a fan. I might suggest a refresher on this good piece:
I guess at least he admitted the Wheeler goal was a bad goal. You can watch Allen’s comments
here.
As I said last night, the modern bag skate didn’t work, nor did better preparation, making all of the players stay to answer questions or closed door meetings. Maybe the fans getting on the team will force them to bond together against the fan ridicule and create the Blues on version of miracle on ice.
As I also said last night, I don’t have the current situation. Either they will figure it out and be more ready for a longer playoff run or a lot of us will save playoff ticket costs.
The Blues did send Chris Butler and Samuel Blais down and recalled Jordan Schmaltz and Tage Thompson.
It’s a great day for hockey.
Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers
Nashville Predator's Paul McCann,
Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and
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