GDT: 10/9/14 Game #1: St. Louis Blues vs. New York Rangers

[Note Worthy]

Just got back from the game...

-Cole was pretty bad. Bad turnovers and he was constantly getting beat to the puck all night.

-What in the **** was Ott doing on the PP? I thought I was going to throw up in my seat when I noticed it.

-I thought Elliott made some pretty decent saves; the goals were just bad luck, especially the last one.

-Oshie's fight was awesome and got everyone fired up. The Scottrade was different after that fight.

Overall, first game of the season. It was disappointing to see a loss but it's all good. On to Saturday against the Flames.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Guys, don't forget it's just 82 friendlies before the real games start. It wasn't that bad at all, and the team will look better soon.

 

[Robb_K]

I know it's just one game, but the Blues had an entire offseason to improve their powerplay. They hired a new coach to help out...and that was the best they could come up with. Is it an overreaction? Probably, but the decision-making that puts Steve Ott out there doesn't exactly inspire hope for improvement.

There was still very little movement of players without the puck to draw out the defenders, and almost no driving towards the net by players to receive a pass and change the screening player.

Ott was sent out for the last several seconds, mainly for the shift after, but, I don't like giving up on the PP. The Blues have had MANY PP goals scored on them in the last few seconds, or even after the penalised player got back on the ice. There's no excuse for not using better PP strategy with the talent they have now for both shifts.

 

[Tryblot]

I honestly only noticed him in the last seconds of the PP, I figured hitch had him out for the upcoming 5on5

That's what I thought it was as well. He came out with about 15-20 seconds left in the PP.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Not sure why Tarasenko's goal is credited to Stastny, btw. I've rewatched it like 10 times, and to me Stastny didn't touch it. Not that it's a very important issue, but for the greater truth sake...

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

That is what I saw as well.
We are a systems team that has a lot of new players, so it is to be expected.

Were parts if the game frustrating to watch? Of course, but it had more to do with our guys not executing and over thinking. We were not outplayed IMO. That doesn't mean NY didn't play a solid road game, but this was ours to loose and we didn't capitalize.

As for individuals...

I really believe Lehtera is going to be a big piece for us. He showed a lot of smart play tonight. He has small fixable flaws but given his hockey IQ and limited time on small rinks, he should be able to iron them out quickly.

Lindstrom has skill, but I am not sure if his game translates in tough games. He isn't great defensively and his decision making just doesn't seem to lend itself to tight checking opponents. Hopefully he just needs time to adjust but his game is much less polished than Jori's.

Berglund and the rest if the Backes line looked pretty blah tonight. I am not sure I can see that as a line moving forward.

If anything showed tonight it is that we either need to focus on two top heavy lines with one of our centers stuck with Jocke and Berglund or Backes slides to wing and we get creative. I am not sure I love either option, but thinning out our wingers to balance three lines doesn't seem smart to me at he moment. If anything we are weakening our top six to strengthen our third line. That might help us from wearing down throughout the season but in the playoffs that could be too easy to defend.

Our defense as a whole looked pretty bad. The guy I was really disappointed in was Petro. He was more of a top 4 guy tonight rather than a Norris contender. His game was littered with bad reads, poor stick positioning, and uninspired play with the puck.

I agree with this. Cole didn't look good, but neither did his partner. Petro has to be played with JBo. He needs someone to cover his butt a lot better than what Cole is capable of. I think I would put Cole and Shatty together for the time being. Shatty at least pays attention to what his partner is doing. Just let Petro and JBo play their 25 minutes a game together.

Schwartz Tank Lethera Backes Oshie Stastny all looked good. I think their offensive game plan was poor, which is no fault of the players. The defense knew what we were doing every time we came into the zone and played it well. Coaches need to make adjustments. We didn't. Same play. same crap. Don't score using the same play we do every time with the lines intact. Change the personnel around and do the same play. Didn't work in the playoffs. Doesn't work now either. Cut bait with Hitch!!

Great scrap by Oshie. Next time let Zuccarello stand on a chair so he can reach him. He's listed as 5' 7"....really? haha

 

[bleedblue1223]

You just have to let Petro get comfortable with an inferior partner again. Doesn't help that Cole's theme song last night was Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give it Away."

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

You didn't hear them playing "Cover Me" when Petro was on the ice...

 

[ncthorn]

I know this has been discussed, but why is Cole paired with Pietrangelo? Here we have a guy who got very little ice time last year and all of a sudden, he is being matched up with NYR's top lines. At the same time, Petro and J-Bo were one of the best pairings in the league last year. My hope is that when Gunnarson comes back that the top pairing will be restored and Cole can be paired with Jackman. I'm just surprised to see so much shuffling of the D corp.

 

[Meatwagon]

Have you seen his legs? Never.

Ummmmm....

Also, I don't get what all the hype is surrounding McDonagh? I thought he was very pedestrian last night, yet people claim he's better than Petro? I just don't get it, maybe he had an off night, but I looked for him every time he was on the ice and I was left really underwhelmed.

Does anybody else have a different take on him? And please rangers fans don't infect this board with your "Ryan is a top5 dman" claims. Am I missing something here?

 

[bleedblue1223]

Because Gunnarsson will be Petro's partner. Cole is only going to be there for about 3 games. Cole was fine except when he was turning the puck over and considering the entire team was sloppy, lets just see if it was because it was the opener.

 

[Celtic Note]

It seems like Cole us getting a lot of criticism but the rest of the d that made the same or more costly errors are left off the hook.
Considering he was on the first pair and played on par with everyone outside of Petro, Bouw and Shatty, I am not sure what the reasoning is for harping on him.
Is it because his errors are easy to spot in comparison?

In response to my criticism of Petro, he was far from playing the way he is capable. Does that mean he was our worst D? No, but expectations and assessment based on capabilities should tell us that he was pretty off the mark.

 

[Novacain]

Honestly, my main thought was all of our 3rd pairing options looked awful last night. It's early, but I'm concerned.

 

[Dbrownss]

Honestly, my main thought was all of our 3rd pairing options looked awful last night. It's early, but I'm concerned.

Normally I would argue that's not what the 3rd pairing is going to be. But jackman by himself wasn't too hot. What worries me is when we have injuries. Defense was terrible in preseason and this game. I'm worried that this is what we have deal with when a dman goes down

 

[EastonBlues22]

It seems like Cole us getting a lot of criticism but the rest of the d that made the same or more costly errors are left off the hook.
Considering he was on the first pair and played on par with everyone outside of Petro, Bouw and Shatty, I am not sure what the reasoning is for harping on him.
Is it because his errors are easy to spot in comparison?

In response to my criticism of Petro, he was far from playing the way he is capable. Does that mean he was our worst D? No, but expectations and assessment based on capabilities should tell us that he was pretty off the mark.

I agree with this perspective.

He made his share of errors last night, but others that I expect more from made worse.

 

[ncthorn]

Because Gunnarsson will be Petro's partner. Cole is only going to be there for about 3 games. Cole was fine except when he was turning the puck over and considering the entire team was sloppy, lets just see if it was because it was the opener.

That makes sense in terms of why Cole is slotted there. I also don't want to be overly critical of him. Seeing as how I also went to ND, I am about as big a fan of Ian Cole as there is. I think the forwards were every bit as sloppy as the back end last night, probably more so.

I guess I get it if the goal is to spread out the skill sets on the top 2 defensive pairings, but it seems a bit odd to put Gunnarson and Petro together after Petro and J-Bo spent the bulk of the season together last year.

 

[Thallis]

Normally I would argue that's not what the 3rd pairing is going to be. But jackman by himself wasn't too hot. What worries me is when we have injuries. Defense was terrible in preseason and this game. I'm worried that this is what we have deal with when a dman goes down

Jackman was by far the best of the three.

 

[Dbrownss]

Hitch also conceded that Steen-Stastny-Tarasenko looked much better in practice then games. I'd wager Bo - shatty won't stick. It didn't seem too good in an actual game and we have zero idea what gunny - shatty looks like.

 

[SirPaste]

We looked awful last night. I have been one ode biggest Cole supporters on here but he was terrible, so was Shattenkirk.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Was anyone really that satisfied with any of the skaters? I thought it was just a sloppy game with some flashes of great play from some players. Don't think we should really target specific players because everyone was off. Even Tarasenko who had a good game couldn't get his cut to the slot move going. Everyone tried too make the one-more pretty pass instead of just shooting.

Also not a fan of the PP set-up. Tarasenko and other left-handed shots need to be on the right boards for one-timers and easier, faster puck movement.

 

[Ranger Angst]

Hi Ranger fan here. Just listened to my 1st broadcast with Pang&Kelly.(Center ICe is unscrambled) I found them knowledgable , objective & entertaiing. I know it's a small sample but if these announcers are always like last night ; Blues fans are lucky.

 

[Lepardi]

That's what I thought it was as well. He came out with about 15-20 seconds left in the PP.

According to the stats Steve Ott had 2:09 of PP time in the game.

 

[Thallis]

Was anyone really that satisfied with any of the skaters? I thought it was just a sloppy game with some flashes of great play from some players. Don't think we should really target specific players because everyone was off. Even Tarasenko who had a good game couldn't get his cut to the slot move going. Everyone tried too make the one-more pretty pass instead of just shooting.

Also not a fan of the PP set-up. Tarasenko and other left-handed shots need to be on the right boards for one-timers and easier, faster puck movement.

Lehtera was great. He needed to be out for the 6 on 5 and on the powerplay for Ott. It completely blew my mind how Hitch can thing Berglund and Ott together on the second PP unit is a good idea.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Yeah, Lehtera made a lot of good plays. You can tell he is a natural playmaker, but there were also times he wasn't afraid to shoot. Was really impressed with how strong he was on the puck, and his ability to get it from defenders, not Schwartz level, but that line will create a lot of 2nd and 3rd chance opportunities by not letting the other team leave the zone. I always that he was going to be successful, but he still performed better than I expected. Sort of what we all thought Berglund would've been early in his career.

I think Berglund and Lindstrom are the potential weak spots, and if they don't turn it up, Jaskin will be up sooner than later. I just don't see Berglund meshing with Backes. Backes likes to play a little quicker and Berglund likes to really slow it down, it's just that Oshie can play both ways because of his puck skills and vision/IQ/hockey sense.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Rather than list all the guys who looked rusty or bad, I'll comment on the positives (which are fewer):

Lehtera is going to be an effective NHL player. He was one of the few guys who really looked ready to play.

Backes elevated his play when the team was languishing mid-game.

Elliott did a good job. Two of the goals he gave up were on chances of much too high quality. The Blues can't allow skaters to get those kinds of looks (the breakaway and then the St Louis play at the end, which was off a bad bounce). Other than that he stopped things he should, and wasn't giving up bad rebounds.

I'll say it, I really liked the 4th line last night. The Blues needed a jolt of physical play, and they brought it. When the team looked timid and was getting badly outshot, I felt like Ott's contribution mattered. I noticed Berglund did a shift with the 4th line, I assume to try and get him playing physically and with energy. I also noticed when Oshie was serving his penalty, Ott was the one that took his place....and that the line looked dangerous. He's not here to be an all-star, but I didn't see bad Ott out of position making turn-overs. I saw a solid contributor.

I'm disappointed in the PP. Maybe they just haven't spent as much time working on it yet. The first month is light, so there are more practices than usual to iron out things. Maybe the PP needs some attention. I'd rather have a really good PK than PP, if I can only have one, and I think that's Hitchcock's opinion, too. The PK looked bad pre-season, but I assumed it was personnel.

Loved Lindstrom's hit along the boards just prior to Stastny's knee hit, and then Lindstrom jumping in immediately.

I'm concerned the team may not have enough scoring.

I kept thinking I was seeing Sobotka out there making plays. I loved that take-away he made that led to the Tarasenko/Stastny goal. (Yeah, it was Schwartz, but I was thinking Sobie.)

As for articulating problems:
I think the defense and the forwards were not in sync. Bad gaps, and the defense wasn't properly covered when they pinched at times. The transition wasn't sharp and there were lots of bad passes. Good news is those are all things Hitchcock is very good at addressing.

Calgary plays a more physical game, so the Blues are going to have to show up for the game. I think a physical challenge will be good for the team. Still won't be surprised if they lose the next one, though.