Half-Assed GDT: senators vs just 1 goalie

[Celtic Note]

That infamous MacInnis sequence where he had like 3 shots on goal and finally scored, but it was in like a 20 second span. Tage had 3 one timers in less than 10 seconds lol

I still really want to see this! Damn you work

 

[ezcreepin]

I still really want to see this! Damn you work

Someone will post it soon because it was easily the best thing about this game.

 

[Lakewood]

What are you up to?

If Nashville holds on tonight, I'm going to be sitting on a smidgen more than $312k.

Daaang! I've only placed a few bets. Still under 5k. What do we do with this stuff?

What are you up to?

If Nashville holds on tonight, I'm going to be sitting on a smidgen more than $312k.

Daaaang! That's too big for me. Wow, truthfully I think my bet was 1700 so i should be at 3400. Next time blues need a kick in the ass I'll go all in again.

 

[Robb_K]

Someone more talented then me should do this gif were Scrooge jumps into the coins, snaps his neck, and falls over.

I make my living drawing Scrooge McDuck (Oom Dagobert in The Netherlands).

 

[EastonBlues22]

Daaang! I've only placed a few bets. Still under 5k. What do we do with this stuff?

Daaaang! That's too big for me. Wow, truthfully I think my bet was 1700 so i should be at 3400. Next time blues need a kick in the ass I'll go all in again.

Not a darn thing, really. There's a leader board and some personal statistics kept on it just for fun. I think maybe some trophies associated with it, if you're into that sort of thing. It's mostly just for amusement.

 

[PiggySmalls]

Every time I think about Al’s slap shot I think about what it would be like today with a composite stick. It could kill someone.

 

[Celtic Note]

I make my living drawing Scrooge McDuck.

I was just about to ask Robb! Too cool

 

[Celtic Note]

Every time I think about Al’s slap shot I think about what it would be like today with a composite stick. It could kill someone.

Some of these composites would be too weak. He would probably go through 20 per game.

In all honesty though, it seemed like his blade hit nothing but puck on his slappers. He was incredibly precise in his technique. Even Weber and Parayko can’t I hold a candle to the combination of finesse and force that Al mastered.

 

[converseman54]

Went to the game tonight. Very thankful it turned out a little better than Saturday's game. Tough to tell if the Blues looked better or Ottawa was just that bad. Their 4 minute double minor powerplay was very bluesy. But onward and upward. Hopefully Schwartz is back against CO, cause we still need him

 

[EastonBlues22]

I make my living drawing Scrooge McDuck (Oom Dagobert in The Netherlands).

This drawing is outstanding, but it would have been legendary if Scrooge had painted a Bluenote on one of those eggs.

Opportunity missed, Robb.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

How Hoffman even done anything these 2 games against us?

I just finished watching the 1st (I was reading the GDT earlier; my girlfriend, her brother, and I do movie nights on Tuesdays). I’ll update as I finish watching.

Spoiler: 1st Period

Hoffman started his first shift with a good backcheck stick check to make Barbashev’s shot go wide.

On a different shift, Hoffman had a good forecheck where he stole the puck from behind the net, and then later worked his way toward the net to receive.

He also drove the net and had two good shots (one was a broken stick one-timer) during the remainder of the period.

It is apparent that his speed alone is something we sorely lack, and an asset that he uses well on both sides of the puck.

Spoiler: 2nd Period

Hoffman began his 2nd with a good zone entry, skating past our neutral zone defense after carrying the puck from his own end.

Then Ottawa went on a 4 minute PP, and Hoffman used his speed to get on the backcheck when a shot was blocked and went the other way. He also stole the puck back from Schenn from behind the net after a turnover in OTT’s zone during transition. On the final minutes of the PP, Hoffman helped get the puck out of trouble a couple of times while the Blues were excellent in the neutral zone on the PK.

He then played aggressively along the boards, pressuring the puck carrier to the point on the following attack by the Blues at even strength, and helped force a clear. He later entered the zone with speed from a pass from the defense, but ran out of room with no options.

On a later shift, he used his stick along the board in the neutral zone to take the puck under pressure from two defenders, and then made a good pass to get back into the OZ.

Hoffman used his speed again to get on the backcheck, and prevented a shot with his stickwork. He then used his speed to lead the transition after receiving a pass and entered the zone cleanly, but his drop pass failed.

Hoffman had a good read as the third forward along the boards on the forecheck, and pressured the breakout. He then got a pick-up in the neutral zone to send the play the other way and get an odd-man rush.

The Blues were very good defensively though two periods; Ottawa only got 8 shots on goal in the second. Hoffman was a big reason they even got that many.

Spoiler: 3rd Period

Hoffman had a good read in the D-zone to catch a pass up the wall with his speed and get the puck out to the neutral zone before he was stopped by the Bortuzzo’s excellent gap closure (he was doing this all game).

Hoffman beat out an icing by Karlsson, fought against Petro, and took a hit down low shortly after. After the Blues had the puck securely with two defensemen on the wrong side, both sides changed, and Hoffman was the last forward to get to leave the Blue’s zone. He didn’t aggressively pressure the puck carrier during this time, but instead stood by and then skated to the bench. I included that for the sake of objectivity - however this is hardly an error or deficiency on his part.

A minute later, Scotty caused a bunch of havoc up front on the Tarasenko goal - love that guy.

Hoffman off the faceoff got very physical and backchecked Steen down the ice on the quick transition. Then the hit from Chabot on Petro happened (Hoffman was backing up the predicted turnover along the wall).

Our PP could really use a player that can accelerate and dangle at the line on entries.

After the PP, Hoffman jumped on the ice and found quiet ice on a quick transition by Ryan, and got a shot on net (one of four of the period at that point).

Hoffman later tried to get the puck out of the D-zone and got it picked, but immediately got a second opportunity and carried it up ice into the Blues’ zone, dangling at the line with speeed until he ran out of real estate when two Blues defenders collapsed on top of him.

On a later shift, Hoffman aggressively pressured the breakout in the NZ, eventually forcing a turnover.

Following a line change and a draw, the Blues then went on the 5v6 with an Ottawa empty net, and Brayden Schenn scored.

Hoffman’s next shift was on the PP after the Jaskin penalty, and made a good read on the cycle to keep the play alive and worked it back to the point for a shot while he went to the slot to cleanup a rebound.

Hoffman drew a defenseman on the next play along the boards, turned to an open passing lane and found the point man, setting himself up with quiet ice for a one-timer that just beat a sliding Bortuzzo but not Hutton. That pretty much concluded the 3rd.

.

Hoffman is not the most aggressive along the boards at all, but he is always shifting to the weak side of the ice to get on his off-hand, meaning he doesn’t get the opportunity to be. Here he would be a RW and wouldn’t have to do that - meaning he will be in a better position to get involved, and when he needs to be, he generally does. In Ottawa, he’s always the third forward along the boards, and isn’t asked to do that very often, but his stick does the work for him.

Hoffman’s defensive positioning this game was fine, and he was constantly putting himself in a position to intercept passes, and made good reads. His speed was key to the little offensive pressure the Sens had, and he had some good forechecking to keep the play alive. Hoffman even played a little physical in the neutral zone, and was a force on the transition. He’s not going to win the Selke, and he’s not going to be aggressively checking in every play or jump with speed into a board battle, but he’s the guy you want receiving the puck once it’s won.

I’ll be watching last year’s Ottawa playoffs and do a (summarized; not word salad like this) write up on Hoffman later this week if all goes well.

The entire Blues team had a very solid to good game. Everyone was pretty good defensively, but a special nod to Petro, Parayko, Bortuzzo, Tarasenko, Jaskin, and Upshall. I didn’t watch the Blues super closely though, since I was focusing on Hoffman. Jaskin is great at possession behind the net, Tarasenko made some really good defensive plays and backchecked hard. Upshall is a beauty, and was a big part of Tarasenko’s goal by causing havoc in front. Barbashev, Stastny, and Gunnarsson were mostly invisible, and Thompson, Berglund, and Dunn are the remaining that had a very nice game offensively.

 

[Kreegz2]

I still really want to see this! Damn you work

1:20 in this video:




Also check out Stillman's sick dangles at 2:58 and Salvador's OT winner at 4:31

 

[PiggySmalls]

Amazing how much guys respected Al's shot and got out of the way. Nowadays players are crazy enough to stand in front of those bombs.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Thompson one timer sequence for anyone who wanted it.

 

[ort]

If he would have scored on that third shot, this would have seriously would have been one of the coolest goals I've ever seen. Oh well...

 

[Ranksu]

Thompson one timer sequence for anyone who wanted it.

Wow, our coaching stuff notice TT has legit shot at 1-timer for powerplay and they useing it? Mindblowing. He'll get in soon, no wait it wasn't powerplay set-up plays. I'll take it back.

 

[stl76]

I was laughing out loud really hard watching that 3 one-timer sequence from Tage "Tommy Gun" Thompson last night. Good stuff.

 

[Brian39]

I didn't get to see the 3rd period, but if it was anything like the first 2, that was one of the easiest shutouts of Hutton's career. Our team did a great job limiting quality chances and he did a great job keeping focused through a light workload early and not making life hard on himself with poor positioning and rebound control. I can't think of a single moment in the first 40 minutes where he looked at all out of control.

 

[542365]

I didn't get to see the 3rd period, but if it was anything like the first 2, that was one of the easiest shutouts of Hutton's career. Our team did a great job limiting quality chances and he did a great job keeping focused through a light workload early and not making life hard on himself with poor positioning and rebound control. I can't think of a single moment in the first 40 minutes where he looked at all out of control.

Brassard hit the crossbar, they had a two on one that developed really quickly so they didn’t have much time to execute, and Hoffman had a nice writer from the slot. Those are the only three truly dangerous chances I remember them having. They really didn’t apply much pressure at all. About as “easy” of a shutout as he’ll ever have.

 

[bluesfan94]

That infamous MacInnis sequence where he had like 3 shots on goal and finally scored, but it was in like a 20 second span. Tage had 3 one timers in less than 10 seconds lol

It was hilarious to watch live especially because the result of the first and second were essentially identical.