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The Blues rebounded last night with a strong effort in San Jose, besting the Sharks 4-0. Some will notice the shutout and go right to the goaltending but that would be narrow-minded. Sure Carter Hutton was better than Allen has been in the last few games but the team was also a lot better. If you don’t believe me, Corsica hockey had the Blues at a +0.15 expected goals for unlike their prior games which were worse than -0.5.
Hutton did set the tone early on with a very strong save on Joe Thornton but overall the Blues played better in front of him. Perhaps the early save gave them confidence and the ability to relax a bit, allowing them to play their game and squeeze their sticks a bit less.
Something you may not have realized is that the coaching staff balanced the use of their forwards more in this game than any I can remember. Only one forward, Paul Stastny, played more than 16:32. The Blues have five forwards averaging 17:59 or more. Given the score, the coaching staff was likely trying to help keep their key forwards fresh for tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. The staff also seemed to rest Alex Pietrangelo who played almost 2 minutes less than his average.
Every Blues player was on the ice for a goal for last night except the fourth line of Dimtrij Jaskin, Ryan Reaves and Kyle Brodziak. Jori Lehtera made the most of his 12:03 of ice time (3rd fewest of any Blues palyer) with a brilliant deflection of an Alex Pietrangelo shot. The play was created by a great read and play by Nail Yakupov and strong puck possession by Vladimir Tarasenko.
After going 40 games without a goal, Colton Parayko has two goals in his last three games. Alexander Steen has empty net goals in two of the three January Blues wins.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Joe Thornton’s spear and the resulting major and game misconduct.
The coaching staff is throwing everyone a bit of a curve ball as reports suggest they will go back to Carter Hutton tonight at 8pm CST when the Blues travel to face the Anaheim Ducks. Perhaps this is coach Ken Hitchcock’s way of saying we can turn this into a 1a and 1b goalie situation as if Brian Elliott were still here. Hutton has been better lately but it’s not like he has been better over the entire season. Their save percentage difference is 0.1% different while their goals against average is only 0.11 different. As I mentioned yesterday, Allen has a much better history against the Ducks than Hutton who has struggled with a 86.9% save percentage and a 3.69 goals against average.
The Ducks also played last night, getting a shutout win 3-0 against the Coyotes. Jonathan Bernier got the shutout last night but John Gibson is expected to get the start against the Blues tonight. Gibson has a 91.2% save percentage and 2.46 goals against average against the Blues.
Ryan Getzlaf leads the Ducks in success against the Blues with 30 points in 34 games with Ryan Kesler next with 22 points in 36 games. One dynamic the game will be missing is the animosity between Kesler and David Backes.
The Ducks have the 6th best home save percentage at 93.1% and 5th best home power play. Expect them to be a tough test for the Blues.
David Perron has enjoyed the most success against the Ducks with 19 points in 25 games. Both Vladimir Tarasenko and Robby Fabbri are averaging about 2/3 of a point per game against the Ducks. Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk are averaging over a half a point a game against the Ducks, combining for 21 points in 37 games.
I’m guessing the lineup will stay the same and start like this:
Schwartz – Stastny – Steen
Yakupov – Lehtera - Tarasenko (looking forward to seeing this one)
Fabbri – Berglund – Perron
Jaskin – Brodziak – Reaves
Pietrangelo - Parayko
Bouwmeester – Shattenkirk
Edmundson – Bortuzzo
Hutton
More on the Blues goaltending and NHL nuggets later this week.
It’s a great day for hockey.
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