Follow me on twitter Follow @stlgoalie *****UPDATE***** Tarasenko out. Oskar Sundqvist in Expect Jake Allen to get the start Expect Nikita Soshnikov to get a shot moving up in the lineup
Allen on back to back starts this year is 1-0-1 with a 91.8% save percentage and a 1.92 GAA and has a 92.9% save percentage and 2.00 GAA in his career while going 8-1-2. ******
The roller coaster ride for Blues fans continued last night. The Blues began last night’s game against the Rangers dominating yet again, outshooting the Rangers 16 to 2 and shot attempts 31 to 11 but yet only led the Rangers 1-0. This is an all too familiar pattern.
In another familiar pattern, at least again lately, the Blues opening goal was from a defenseman, this time from Alex Pietrangelo just over 4 minutes into the period. The Blues had good sustained pressure on the play, at least 20 seconds before getting the puck to the right point. Both Tage Thompson and Dmitrij Jaskin had great net front presence on the goal, something that would be key on a few plays in the game. Vladimir Sobotka’s shot from the point deflects off bodies in front and Pietrangelo makes an aggressive play, rushing the lane to the net and putting the puck past Alexandar Georgiev.
The Blues regained the lead less than 2 minutes later, a result of good plays by a trio of players. Carl Gunnarsson really started the play from the wall around the red line, putting the puck into space so that Chris Thorburn could get the puck, coming off the bench. Thorburn then gains the blue line, making a strong drop pass to Nikita Soshnikov. Soshnikov lets a great shot go, wiring it off the bar and into the net for his first goal as a Blue.
Even so, the Blues are still in a good position as the Rangers cross the blue line.
Games to watch today – 2pm CST – Avalanche host the Red Wings 3pm CST – Knights host the Flames 6:30pm CST – Jets host the Stars 8:00pm CST – Ducks host the Devils
The first of the three games against the Hawks is tonight at 6:30pm CST in Chicago. Chicago has lost 2 games in a row and is 3-7 in their last 10 games though they have beaten the Bruins, Sharks and Avalanche in 3 of their last 5 home games. The Hawks season goals may now be primarily focused on ensuring their rival Blues don’t make the playoffs.
It will be interesting to see the lineup tonight but we won’t have a real sense of that until 5pm or so.
Forwards Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko (assuming he can go) Alexander Steen - Kyle Brodziak – Patrik Berglund Dmitrij Jaskin - Vladimir Sobotka – Tage Thompson Nikita Soshnikov – Ivan Barbashev – Chris Thorburn
Defense Carl Gunnarsson - Alex Pietrangelo Vince Dunn - Colton Parayko Joel Edmundson – Robert Bortuzzo Goalie Jake Allen, perhaps Ville Husso
Interesting quotes from coach Mike Yeo last night:
“You need awareness and urgency when you have the puck too and I think that is one area that we slipped in the 2nd period. We started turned pucks over high in the offensive zone…We didn’t have the same urgency to make sure we were on the right side of things.…
On starting Brodziak and Sobotka for overtime - “Brodziak and Sobotka, good nights on and two of our top face off guys. If we can get the face off and ultimately, kind of what you are looking to do is saw off the shift. You know that they are putting out their 2 top offensive players up front and if you can saw off that shift, then you come back with Schwartz and Schenn. “
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.