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Need smoking gun evidence that the St. LOuis Blues are in a goal scoring funk?
Look no further than Saturday night in Buffalo.
Sure, the Blues defeated the Sabres. But to score only one goal against the Sabres?
Mike Yeo knows it. Doug Armstrong knows it. That's why the Blues are desperately searching for more even strength goal scoring as we speak.
The Blues as presently constructed are a nice tetam. However, they are not a great team. Why? Because the St. Louis Blues are a one scoring line team. When that line scores, its a beautiful thing. When Yeo reunited Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Vlad Tarasenko in the third period of Thursday's night's loss to the Bruins, it was to jump start the failing Blues offense. The strategy worked in Boston when Schwartz scored at 18:28 of the third period. Schenn and Tarasenko wrre given assists. It was Schwart's first goal since returning from a 20-game absence due to a serious ankle injury. Prior to his injury, the Scwhartz, Schenn, and Tarasenko trio was a thing. Yeo scrambled his lines in the late going in Boston. The trio created a goal. Where was the Schwartz-Schenn-Tarasenko line against the Sabres? Schwartz had just one shot on goal on 1 shot attempt. Schenn had two SOG on 2 SA. Tarasenko had 4 SOG on 5 SA. The Blues left Buffalo with a 1-0 shutout win, however, the Schwartz-Schenn-Tarasenko uber trio only managed to generate 7 shots on goal on 8 shot attempts. As a team the Blues created 54 shot attempts.
Moral of the story:
Blanket the Schwartz-Schenn-Tarasenko trio and give your team a chance to win in regulation. Credit to Phil Housley and Davis Payne for denying time and space to the Blues. The struggle was real. The Blues allowed the Sabres to push them around for 55 minutes before seldom-used rear guard Carl Gunarsson scored a fluky goal off the pipe and in. Were it now for Carter Hutton's grace under pressure, the Blues could have easily lost 2-0 to the Sabres.
As presently constructed, the Blues are a paper tiger.Sure, their record says they are fourth overall in the Western standings. However, the scoring summaries do not like. The Blues have scored just 34 goals in their past 13 games. That's an average of 2.6 goals scored per game. In that same time period the Blues are averaging 2.5 goals against.
Yeo is desperate for more goal scoring. Armstrong is scouting Evander Kane and Max Pacioretty. Mike Hoffman, too.
Simply put, Carter Hutton is saving St. Louis' bacon. How long can the 32 year old, soon-to-be free agent keep covering up the Blues' mediocre offense?
Hutton made 27 saves on all 27 shots he faced to give the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Hutton improved his record to 14-4-1 on the season. Hutton now has a 1.61 GAA and .947 save percentage.
Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson scored off the goal post and in the net with 5:41 remaining in the third period of play. The Sabres would miss two glorious opportunities to tie the game in the final stages of regulation play. Samson Reinhart failed to convert a back door tap-in attempt while the Sabres were attacking on the 6 on 4 power play.
Rasmus Ristolainen hammer a puck off the cross bar with less than five seconds remaining in regulation play.
That's the microcosm of the season from hell for the Sabres:
The opponent gets a kiss of the post and in while ethe Sabres got bupkiss.
Hutton's third shutout of the season and second in four starts helped the Blues (32-19-3) to their fourth win in five games and sixth in eight.
Robin Lehner made 32 saves for the Sabres. Per usual, Lehner deserved a better outcome. The poor guy has alowed only three goals against in his past four games played. His team cannot give him any goal a support. Check out Lehner's save percentage in his past four starts:
St. Louis- .970 Florida- .926 Vancouver- 1.000 Edmonton- 1.000
Lehner has stopped 120 of 123 (.976 SV%) in his last four starts.
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Hello out there. We’re on the air. It’s hockey night tonight.
The St. Blues are in Buffalo to face a Sabres team that struggles mightily to win on home ice. It’s a Robin Lehner vs. Carter Hutton showdown.
The Blues currently find themselves in fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Blue GM Doug Armstrong is here tonight, watching the game from high above the ice surface. The Sabres are an intriguing team for the Sabres to be playing with the NHL trade deadline three weeks away.
Armstrong’s Blues have been getting quality goaltending from their number two tendy Hutton, who entered tonight’s game 8-1-1 in his last ten games played with a 1.72 GAA and .942 SV%.
Blues tendy Carter Hutton leads the NHL with a 1.70 GAA and .945 SV%; he's 8-1-1 his past 10 starts with a 1.72 GAA and .942 SV%. Jake Allen should be nervous.
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) February 3, 2018
Mike Yeo continues to ride his red-hot back-up goalie.
Blues starter Jake Allen is a pathetic 1-9 in his last ten games and he can’t get out of his own head. Allen started and lost Thursday night in Boston. It was Allen's only start since January 24.
The Blues are a unique team in that they are getting great goaltending while their offense is luke-warm at best.
Armstrong is looking to add a veteran goal scorer who can ignite the St. Louis offense, which is averaging just 2.75 goals for per game in the past 12 games.
The Blues are averaging 2.53 goals against in those 12 games. Armstrong is getting an up close and personal look at Sabres sniping forward Evander Kane.
The Blues have sent scouts to Buffalo this season to get live looks at the pending unrestricted free agent. If Armstrong is willing to trade his AHL all star defenseman Jordan Schmaltz, a 2018 first rounder and a roster player, he seemingly could get Sabres Jason Botterill to trade Kane to the Blues. Schmaltz, 24, is a right shot D and product of the University of North Dakota. In 30 games this season for the San Antonio Rampage, Schmaltz has scored five gals and 17 assists. Schmaltz is an excellent puck mover and a great skater. He is frankly too good to be stuck in the AHL right now. He should be playing for the Blues, however, Yeo already has seven reliable, healthy rear guards in his D corps. Schmaltz is champing at the bit to get to the NHL. If it’s not in St. Louis, it will be elsewhere. Schmaltz won’t get a deal done for Kane and a depth forward like Benoit Pouliot. Armstrong traded his 2018 first rounder to Philly in the Brayden Schenn trade last June. The Flyers received Jori Lehterà¤, St. Louis' 2017 1st round pick (#27-Morgan Frost) and 2018 conditional 1st round pick*
*Condition: If the 2018 draft pick becomes a top 10 pick, Blues have the option to move the pick to 2019. If the pick is moved to 2019, the Flyers will also receive a 2020 3rd round pick.
Botterill will likely also be looking for an offensive prospect like 2017 Robert Thomas or Klim Kostin, both 2017 first rounders, and a forward like Dmitrij Jaskin , who will be RFA this summer.
Speaking of elsewhere, the Blues also had a scout at the Canadiens-Ducks matinee on Saturday.
I’m told the Montreal ownership and management team is about to declare a rebuild, which will mean a sell off of it’s valuable assets. The Blues have had their eyes on Habs captain Max Pacioretty, who appears to be open to a change of address.
Like Kane, Pacioretty would infuse scoring, size, speed, skill, and special teams to an already formidable Blues lineup. Coincidentally, the Canadiens have their director of player personnel in Buffalo tonight. Might “Army… be entertaining a Pacioretty trade before the February 26 NHL trade deadline?
Speaking of contending teams looking to add a sniping winger, the Pittsburgh Penguins have sent their assistant general manager to Buffalo tonight.
The Pens sent a scout to Sabres-Panthers on Thursday night. The Penguins dropped a seven-spot on the Washington Capitals on Friday tonight, however, they have been scouring the NHL for months in search of an even strength scorer.
The Penguins (61 points) dropped a 3-1 decision to the New Jersey Devils (62 points) on Saturday night. The loss allowed the Devils to leap frog the Pens in the Eastern playoff standings.
How do the Pens bomb the Caps 7-4 on one nights then pot only one goal and lose a must-win game against the Devils the next night? How? The Pens are an inconsistent hockey team that makes it's living off its #1 power play (27.6%) as it struggles to score at even strength (26th).
The loss to New Jersey drops Pittsburgh to third pace in the Metropolitan Division. Washington is the leaders with 65 points. New Jersey has 62, Penguins 61. But there is back pressure. Columbus has 58 points, Philladlphia and NY Islanders 57 points. Carolina has 56 points and the NY Rangers 55 points.
The Penguins are in desperate need of goal scoring. Jim Rutherford would be wise to make a deal now before the Metro becomes more of a struggle to navigate with all of the congestion.
Playing win one, lose one hockey until Conor Sheary returns to the lineup healthy is a very risky proposition. The Penguins have already played 54 games this season. Thats more than 2-3 games more than all of their Metro opponents have played. If a losing streak finds the Penguins, the could find themselves in the Metro basement before too long.All it would take is threee or four losses in a row to send the two-time Stanley Cup champs to the pit of misery.
Rutherford should not wait for that day to come. He needs more consistent scoring from his left wing position. He needs it today.
The week ahead doesn't look promising for the Penguins who will face three stout Western Conference teams in the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues. On Tuesday, Marc Andre Fleury will make his long anticipated return to the scene of his three Stanley Cup victories. Fleury defeated the Penguins in Vegas on December 14.
What if the Penguins fight valiently and still lose all three games? What if the respective penalty kill units of the Knights, Stars and Blues shut down the Penguins power play? What if the Penguins fail to score at 5v5? What happens if Murray or Jarry falter in the nets? What then?
What will happen if contending teams swoop in and trade for the available goal scorers who have been on the market for months?
Jim Rutherford still has a kick at the three-peat can. Will he seize the day?
Evander Kane has been smack-dab in the middle of Jim Rutherford’s dashboard for months.
The Pens are the 28th ranked even strength scoring team in the NHL today. Kane has been one of the best 5v5 scorers in the NHL the past three seasons. That the Pens have been sending their AGM plus scouts to Buffalo on a regular basis is noteworthy. It takes on added significance in light of the serious injury that will force scoring left winger Conor Sheary from their lineup for “weeks…. Sheary was injured earlier this week and is being replaced in the lineup in the short term by Bryan Rust. Rutherford and Botterill have remained in contact throughout this season. Perhaps JR is ready to pull meet Botterill’s demands for Kane.
What would it take to get Botterill to say yes to an Evander Kane trade to Pittsburgh?
For starters, Botterill needs a 2018 first round draft choice. The Sabres will also want Wilkes Barre Scranton scoring star Daniel Sprong (2nd round 2015). The winger has scored 19 goals and 15 assists in 33 games played for the Baby Penguins this season. In eight games with the big club, Sprong has scored 2 goals and added and assist.
Botterill would also like to have Penguins prospect Sam Militec, who was undrafted by an NHL team. Militec scored 56 goals and 67 assists in 135 games with the London Knights. He was traded to the Niagara Ice Dogs earlier this season. Miletic (6’0… and 200 lbs.) is a skilled winger who can play in all situations. In 35 games this season in London, Militec scored 16 goals and 38 assists. In ten games with the Ice Dogs, he has continued his torrid scoring with 9 goals and 7 assists. Militec played one season for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL before heading to London for major junior. Botterill knows all about the kid having selected and groomed him personally in WSB. Botterill would likely have to take back defenseman Ian Cole in any trade with the Penguins.
Congrats to @penguins prospect @SamMiletic of @OHLIceDogs named #OHL Player of the Month for January leading the league with 25PTS in 13GP: pic.twitter.com/1yzb2gviZw
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) February 1, 2018
The Penguins have been scouting the Sabres for months. Sabres GM Jason Botterill knows the Pens well. They know him well. Botterill knows where their itch is and can offer them a scratch, so to speak. Jim Rutherford helped shape and groom Jason Botterill for his first NHL job in Buffalo. The Sabres and Penguins continue to have conversations.
Kane isn't the only Sabres player being scouted by the Penguins.
Robin Lehner would add a fair amount of security to the Penguins goaltending depth heading down the stretch. Matt Murray has had his own injury struggles to have to deal with this season. Murray is 17-12-1. His save peprcentage is a pedestrian .905 and his GAA is a bloated 2.93.
Rutherford may want to double down on a quality goalie like Lehner to inject immediate strength and skill to his crease. Tristan Jarry (9-4-2, 2.44 GAA and .919 SV%) and Casey DeSmith (3-3, 2.23 GAA, .926 SV%) are getting baptized by NHL fire. Neither has NHL playoff hockey experience. Rutherford continues to call up his kid goalies from WSB hoping for sustained success.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets have been scoutuing the Buffalo Sabres on this recent home stand. On Thursady night, the Jax sent their doiorector of hockey administration to Buffalo. Why send the salary cap and analytics guy out on the road? Because he is a key member of Jarmo Kekalainen's cabinet. Tonight, the Blue Jackets have their director of player personnel in Buffalo.
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The Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars, LA Kings, Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks continue to scout the Sabres live in person.
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