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The Blues didn’t make their lives very easy by losing 6-0 to the Coyotes and 4-2 to the Capitals but they really didn’t torpedo their chances either. They still control their own destiny with a game in hand on the Avalanche, a game left against them and being tied in ROW.
A span of approximately 7 minutes in the 2nd period Monday night was all it took for the Blues to fall to the Capitals. During the span, the Blues gave up 3 goals and giving the Capitals all they needed on route to a 4-2 win (including an empty net goal).
The Blues had their chances to even up the score in the third period, getting 2 power plays and putting 15 shots on goal. Their best chances were a shot by Brayden Schenn that clanged off the post and a one-timer from Jaden Schwartz that was denied by Braden Holtby.
Jake Allen was likely very frustrated after the game as he got a piece of 2 of the 3 Capitals goals but couldn’t get enough of the shots to keep them out of the net.
I don’t have time to go into the last two games in depth but one thing you might notice is that Vince Dunn appears to be struggling in his own end a bit more. Over the last 3 games, Dunn is a -5 while averaging over 20 minutes a game, far exceeding his season average of 17 minutes. The increased ice time hinders the coaching staff’s ability to shelter Dunn relative to zone starts and quality of competition. Of course, the coaching staff still likely feels his unsheltered minutes are a better option than giving more minutes to Jordan Schmaltz or Chris Butler. The shift in minutes and quality of minutes to Colton Parayko, Vince Dunn, Alex Pietrangelo, Joel Edmundson and, to a lesser extent, Robert Bortuzzo is one of the subtle but crucial challenges of the injuries to Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson. Bortuzzo or Gunnarsson would be serving as your 6th defensemen, eating 15-16 minutes instead of the 10-11 minutes taken by Schmaltz and Butler.
Tonight the Blues can take a big step toward the playoffs with a win over Chicago at home. The Blackhawks are coming off a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Avalanche and are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and only 14-20-5 on the road this season.
Of course, the Blackhawks are very motivated to be the cause of their I-55 rivals missing the playoffs. If you don’t believe me, listen to some of their own players.
- “it would be nice to have a hand in that [the Blues missing the playoffs]” – Patrick Kane
- “one of the things in our mind is trying to cause an upset” – Jonathan Toews
- “you just don’t want to be the reason a team’s celebrating and getting in” – Connor Murphy
- “it’s always fun to drag someone else down” – Erik Gustafsson
The Blackhawks lineup is expected to look like this:
Saad - Schmaltz - Kane
DeBrincat – Ejdsell - Sikura
Jurco -Anisimov - Martinsen
Sharp – Kampf - Hinostroza
Keith - Seabrook
Gustafsson - Murphy
Hillman- Rutta
JF Berube
The Blues lineup is expected to be this:
Forwards
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Vladirmir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund - Kyle Brodziak - Alexander Steen
Dmitrij Jaskin - Vladimir Sobotka - Tage Thompson
Ivan Barbashev - Oskar Sundqvist - Chris Thorburn
Defense
Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn - Colton Parayko
Chris Butler - Robert Bortuzzo
Goalie
Jake Allen
Nikita Soshnikov and Jordan Schmaltz are getting close to returning but are expected to be out tonight.
The Avalanche are off tonight before traveling to San Jose tomorrow night.
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.
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