Follow me on twitter Follow @stlgoalie The Blues defeated the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg last night by a score of 5-2.
The Blues opened the scoring a little over four minutes into the second period as a result of a strong forecheck by Alexander Steen and what appears to be some miscommunication or indecision between Tyler Myers and Josh Morrissey. Notice in the video how Myers pulls off pursuit of the puck while Morrissey is slow to react to pursue the free puck. He compounds the issue by taking a poor angle to the puck, going to where it was rather than where it is going. The hesitation and poor angle allows Steen to be able to check Morrissey off the puck and make the pass to Tarasenko in the slot.
The Blues doubled their lead about six minutes later on a redirection goal by Patrik Berglund with the primary assist from Robert Bortuzzo. The assist for Bortuzzo is more fitting than normal as the Blues gained possession before the goal because of his strong execution of gap closure in the neutral zone, deciding to pressure the play and ensure the change in possession. Bortuzzo also aggressively helps retain possession of the puck in the offensive zone, pinching below the faceoff circle. After the pinch, Myers struggles again on another goal as the forecheck of Brayden Schenn turns the puck over to Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz slides the puck back to Bortuzzzo who fires a pass to Berglund for the deflection into the net. This is a play the Blues have used a lot this season.
The Blues push the lead to three less than two minutes later. Much like the 1st goal, Steen creates the play that leads to the 3rd goal of the game, his 12th goal of the year. Watch the play he makes at the blue line, staying with the play and the puck to eventually get the puck to Alex Pietrangelo.
Pietrangelo let a shot go through traffic that Connor Hellebuyck cannot control, allowing Steen to put the rebound into a mostly empty net.
The Jets would get one of the goals back with under three minutes left in the 2nd period on a one-timer by Kyle Connor. The shot was going wide but glanced off Vince Dunn and by Jake Allen.
The Blues seemed to have the game well in hand after two periods but they took three penalties in the last 13 minutes of the game, two of which were taken by Jay Bouwmeester. The Jets would cut the lead to one on a power play goal by Patrik Laine after the 2nd penalty. On the play Pietrangelo breaks his stick. In an effort to give Pietrangelo his stick, Steen cause a three person traffic jam in front of Allen which provides the screen making it an easy goal for Laine. Given the quality of the shot from Laine, it still may have ended up as a goal but Allen has no chance at all for a save on the play thanks to the screen.
Unlike a lot of recent games, the Blues respond and push the lead back to two just over a minute later on Tarasenko’s 2nd goal of the game. Bouwmeester lets a shot go from the left point that is deflected by Paul Stastny. The deflection causes the shot to miss the net and quickly rebound out to the front of the net on the other side where Tarasenko scores from a very tough angle.
Jaden Schwartz would add a short-handed empty net goal with a few seconds left to end the game 5-2.
Notes from the game: - Forward ice time was more evenly spread. Only Berglund was over 19 minutes. - Vince Dunn only played 12:30, as I expected but more on that below. - Tarasenko led all players with 7 shots on goal. - Wheeler, Ehlers, and Laine were all -2. - Other than Chris Thorburn, all Blues forwards had more than 10 minutes of ice time.
Speaking of Dunn, did you see this move from Thursday?
While I have been impressed by some of his moves, composure and passes this season, Blues fans should realize that he is one of the most protected defensemen in the entire NHL. The Blues coaching staff has done a very strong job putting him in a position to succeed. Look at how his ice time compares to other Blues defensemen.
His percentage of offensive zone starts far exceed any other Blues defensemen and only Robert Bortuzzo faces weaker competition. When you compare him league wide, he is in the top 10 of sheltered defensemen of those who have played 590 minutes.
Again, kudos to the coaching staff for putting Dunn in a position to succeed. It will be interesting if his quality of competition numbers fall back to the middle of the graph as he progresses both this season and in his career.
In looking at the league chart, the amount of sheltering Will Butcher has received is amazing. You expect players like Sergachev, Krug and Hanifin to be very high on the offensive zone start chart and to be protected a bit by quality of competition but I was surprised Niklas Kronwall has been sheltered that much.
Up next will be the return of Ryan Reaves tomorrow morning as the Blues host the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow morning.
It’s a great day for hockey.
Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers Nashville Predator's Paul McCann, Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others will donate in their name.