Post-Game Talk: Blues def. Canucks - 2-1 (Garland)

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Playing total team defense lolol, demko kept the game close

Binnington made a number of outstanding saves as well to keep the Blues in it.

It was an even game ..they scored in the 3rd..we didn’t..but the game was on a platter.

 

[ChilliBilly]

I really think the Canucks, in the 2nd period with the long change, should have D men trade in for
forwards when they are trapped in on a long shift. then have the tired Men change as soon as they can, still leaving 2 d men out there.

The other thing that always bugs me is broken sticks. Why leave a player out there for 2 minutes with a broken stick, send him to the bench immediately. Play as though its a penalty kill for 15 seconds, and the other team has to watch the guy in behind them anyways.

Edit - missed a bunch of the game because I kept falling asleep.

 

[82Ninety42011]

They need to trade Kuz ASAP and get EP a legitimate scoring winger with some sandpaper.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Top6 let us down again

Just trade Kuz for a different winger already

 

[VanillaCoke]

They need to play Kuz and get EP a legitimate scoring winger with some sandpaper.

ftfy

 

[MS]

Not really disappointed in the loss... they had a lot of looks and just couldn't put it on net when they had Binnington out of position, and the defense had some holes but were overall fine.

Next.

Yeah, not every game tells some sort of big story.

We played pretty well in a pretty even road game, didn’t finish well, didn’t get a result in a game that could have gone either way. On to the next one.

 

[82Ninety42011]

ftfy

We need to shed some cap to get that incoming talent as well and Kuz is most likely the bait now. We see be nice if Kuz started playing with same confidence as last year.

 

[Play]

Shit game happens, but the trend of poor execution has been ongoing for a while.
Gotta fix this asap.

its cause you keep changing your profile picture.

 

[sting101]

Used to think it was a joke reading all the trade Kuzmenko posts. I'm starting to come around to the idea if Tocchet wont play him. You have to wonder if this situation can be remedied

Cant have a 39goal scorer stapled to the bench while we need offense and creativity. 6 games and 3 different stretches now plus tough words and sections of games neutered. Not sure if at 27 were gonna change what he is. Really frustrating tough love after last game to do this.

Lafferty has played out of his mind and it's great to see but we all know it's not a long term plan in the top6

 

[Nucker101]

I’ll take Buchnevich please and thank you

 

[ChilliBilly]

I still want to give Kuz an extended look on the power play and on the first line. I know Tochet wants a 200 ft game, but this is just a waste. And if they do plan on trading him, it could only increase his value.

I would still like to keep some Russians around ..... I can dream of a line of Kuzmenko, Podz, and Kravtsov. still, can't I? Of course, if Tochet is still around he might put them in front of a firing squad.

 

[Hansen]

PDG gets hurt, so Tocchet scratches Kuzmenko for Linus Karlsson

 

[bossram]

They didn't really play good or bad, though I did think STL was the better team today by a slight margin.

This is just the result you get when the 1 or 2 bounces you need don't go your way. No deflection goals tonight or kooky caroms.

 

[mossey3535]

Well, I guess the "winning lineup" excuse was used to keep Kuz out of the lineup, why not abandon it completely to keep him out of the lineup again?

Kuz is one of Tocchet's only missteps. Karlsson is too slow and that makes him make a lot of mistakes and he's often catching up on the play. Looking at Abby I'm not sure why he's the first call-up especially since Bluegar and Suter are now healthy. Tocchet needs to have slightly lowered expectations for him. That's always been the case with offence-first players.

Before anyone says "meritocracy" or any of that crap, Tocchet has already had his darlings. Sure he changed his mind with Hoglander but it took him probably 10 games too long. Same with Joshua but Joshua was out of shape and does what nobody else on the team can. You can't tell me that Myers turning around like a supertanker on the Walker goal because he was lazy and picked up a check AT THE BLUELINE is some kind of standard for defensive play. Or Juulsen waving his stick at guys at the blueline which he often does. Or Karlsson being too slow. Or Aman not covering Thomas. Or Mikheyev quiet quitting by "being in position" but always playing soft and never taking that extra stride. Or Beauvillier being fed minutes while he was still here despite his ineptitude.

Kuz is not playing well but it's on Tocchet to get him to play better. And he has to - you saw what happened in this game - basically they had no offensive push because Boeser is no longer his super self. Kuz, even as poor as he's been this season balances out the Top-6. It pushes guys like Suter down into the bottom-6 where they actually belong. The team as a whole plays better. That Miller/Boeser line looked better with Kuz than it does with Suter, and I love Suter. But he's a 3rd line guy at best. Sure, bench Kuz if he makes dumb turnovers like last game but don't outright pull him out of the lineup.

What more people should be talking about is how Mikheyev, Garland, Kuzmenko, and Beauvillier (yes he is not on the team but he used to be) are at 21, 17, 19, and 14 points respectively. For all the hits Allvin has had, these wingers are basically a disaster. There's a reason Mikheyev was a checking line player in Toronto. I was ok with taking a flyer on him improving but now with the injury the chances of that seem slim. Of all these underperforming guys making $4M+, at least we got 39 goals out of Kuz last season so he has the highest ceiling.

Mikheyev and Lafferty are about even offensively so far. Think about that. Yeah EP had his issues for about 15 games but now he seems better but he has no wingers to work with. Now that Boeser isn't sizzling hot, basically you're pairing them with either PDG who has been just hobbling around, or Suter who ironically can't get in fast enough as F1 (which Tocchet complained about with Kuz). Basically Boeser is the only offensive wing in the top-6. That's the underlying problem here. Sure our bottom-6 is great but none of them including Lafferty should be staples on either of the top two lines.

I didn't like the first goal on Demko, I think he's keeping his edges a lot more but he leaned towards his post again which is why on the reverse angle Parayko has a yawning net to aim at. IMO a bad habit he's had for awhile, and only exacerbated last year by using the outdated "trackdown" system too much. Second goal was a laser and well placed.

 

[mossey3535]

Also, here's a thought - instead of bitching that Kuz isn't in fast enough as F1...DON'T PLAY HIM AS F1. I never thought he was a speed demon. But of course team speed isn't really a strength of this team.

 

[kanucks25]

Canucks were average and STL were a bit better than that.

If Kuz ain't it they have it find another winger externally.

Top-6 is sorely lacking talented players that can make a play and play off Miller and Pettersson.

 

[orcatown]

Also, here's a thought - instead of bitching that Kuz isn't in fast enough as F1...DON'T PLAY HIM AS F1. I never thought he was a speed demon. But of course team speed isn't really a strength of this team.

Agree with some of this but Garland needs to be separated out. He is far from a disaster.

 

[David71]

why not reunite the lotto line.?
2nd line could be kuzmenko/suter/hoglander
3rd in tact. 4th. put in a blender.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Genius coaching

Win a game and over coach by changing a winning lineup and sitting kuzzy

Shocker we only score 1 goal after sitting out a sniper…. But hey only allowed 2 goals so I am sure Tocchet is very very happy tonight

Remind me again, how many goals Kuzmenko sniped for us this year?

Kizzy plays, scores 2 goals Tocchet makes sure he is not on the ice for a hat trick

Buy hey, nothing personal right?

If you defend like shit you likely wont be on ice to close out the game.

 

[VanJack]

Not wanting to raise the alarm, but Tocchet's coaching system relies on an incredible amount of energy from the players. It was the same in Phoenix, where the Coyotes were consistently challenged offensively, but locked it down with an incredible defensive structure and work rate.

Unfortunately keeping the pedal to the metal has a shelf life. And the problem for the Canucks is that if their energy level slips just a little, suddenly the rink is tilted to Demko's end.

They may be able to reset the energy button during this seven game roadie.....but there's little margin for error.

 

[mossey3535]

Agree with some of this but Garland needs to be separated out. He is far from a disaster.

At that price point he is. It's not his fault but this team can't have those guys producing at that level for basically $5M each.

 

[theguardianII]

There is an old saying,
"If it ain't broke don't fix it"

Boeser was just floating around out there AGAIN.

So Tocchet disrupted the PP1 and changed a winning line up.

He really hates those Russki's eh? Or at least the one commie.
Changes a winning line up to sit one player for no apparent or obvious reason, at least not an on ice issue.

The last game, the one they won and scored 5 goals in the first period, that Kuzmenko played in and was not on the ice for a goal against, 4 players including Pettersson and Boeser could not cash in on Kuzmenko set ups.

Well Tocchet sure showed the team who is boss eh? He is getting a reputation for being a shallow man, emotional, letting his personal feelings dictate his moves. IMO this will alienate players very quickly.

 

[theguardianII]

You can't tell me that Myers turning around like a supertanker on the Walker goal because he was lazy and picked up a check AT THE BLUELINE is some kind of standard for defensive play.

What game was that? Hughes was on for both against not Myers. In fact Hughes left his check twice for both goals against.

Also, here's a thought - instead of bitching that Kuz isn't in fast enough as F1...DON'T PLAY HIM AS F1. I never thought he was a speed demon. But of course team speed isn't really a strength of this team.

He wants Kuz as F1 now? Kuz was never going to be F1 that is what Mikheyez was supposed to be doing. One thing for sure is Boeser ain't no F1 hell he isn't even F2. Did BB actually touch a StLouis player on purpose?

Remind me again, how many goals Kuzmenko he sniped for us this year?


If you defend like shit you likely wont be on ice to close out the game.

The whole "who scored" issue is easily figured out.
Horvat scored 30 before he was traded, mostly on the PP.
Boeser wasn't on PP1 too often last year.
So move the trade requested player, the one they couldn't trade even with the help of his agent because his numbers were so bad, to Horvat's spot. Basically stand there waiting for the puck to come to him for goals. This is evident because of the lack of assists. There are 2 assists per goal scored, this team has scored lots of goals so if he is generating goals he should have a few secondary assists.

For all that Tocchet is being praised for "structure", "staples", "accountability" I am not seeing a whole lot of change from last year.
EXCEPT
This year there has been big improvements of players.
The defence is much better and Demko started off healthy.
So is it as much the coach or player personnel improvements?

The team is basically doing the same stuff as past years, getting their arses handed to them, being outplayed fairly badly only having better defence.

ALL THESE LOSSES ARE KUZMENKO'S FAULT!!!!!

 

[PavelBure10]

There really doesn't seem to be any repercussions for playing badly other than Kuzmenko. Mikheyev has been coasting around for a fair amount of games now.

Kuzmenko didn't even have a terrible outing vs Ottawa.

At this point I'm down with trading Kuzmenko. Not because I want to, just because I don't think he'll ever get a fair chance under Tochett.

 

[LuckyDay]

Canucks played well for most of the game but discovered they weren't burying their chances far too late. By most of the game I mean, most of the first and second period. They acted like they were winning for most of the second when in fact they were tied. Then Garland was relied on when needs Joshua to make space for him.

Canucks played well in their own end but so did St Louis, better even. This is good but this is not the Canucks identity. There was no one causing chaos in front of Binnington, no one there for a rebound. The good plays and shots were coming from the perimeter and they were gassed.

Kudos on Tocchet for realizing (too late) this team needed a jolt and pulling Demko in the third with three minutes left and only one goal down. This is an early Crawford like move. Surprised we didn't let one in - though its a good sign of team defense - but this is a team known for scoring. This shouldn't have happened.

Kuzmenko back obviously - as he did practice on PP1. Watch Hog's be the odd man out on Saturday.