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The St. Louis Blues were hammered 7-1 by the New Jesrey Devils on Tuesday night. Poor goaltending and terrible special teams play doomed the Blues, who allowed 3 PPGs against.
It usually takes the Devils 5 games to score 7 goals. The scored a touchdown vs. St. Louis.
The Blues lost in regulation for the fourth time in their last six games, after dropping just seven games in regulation during the team's first 42 games.
Ken Hitchcock said a lot in his 30-second long postgame interview:
"We were poor right across the board," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Poor with our discipline. Our top players took poor penalties, poor in every aspect of our game.
"It's disappointing. We're going to have to regroup. This is on everybody. It's on me, it's on the players ... it's a total team loss. It's just disappointing to put in an effort like (Monday 0n 4-1 win in Detroit) and to come back and play like we did today."
I'm of the mind that the Blues will be addressing the goaltending position in the very near future. There's this guy named Ryan Miller. I hear he's pretty good. I'll be shocked if Halak and Elliott are both on the Blues roster come March 5. Both goalies are pending UFAs.
Halak has lost 4 of his last 5 games. Elliott has lost 2 in a row.
Better for the Blues to have their brains beat in now in January rather than have their goalies fail in May or June.
You don't believe me that the Blues golaies are unfocused right now, do you?
Here's Halak. This abomination made it 7-1 Devils:
Elliott's stick after exiting tonight's game. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/EgDXLScFiF
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) January 22, 2014Look at Halak's body language. Not exactly inspiring. Is that what a head coach and teammates want to see in the #1 goalie come May and June when the hockey wars begin?
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Speaking of poor goaltending...
Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals were shutout 2-0 by Ottawa on Tuesday night.
The Caps have now lost six games in a row. They have two glaring fatal flaws that opponents continue to exploit:
* Terrible goaltending * Ovechkin is their only goal scorer. Ovi sat out the Tuesday loss to Ottawa with an injury.
Plus, the Caps sent rookie Phillip Grubauer back to AHL Hershey Bears on Monday.
Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth have been brutal the past two months.
The Caps have one skate on a banana peel right now. They are about to fall out of the Eastern conference playoff chase, for good.
Expect Caps GM George McPhee to intensify his search for a veteran goalie to help stop his team's bleeding.
McPhee is not allergic to making blockbuster trades. Look back to the 2013 trade deaddline when he traded star Swede power forward Filip Forsberg to Nasville for Martin Erat. If I'm Sabres GM Tim Murray, I'm all over McPhee today. The Sabres can ask for, and probably receive Washington's 1st and 2nd rounders this season, Braden Holtby, and a prospect not named Kuznetzov today in exchange for Ryan Miller. Tom Wilson would look good next to Marcus Foligno, Zemgus Girgensons, Mikahil Grigorenko , Joel Armia and perhaps Sam Bennett or Sam Reinhart for the next 10 seasons in Buffalo.
GM GM is in dire straits. He better make a deal for a veteran puck stopper now, or else his Caps will miss the 2014 playoffs.
McPhee better make a move for Miller now before the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild beat him to the punch.
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I've been telling you for months that the LA Kings cannot score goals. They are currently ranked #23 in NHL goal scoring. Last week, they sent point producer prospect Tyler Toffoli back to AHL Manchester, in a move that caused more than a few face palms by this observer.
The Kings have been scouting the Buffalo Sabres for weeks. There's no secret that the Kings would love to infuse pending UFA Matt Moulson's offensive skill set into their frustrated lineup. Moulson has the exact mojo that the Kings are missing right now. The Kings are very familiar with Moulson. They allowed him to skate away from their organization years ago. He became an NHL sniping star riding shotgun for the uber-talented John Tavares on Long Island, where Moulson scored 30 goals four different times. He's on pace to score 30 more this season in Buffalo. Hence, Moulson's stock keeps rising by the day.
Lets assume the Kings want Moulson more than all other suitors like Other Senators, Predators and Capitals.
At what price though?
The Kings would have to lead with a top prospect in the form of either Tyler Toffoli or Linden Vey. Toffoli is a Scarborough kid who would add immediate size, scoring and skill to Buffalo's top six forward group. I feel like having Vey in the organization would allow the Kings to move Toffoli in a deal for Moulson. They'd be losing scoring, but gaining scoring at the same time. They'd be able to replace Toffoli's future production with Vey's offensive ability. Vey scored 22 goals and 25 assists in Manchester last season. He has 6 goals and 16 assists in 20 games in Manchester this season. He and Toffoli need to be in the NHL right now, however, Darryl Sutter's veteran-heavy roster doesn't allow the kids to play until such time that there is an injury to a veteran. Therefore, call-ups are few and far between. It took a Jeff Carter broken foot to call-up Toffoli, who scored 9 goal sand 8 assists (5 GWGS) earlier this season. Toffoli has 10 goal sand 6 assists in 13 games in Manchester this season. Point blank, he's too good to be playing in the AHL right now. He needs to play for an organization that embraces and provides the NHL experience to its top talented prospects.
Tim Murray spent 7 seasons as AGM in Ottawa before coming to Buffalo. In Murray's tenure in Ottawa, Toffoli was a two-time 50-goal scorer for the Ottawa 67s. My guess is that Murray spent some time at the junior rink watching Toffoli light the lamp.
Moulson likes playing in Buffalo and he admires Ted Nolan. He fits right in with the guys in the Buffalo room. The Sabres have to spend north of $25 million to get to the salary cap floor for next season. Yes, spend $25+ million to hit the floor! Money will be no object for the Sabres and Moulson. They could sign him to a 5 year deal worth $6+ million per season. He may opt to stay and play in Buffalo, however, if he has the opportunity to play again with his brother-in-law Jonathon Quick in LA, why wouldn't he accept the opportunity to play for a legitimate Stanley Cup contender now and move along?
If the Kings want UFA-to-be Moulson (and why wouldn't they?), then Toffoli, a second rounder, and perhaps Jordan Nolan would be a nice compensation package for the Sabres.
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If I'm St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong, I'm screaming "UNCLE!" right about now.
Brian Elliott and Jaro Halak have been equally as pathetic in the St. Louis net lately.
Its like watching the Bill Murray flick "Groundhog Day".
Same stuff, different day.
The St. Louis goalie tandem has become the definition of insanity:
Doing the same thing over and over again, and then expecting a different result.
Elliott entered Tuesday night's game in snow-blown New Jersey looking to push the kill switch on his two game losing streak. Elliott gave up three goals in 12 minutes played and was promptly given the hook by Ken Hitchcock. By the time Elliott pulled on his ball cap, Halak had allowed two goal of his own. The score in Newark in the third period is 6-1 Devils. Halak has lost three of his past four starts and he's on his way to his fourth loss in five starts. He beat Detroit 4-1 on Monday night. The Blues' record this season in the second game of a back to backs was 2-4-1 before tonight. It will be 2-5-1 after tonight's debacle.
Last week, Hitchcock proclaimed that he is not about to name one man the starting goalie. He parefers the rotation system. Elliott-Halak-Elliott-Halak and so on. It ain't workin', Hitch.
The Blues entered Tuesday night's action holding on to third place in the Western standings with 71 points. San Jose is right on the back with 7o points. Colorado has 67 and LA has 64 points.
Armstrong and Hitchcock are patient men. When will their collective patients reach its end?
If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got.
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Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard is having a dickens of a time staying healthy at the very same time his team is failing to find its consistency. Howard will not play for a week (or more), which has to be a huge concern right now for Mike Babcock. Howard re-injured the same left knee that was giving him problems late last month when he injured it in practice.
He “tweaked… the left knee while making a first period save during Monday nights 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
After the game, Howard told the Detroit Free Press:
"As the game went on, in the second period, it just got stiffer and stiffer," Howard said.
Howard was replaced by rookie Petr Mrazek at the 30-minute mark of the game. He missed 8 games between December 10th and 30th when he originally injured the knee. He returned on December 30 to lose 6-4 to the low-scoring Nashville Predators. Howard appeared to be rusty in the loss to the Preds. He lost in the shootout to Tyler Bozak and the Toronto Maple Leafs during the Winter Classic. On New Year’s Day, Howard was selected to play for Team USA at the Sochi Olympics behind Ryan Miller and Jonathon Quick.
The Red Wings enter Wednesday night’s game against Pat Kane and the locked and loaded Blackhawks tied for 8th place (52 points) in the Eastern standings with Washington and Columbus. Ottawa and New Jersey are one point behind the Red Wings right now. A 3-4 game losing streak could land the Red Wings in 12th place in the standings by this time next week. The Red Wings have made the playoffs 22 straight seasons, and 27 of the past 29 seasons. Jonas Gustavsson will start against Chicago.
Howard said:
"There's fluid back on the knee…Hopefully, it gets out of there fast." "It is frustrating," he said. "You're moving in the right direction and you feel like you're doing all the right things, and you were doing all the right things. It's just bad luck, I guess, is what it comes down to."
The Syracuse native is 9-12-8 in 29 starts this season. He has a 2.39 GAA and .918 save %. He is 3-5 in his last 8 starts in which he’s allowed 19 goals against.
What if Howard's knee requires a longer treatment time? He'll likely miss the Olympics.
Can the Red Wings make it to the playoffs with Howard's wonky knee? Can Gustavsson save the day? Or, will Ken Holland have to make a trade for a veteran capable of stabilizing and righting the ship for the Red Wings?
Ryan Miller perhaps?
Howard's knee may heal itself in the next week and he may be fine to go to the Olympics and then make a strong playoff push for his Red Wings. However if it a chronic injury that requires more rest and recovery away from the rink to properly heal it, the Red Wings will have to consider adding a veteran backstop. Gustavsson and Mrazek may be a nice tandem to keep the Wings close to the cluster of 5 teams that they are clumped into, however, they may not be capable of carrying the Wings on a 5-6 consecutive game point streak.
In years past, the Wings had banked a ton of points by this point in the season by banking points from winning games October-January. They don't have any slush or rainy day fund this season. They were supposed to be a super power their first year in the Leastern Conference. Its been a very disappointing season due to injuries to Howard, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Alfredsson, Helm, DeKyser and other key contributors.
I I have to believe that if Ken Holland were to call Tim Murray to inquire about Ryan Miller's availability, Im certain that a serious conversation would be had. Miller grew up in East Lansing, Michigan. His bro Drew is on that team. He's well aware of their rich and illustrious history.
Hometown kid helps save season and playoff hopes as rental? There's a Hollywood script in here somewhere.
Im sure that Miller has Detroit on his list of 21 teams that he would accept a trade to.
With Ken Holland at the helm and Mike Illitch's financial backing, You never know.
o