My 3 Stars of the Game
1. Jeff Carter, LA. 2 goals on the night. I hate the guy in that "God I wish he was on our team" kind of way.
2. Jonathan Quick, LA. 34 saves on 36 shots, and he weathered the storm when it came at times.
3. Jaden Schwartz, STL. OK, he didn't catch Voynov on the game-winner, but that wasn't his assignment (see below). 1 assist, and clearly has his heart on his sleeve right now. And to think, there were Blues fans elsewhere who wanted him traded early in the season ...
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If last night was a defining moment for both the St. Louis Blues players and this series, then the Blues are in trouble and changes are on the way this summer.
I have to admit, I was surprised to see
Hitchcock's comments in the post-game where he thought it was the Blues best effort of the year. I really didn't see that during the game. I saw spurts, I saw signs that maybe they were on their way - but best effort of the year, and no passengers? I'm going to have to disagree there. Even on the final goal, Steen was lazy on the backcheck while Schwartz (who was behind the net when Backes lost the loose puck battle with Brown) was racing back down the ice trying to catch Voynov. The number of opportunities given the Kings may have been lower than Monday night, but there were still too many.
Game 5 was a "must win" game for the Blues, and they responded with more or less the same effort they displayed in Games 3 and 4 out in Los Angeles. Sure, there were a couple stretches where the Blues dominated play, and the 4th line was solid yet again last night, but it was the typical story of "didn't convert chances that were there, small mistakes ended up in the back of our net" that has dogged the Blues far too often. For a team that hit 9.3% of its shots in the regular season, the Blues have shown a fascinating ability (5.9% in the playoffs) to not hit the net when opportunity knocks. Sure, it's the playoffs and goals get a little more scarce and defense ramps up - but the Kings (9.2% regular season, 7.5% playoffs) have seized the moment given the chance.
Even if the Blues hadn't won but gone after the Kings a la Game 6 of the 1992 Norris Division semifinals vs. Chicago, I could feel optimistic about the Blues chances going into Friday night. For those who don't recall or weren't around, that was the night the Blues lost 2-1 to the Blackhawks to go out of the playoffs, but after that 2nd Chicago goal the Blues went on a ferocious attack trying to get the goal back. It was a nearly all-out attack for the final 2 periods as the Blues tried everything to get the puck past Ed Belfour but couldn't, and at the end Chicago was exhausted from having had to play defense for virtually 40 consecutive minutes of the game. But, that was 21 years ago. Last night? No such showing from the 'Note.
The saying is that you're not in trouble until you lose at home in a series. The Blues are now in trouble; not insurmountable trouble, but the margin for error is gone.
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I read a little on the Internet last night after the game, and watched with some amusement as some Blues fans targeted Brian Elliott for giving up a bad goal to Voynov at the end. "Same old Elliott, he sucks, bring in Halak for Game 6," ... the usual chatter from the same people is back.
Make no mistake, I thought the final goal wasn't great - but I still can't tell if Schwartz got a stick on it and that changed where the shot was going; Voynov indicated in post-game remarks that he was really trying to shoot high, so I think maybe Schwartz got a piece of Voynov's stick. I think the far worse goal was at the start of the 3rd when Jeff Carter got his 3rd of the playoffs to put the Kings up 2-1. On the play, Anze Kopitar was being forced wide ... which was fine - except that Brian Elliott was so far out of position playing him, he was almost outside the crease on the right side of the net. When Kopitar's pass came across to Carter, there was a virtually empty net staring #77 in the face and all he had to do was not throw it at the left side; there was no way Elliott was going to get back over to cover there.
Sure, Elliott "only" has a .925 SV% right now - but at a 1.88 GAA (that's 8th and 4th among starting goalies in the playoffs, respectively), he's giving his teammates every chance to stay in this series. If the guys in front of him aren't scoring goals (like last night) or are screwing up defensively when they do score goals (like Monday night), I don't know if it makes a real difference whether it's Elliott, Halak, Allen, Curtis Joseph from 15 years ago, or the ghost of Jacques Plante in net - the Blues are going to struggle to win this series.
No, guys who should be difference makers have to be the ones to step up now. David Perron? Chris Stewart? Both guys have been largely invisible or non-effective for much of this series, and both have tons of skill that they should be able to use more productively than they have. I've written about how I think Stewart is being misused, but that's still not a full excuse for his lack of impact so far. Perron? I have no idea what he's doing out there most of the time, and I'm not sure he has any more of an idea either. The kid has talent, and is just wasting it away right now doing everything but actually creating on offense.
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OK ... so enough of the doom-and-gloom. Yes, it sucks to be down 3-2 headed to TinselTown for Game 6 - but is the series really over? Of course not. The Blues have one final chance to redeem themselves, and they have to take advantage of it. The alternative is another offseason of "what if?" laments, knowing an opportunity passed.
Sure, the Kings have been dominant at home - but they had also lost 8 straight on the road until last night. All streaks come to an end at some point; hell, the Kings had won 8 straight against the 'Note until the playoffs started. There's no reason the Blues can't win on the road and bring this back home for Game 7, but it's not going to happen with the kind of efforts and play we've seen the last 2 games. Heck, look at this series and you can make an argument that the Kings could have wrapped it up in 5 ... or the Blues could be the ones up 3-2 going to Staples Center. A bad break here, a lucky shot there, and this series looks a lot different from what it currently does.
I do agree with some who've commented in prior entries that this series is probably one that is better suited for a later round, and that no matter who wins someone is going to go home early that should have been playing beyond the 1st round - but the playoffs don't get seeded on who should be playing who in some idyllic world. It's why I can't (and won't) point to that kind of stuff. You play who you're paired against, for better or for worse; you make the best of it, go like hell to win, and move on if you're successful. In the end, to be the best you've got to beat the best (insert visions of Ric Flair here) - and the Blues are going to have to step up to that challenge at some point.
The series isn't over until that 4th game is lost - but the Blues are clearly in the hole now. They largely failed the first chance to step up; let's see if they get it right the second time. I still think this group of players is capable of the kind of effort needed to rally from down 3-2 to win the series; do they? Do they know how to find that "next gear" at this point?
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What the Blues have to do to win Game 6: It's going to have to be all-in for Friday night. Not "we were all in last night" like Hitchcock said,
really all-in. No letdowns, no boneheaded plays, no freebies - the Blues have to play like their lives are on the line. That means solid support defensively (something that has been lacking at times) and limiting the chances the Kings have, but ultimately the Blues have to score goals - which means doing things on offense the Kings haven't seen or aren't expecting. Misdirection, not telegraphing shots or passes, ... they have to keep the Kings off balance and guessing, because at times they're getting predictable and react slowly, and it gives the Los Angeles defense time to react and get into position to close things off. The more pressure, the more tired they can get LA; tired players make more mistakes, which leads to more chances, which (presuming the Blues can convert) leads to more goals. But again, it's going to be an unrelenting attack on the Kings to get all of that going - and it has to come from
everyone on the bench.
What the Kings have to do to win Game 6: Pretty much what they've done in Games 4 and 5. They've been effective at spreading the Blues out and then capitalizing on the open gaps in the defense and making passes across to make Elliott have to slide over to cover; 5 of the last 7 goals have been tallied that way. If Quick continues to provide solid goaltending and the Blues try to get aggressive on offense at the expense of defensive coverage, they can all but cherry-pick offensively and then buckle down and clog up things defensively knowing they've got a guy in net who can bail them out if/when necessary.
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Around the rest of the playoffs:
Toronto vs. Boston - Dion Phaneuf admitted in the post-game he made a bad play on David Krejci's OT winner. That's why Phaneuf has never been the defenseman he could be - because way too often he's more interested in laying a hit than actually playing defense, except this time it cost the Leafs the game and forces them to go back to Boston down 3-1 where I expect the Bruins will finish the Leafs off. On the flip side, Phaneuf now moves to -16 in the playoffs in his 29-game postseason career, which is halfway to Alexei Zhitnik's all-time worst -33 (in 98 games) mark. Given enough games and enough plays like that, I think Dion may blow that away.
Anaheim vs. Detroit - The contributions the Ducks are getting from bottom-6 guys is how playoff series are won and deep playoff runs are made. Last night it was Nick Bonino just 1:54 into OT sending this series back to Detroit with the Red Wings down 3-2. The fact that Detroit has been as close in this series is still surprising, but they're going to need a small miracle to get this back to Anaheim for a Game 7.
NY Rangers vs. Washington - the Rags pulled even in the series with a win at home, but not before the Capitals made it a 1-goal game and then tried furiously to get the tying goal in the back half of the 3rd. Henrik Lundqvist did a great job of holding the fort for the Rangers, who need to keep the pressure on the Capitals early like they've done the past 2 games if they want to have a shot at winning this series.
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