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The Blues home cooking continued on Thursday night with the Blues defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 in a game that probably had the Blues coaching staff popping Tums or Rolaids throughout the night. If you don’t believe me, consider some of coach Ken Hitchcock’s quotes after the game.
When asking about how the team played he responded, “I know where it’s going to take us in a week or so and it’s not going to be comfortable but you just take the two points and probably move on but it’s not going to be comfortable in a couple of weeks.”
The coaches were happy with the power play, especially in the first period as he noted the “power play had great rotation. The first four power plays were excellent, really rotated the puck, moved it. We were crisp, hunted it down…. That was impressive.”
While they liked what they saw from the power play, they continue to be unhappy with the defensive zone coverage. He commented that “we need to fix it but I’m not sure right now. I think we’re just better off riding the horse, seeing when he needs a drink of water. Sometimes you have to ride out these games. We’re doing a lot of great things from the red line in. We’re pressuring people. We are struggling in our own zone. We’re struggling with communication. We’re struggling with tenacity. We’re struggling with the details that have been here for a long time and we got away from them but we’re not paying a price yet.”
I think Hitchcock is right when he says that they are “going to have to play a lot better than this, a lot better and I think the players know that too but two points are two points and we don’t want to take away from that.” The Blues are finding ways to win and/or get points even if they aren’t playing their best games, something good teams do throughout the course of a season.
The win gave the Blues a 8-0-1 record at home in November and pushed their record to 10-0-1 in their last 10 home games. Colton Parayko added another assist, extending his assist streak to five games while David Perron and Jaden Schwartz ended their point streaks.
Vladimir Tarasenko displayed an array of special talents in getting the hat trick and a four point night Thursday night, showing great ability to shield and protect the puck while driving to the net, showing he has the best Blues one-timer since Brett Hull, and showing amazing hand-eye and hand-foot coordination. Fabbri’s pass to Tarasenko on the last goal was poor but he played it soccer style off his right foot back toward his forehand. As the puck was bouncing, he ripped a shot out of mid air that caromed of the post and then off Bishop and into the net.
Kevin Shattenkirk also scored four points with two goals and two assists. Alexander Steen did have three assists in his first game back though all three were on the power play and he only registered two shots on goal even though he saw a lot of power play ice time.
Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Pietrangelo and Jake Allen struggled in the game though Allen did extend his winning streak to 7 games. Look at the Lightning’s 2nd goal as an example, seen
here. Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov have a two on two against Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester. With Kucherov and Johnson criss-crossing, there again seems to communication and coverage issue as both defensemen back in and also let Kucherov get behind them. Jake Allen gets beat by a Johnson wrist shot because he is too deep in his net as seen here
Allen may have been too deep in order to help protect for a pass to Kucherov who was behind the defense. He may also have been too deep partially because of the defenders collapsing on the play. It’s natural to back up with them as goalies do this to use their own version of gap control. The most obvious example is a breakaway shooter with a goalie moving back into the net as the player advances, allowing the distance between the goalie and the shooter to reduce. They also use it in normal play, needing enough space from other players to be able to use every potential save selection while still being out high enough to take away angle of the shooter.
The Lightning’s fourth goal is created by Alex Pietrangelo not marking Cedric Paquette in front of the net. Pietrangelo was there and had time. He just didn’t move close enough to him. It’s almost like he had a brain cramp. Jake Allen also misplays this goal, going down and leaning to his right as the pass is being made as seen here
On the Lightning’s first goal, Jori Lehtera gets caught watching the puck which allows Paquette to crash the net uncovered. Jake Allen’s poor rebound control of Jonathan Drouin’s shot from the right side goes right to Paquette who scores the easy goal. You can watch it
here. The Blues were in seemingly good position with a 3 on 4 but Robert Bortuzzo, Patrik Berglund and Jori Lehtera all decided to pay attention to Jonathan Drouin with the puck. This goal is why I didn’t find it surprising when yesterday Hitchcock said “we’re going to need more from him [Lehtera]. The position we have him in, we need more from that position.” He commented that he was going to sleep on it but that he wasn’t sure where Lehtera would play against the Jets.
Jets preview
The Jets have been the opposite of the Blues in that they have lost 6 road games in a row and only won 2 out of 10 road games in November. The Jets are giving up the 5th most goals per game and have the 6th worst penalty kill. As a result, it’s not a surprise that the Jets have the 4th worst point percentage in the NHL.
Since 2010-11, the Blues are 13-1-3 against the Jets, going 7-1-1 at home against them in that span. The Blues will be focused on stopping Patrik Laine, 2nd in the NHL in goals behind Sidney Crosby, and Mark Scheifele, 3rd in the NHL in goals. Blake Wheeler is also a threat though he only has 8 goals so far this season.
For the Blues, it appears that Carton Hutton will get the start tonight. Even though Allen has won 7 in a row, he has only stopped 85% of the shots against him in his last two games. I wasn’t expecting Hutton to get a start until the back to back away games in Brooklyn and New Jersey next week. Is that the reason Hutton is getting the start? It can’t be the matchup with the Jets as Allen posted very good stats against the Jets with a 2.01 GAA and a 93% save percentage. Regardless, the reports I have seen suggest Hutton will start.
Given’s Hitchcock’s comments yesterday about Lehtera, I think the only forward lines that are likely set are Schwartz/Stastny/Perron and Fabbri/Steen/Tarasenko. It will be interesting to see who the other 6 forwards are and how they are used. Does Lehtera start the game on the 4th line as a message but only for a shift or two? Does he get to watch from the press box (my guess)? We shall see. Expect the defensemen to be the same with Joel Edmundson returning to action next week.
Jammer’s 9 NHL Nuggets
1) Jack Eichel has had a successful return from his injury with 3 goals and 1 assist in 2 games.
2) Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid are the top tier of the NHL as the only two players with more than 1.18 points per game (minimum 5 games).
3) Kevin Shattenkirk is now tied with Erik Karlsson for 2nd most points per game among defensemen (min. 5 games)
4) Five goalies (min 9 games) have a sub 2 GAA this year. There were none last year.
5) Five rookie defensemen are averaging over 20 minutes a game – Zach Werenski, Brandon Carlo, Nikita Zaitsev, Troy Stecher, and Ivan Provorov.
6) Michael Grabner is 6th in the NHL in scoring with 12 goals and all of them are at even strength.
7) Jeff Carter leads the league in game winning goals with 6 (60% of his goals are game winners)
8) Connor McDavid leads the league in even strength points with 25 (even strength point per game pace)
9) Antoine Vermette may only have 9 points but he is winning 2/3 of his face-offs.
It’s a great day for hockey.
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