Blues 3 Stars - Game 1

[Robb_K]

Really surprised that Pietrangelo isn't in the top 3. I thought he was fantastic.

He really was. He personally was the reason many Oilers' offensive sequences were stifled, and he contributed much to The Blues' offence with outlet passes, carrying the puck into the offensive zone, O-zone passes, and some drives to the net. He really anchored the defnce, as he usually does. He's definitely one of the top 6 defencemen in The NHL, and Shattenkirk needs quite a bit of improvement in his own zone, to climb to Pietrangelo's level. Despite his inaccuracy in shooting, he still is always among The NHL's top scoring defencemen. I expect him to score above 50 points this season, and to play well in the playoffs.

Shattenkirk is a super offensive defenceman, who is great at running the power play, and is adequate on defence. But, I wouldn't want him on my #1 pairing, unless he'd be teamed with a super 2-way defender, who is fast and quick enough to cover for Shattenkirk when he pinches and drives the net.

 

[rumrokh]

My bad, I could have swore Shatty was in the play on the Tarasenko breakaway. Then again I was at work, and somewhat distracted. However I wasn't saying Shattenkirk is better than Pietrangelo (he is better offensively but that's besides the point.) just that I thought he played a great game, and deserved more votes imo.

Oh, yea, like I said, I wasn't calling you out. My comments about Shattenkirk are about other threads and older arguments that ebb and flow around here. He was in my top 3 for the game, too. It just seriously never occurred to me that people might be confusing them often enough for that to impact their judgment. Both skilled right d-men with visually similar numbers on their jerseys.

 

[Majorityof1]

1. Tarasenko - The goal and a few other nice chances. Drove his line which drove the play.

2. Elliot - Should have had a shut-out except for freak goal. Made some nice saves too.

3. Petro - It was a freak goal, and I don't blame him for it. Had some awesome passes to create breakaways. Solid defensively.

Honorable mention: Fabbri (goal) and Lehtera (didn't do much but man that was a sweet pass).

So pretty much the same as almost everyone else.