Follow @stlgoalie ************ Update - Bortuzzo is indeed back in and Thomas is out as expected based on his very poor game Wednesday night.
The lines are moving around and will at least start like this: Steen - O'Reilly - Tarasenko Fabbri - Schenn - Perron Maroon - Bozak - Blais Sanford - Barbashev - Sundqvist Edmundson - Pietrangelo Dunn - Parayko Bouwmeester - Bortuzzo Allen
In looking at the lines, I like Barbashev at center. I like trying Steen with Tarasenko and O'Reilly. In my opinion, the Blues need to save the Fabbri, Schwartz, and Schenn for the other lines. I'd be curious to see Perron tried there and also wouldn't mind moving Maroon back again.
For me, the top two defensive pairings have to be what you roll with consistently. They have history and need to figure out, sink or swim style.
************* From earlier:
The Blues moved closer to the #tankforHughes strategy Wednesday night when they wasted a 3 goal comeback, losing 4-3 to the Detroit Red Wings.
The loss was the same story different day with terrible defensive zone coverage. On the Red Wings 1st three goals, the Blues started the play with more defenders than the Red Wings had attacking forwards.
Let’s look at goal one. The Blues should be ok with five players guarding three Red Wings. Unfortunately, nobody wants to actually cover Thomas Vanek in the low slot which allows him an easy goal.
The Blues went from #roarbacon to #toast in a matter of five minutes. The reality is that the Yeo or Berube’s system only matters so much when the execution is so poor. Hopefully the team will start playing with more urgency and efficiency but I haven’t seen much to suggest such a change will occur with any consistency.
The test gets tougher tonight as they visit the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche are on the rise, winning six in a row and earning 17 of their last 20 points, vaulting to the 4th best points per game team in the league and best in the conference. They are the highest scoring team in the league with the best power play which doesn’t bode well for the Blues with their coverage issues. Their defense has been good as well, 7th best in the league.
They also have arguably the best line in the league, with Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon having the most and second most points in the league. Gabriel Landeskog isn’t bad either with 28 points in 25 games. In net Semyon Varlamov has stopped 92.7% of the shots he has faced.
For the Blues, it sounds like Robert Bortuzzo is back in tonight. With back to backs tonight and tomorrow, expect Jake Allen and Chad Johnson to split the starts.
NHL Champions for Charity We’ve gotten some traction on the charity wager among the Central Division bloggers. More on that to come.
It’s a great day for hockey.