GDT: Blues vs. Sharks| 7pm, FSMW| First Home Game in 10 Months

[AjaxManifesto]

Avs fan, in peace. No one will care, but watching a replay of tonites game. GOOD JOB to the young lady who sang the Nat. Anthem. Sang it straight. Well done.

I posted earlier: Tougher to sing to a) 300 in a mostly empty stadium or b) 16,000 in a full stadium?

I think (a) might be tougher.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

good comeback win

lets cleanup that PK though

It will take us a few weeks to fig out of the PK stat basement

 

[ezcreepin]

Kyrou is a game breaker. When is the last time we’ve had a player with game breaking speed?

Game breaking speed? Shoot, Idk if we've ever had someone with the type of speed Kyrou has. But the last time we had a gamebreaking player join our team was prob Taasenko, and before that?? Hull maybe? I didn't watch much hockey but was Demitra a gamebreaking player or just a good points guy?

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Yes. With how awful people who don't want to hear about Pietrangelo have been to people who took his leaving hard, I have no stomach for jokes about it. Especially coming from people who complain about how often he is brought up. You might not have been awful to anyone, but just the other day you said you want discussion of him to be contained to the one thread. Then you posted about him in this thread to make a not very funny joke. Its a ridiculous double standard that you can make unfunny jokes about it, but people cannot bring up the legitimate holes his leaving created with the team. Or even hint at it apparently as nobody even mentioned him except those who like to complain that he is mentioned.

We can all enjoy a Blues win, and see the ironic humor in Faulk having a great game (great 3 games, I’d argue) but still moving the goalposts with an impossible contrived comparison, regardless of where your opinion falls. That was the point of the joke. If bad jokes are going to start being policed by the Very Serious Police this forum is going to become appealing to a very few.

I didn’t call out Vollie for bringing up Pietro in the last GDT (although I mistook his comment for a joke at first). Why call me out for what was obviously a one-liner requiring no response? You guys are so damn sensitive about this we can’t even try to lighten the mood by joking about it. It’s not a conversation about Pietro. Frankly, my comment was more about Faulk and the standard he’s held to.

 

[Reality Czech]

I still want him gone. If we could give up a 2nd to make sure Seattle takes him, I do it in a heartbeat. I think he is far overpaid and the contract is way too long. I don't consider myself a hater, as he is not a terrible player. He just wasn't needed when we signed him and he is overpaid for what he brings.

I think the goals he scored are covering up the bad plays he made this game. He was directly responsible for the first goal against by screening Binnington badly. He was partially responsible for another goal as he went out fairly high on the PK to throw a weak ass hit on someone leaving a man open down low. Scandella had to cover (which he did in the most asinine way imaginable, so some blame goes there). That left a Shark left wide open. Without Faulk getting so far out of position, Scandella doesn't go flailing after the guy leaving the net wide open for Burns.

As for his goals, one came with him coming out of a box for a completely unnecessary tripping penalty where he was caught too far up ice. The other he intercepted a pass meant for ROR. Good shot on the first one for sure. A hell of a tip on the 2nd if he meant it but I don't think he did as he wasn't looking at the puck. He even admitted all he did was put his stick down. He had some other nice breakout passes and offensive plays. So definitely a nice offensive game, but he barely made up for his 2 defensive gaffes.

If we can get him in an offensively role with someone covering for him defensively, and off the PK, he'll be fine. Even good. But we don't have the personnel, or the cap to do so. Scandella is a huge disappointment so far, so I am not sure who can cover. And he is stuck on the PK until Bortuzzo comes back. So I will continue to want him off the team until we figure out how to set up our D to minimize his poor D play.

I don't think this is a fair assessment, though you are entitled to your opinion. I'm sure you could find things to criticize about any player if you put him under a magnifying glass. Every D-man will accidentally screen his goalie from time to time and the tripping call happens all the time as well where his stick got tangled in the legs. When a guy is playing 20+ minutes, he will likely make a couple of mistakes but let's not act like Parayko or whoever is immune from making similar ones. But if we look at the whole game I feel he had more positives than negatives, as the cliche goes you often don't notice a d-man when he's doing his job. I saw a guy who was engaged at both ends, was playing aggressively and led the team with 8 SOG and 3 hits. Not sure why anyone would have complaints about his game last night.

Fun game to watch, although it was too close for comfort. We should have won this game easily, but a win is a win.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Ooooooh, time to rewatch and nitpick Scandella and Dunn into oblivion.

 

[Cotton McKnight]

Just finished the this game. Great game by Kyrou, should have had another goal on that bad tackle attempt from Dubnyk. Binnington, only one of those looked bad to me, but I may just be nitpicking. Faulk with the good hit on Sorenson and a couple of goals, nice to see him starting off well. Back to Kyrou: I feel he has vastly improved versus his play last year, it is great to see him playing this well and hope it all holds up over time.

 

[Celtic Note]

Further non-Faulk thoughts on the game...

Kyrou - I feel deep shame for every time I questioned his greatness. I apologize profusely to anyone I accused of pumping his tires too early. Please let me know what remedial steps I need to take to be eligible for his fan club. I LOVED his game tonight. And I loved it for his defense. He is using his speed to backcheck so effectively breaking up plays and creating turnovers. He is doing the same thing jumping into passing lanes. Great game. Just great.

Defensive strategy - I need someone who is better with Xs and Os than I am to tell me if I am seeing things right. Are our D roaming further from the net than they should or usually do? It seems the RD especially are playing the puck all the way to the boards but higher above the faceoff dot. This leaves the other D, typically the LD (typically the weaker D) to have to cover the whole goal line. We are giving up a lot of chances cross ice at the goal line as the LD shifts over to cover the low right, leaving low left open. I saw Gunnar and Scandella left completely confused multiple times.

Special Teams - We should destroy the Sharks. I take no comfort in barely beating them. Our special teams are a serious issue. Most teams want to score more on the PP than they give up on the PK. We barely have more shots on the PP than goals against on the PK. I'm serious, its 10 PP shots vs 8 PK GA in 3 games. Both are atrocious considering we are getting compaable PP to PK time (5:40 to 6min). We will not beat good teams if we cannot seriously improve both sides of special teams. Its atrocious and deeply concerning.

3 stars: Kyrou, Schenn, Schwartz. Scwartz and Schenn has 14 to 1 Scoring chances for/against.

Yes our D are absolutely roaming too far in the defensive zone. If you see me use the term squirrel to describe any of them, that is essentially what I mean. Scandella, Faulk, Krug and Dunn have all been guilty of doing that with some frequency so far. It is opening seems all across the front of the net / the Royal Road. This is one of the last things I want to see from a defensive unit.

 

[Stealth JD]

Kyrou only needs 133 more GWG to tie Jagr for 1st all-time.

 

[Stealth JD]

Ooooooh, time to rewatch and nitpick Scandella and Dunn into oblivion.

Dunn has been brutal, and quite frankly he needs to get his shit together because this defense has more than enough options without him. If he keeps playing nit-wit hockey, Mikkola or Perunovich (or Gunnarsson) will be more than happy to steal his job full-time. Honestly, I could see him getting scratched soon if it weren't for the fact that it would probably kill his perceived trade value around the league. He's basically morphing into Tony DeAngelo absent the offense, which is of no use to anybody.

 

[Renard]

Game breaking speed? Shoot, Idk if we've ever had someone with the type of speed Kyrou has. But the last time we had a gamebreaking player join our team was prob Taasenko, and before that?? Hull maybe? I didn't watch much hockey but was Demitra a gamebreaking player or just a good points guy?

Chuck Lefley had speed!

 

[Vektor]

So is Kyrou the real deal? 3 games and 2 GWG? Still too small of a sample size to say for certain but he's got my hopes up..

 

[tfriede2]

So is Kyrou the real deal? 3 games and 2 GWG? Still too small of a sample size to say for certain but he's got my hopes up..

He passes the eye test for me this year, whereas last year I was left wondering whether he’d ever be an everyday NHLer - so far, he’s modified his game this year.

 

[Honeycutt]

I love a team that can go down two goals, tie it, go down a goal, then come back and win! hockey is supposed to be exciting and last night was pretty dang exciting. Faulk seems to have found is place on this team and Kyrou, wow wasn't a believer in him, but like most things in life I was wrong to doubt he looks good!

 

[Falco Lombardi]

The next time someone tries to tell you Erik Karlsson isn’t atrocious these days, show them this:



Kyrou blew right past him and it led to the tying 3-3 goal.

 

[MissouriMook]

He's just wonderful. Best coach in recent history and maybe the best coach in franchise history.

Ummm...

 

[AVictoryDive]

I posted this elsewhere but this happens every single year. Team defense takes time to adjust to the speed and offense at the beginning of the season. Blues are at least showing they can push the pace. Sharks may be considered a bottom feeder team these days, but they definitely have the weapons to strike back fast.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Kyrou only needs 133 more GWG to tie Jagr for 1st all-time.

His start to this season puts him on pace to break that record sometime in 2022-2023

 

[Ted Hoffman]

It's 3 games, and already there's a lot of hot takes that will probably be revised in about 25 or so games. Here's my $0.02 on last night:

* The fact that we came out supposedly pissed off about Friday night in Colorado and largely slept through the 1st period and went into the break down 2-0 (meaning across the prior 3 periods we'd been outscored 10-0), ... disconcerting. An elite-caliber team cannot have that kind of lack of effort, even if it's against a supposedly-lousy team like San Jose. That was inexcusable.
* The PK ... well, it's beating a dead horse and yes I know we're missing the 3 guys who were with this team all of last year that had the most PK time + Pietrangelo who was 7th, but JFC guys it's like some of them have never PK'd a day in their life. Yeah, this is partly "every mistake is ending up in the back of the net" but this is also partly just lack of awareness. No, I don't expect our PK to churn along at 42.9% all year but at this rate getting to 75% for the season would feel like a major accomplishment.
* ES, we can be a beast. Will that keep up? Until special teams kick in, it's going to have to. Even so, through 3 games we're +4.
* We need the Binnington from 2019 back. The sooner, the better. Yeah, a swath of goals he's given up aren't on him - but those are goals he still found ways to make saves on in the past.
* Thomas needs guys to finish his passes.
* Kyrou's speed is undeniable. At some point, teams are going to start keying on him; what does he do then to get himself into position to make plays and score goals? Don't need an answer here, but something to think about.
* Dunn. Go sit in the press box and think about it for a game.

Bottom line: I don't know a 5-4 win like we did it last night is necessarily a cause for celebration, but we got 2 points so that's a plus. Lots to work on, we need 2 from the next game as well - and ideally, a hotter fire in guys bellies from the very start.

 

[joe galiba]

Yes our D are absolutely roaming too far in the defensive zone. If you see me use the term squirrel to describe any of them, that is essentially what I mean. Scandella, Faulk, Krug and Dunn have all been guilty of doing that with some frequency so far. It is opening seems all across the front of the net / the Royal Road. This is one of the last things I want to see from a defensive unit.

to me it is most noticeable on the PK, it really stands out, especially since it keeps going into our net

 

[Blueston]

It's 3 games, and already there's a lot of hot takes that will probably be revised in about 25 or so games. Here's my $0.02 on last night:

* The fact that we came out supposedly pissed off about Friday night in Colorado and largely slept through the 1st period and went into the break down 2-0 (meaning across the prior 3 periods we'd been outscored 10-0), ... disconcerting. An elite-caliber team cannot have that kind of lack of effort, even if it's against a supposedly-lousy team like San Jose. That was inexcusable.
* The PK ... well, it's beating a dead horse and yes I know we're missing the 3 guys who were with this team all of last year that had the most PK time + Pietrangelo who was 7th, but JFC guys it's like some of them have never PK'd a day in their life. Yeah, this is partly "every mistake is ending up in the back of the net" but this is also partly just lack of awareness. No, I don't expect our PK to churn along at 42.9% all year but at this rate getting to 75% for the season would feel like a major accomplishment.
* ES, we can be a beast. Will that keep up? Until special teams kick in, it's going to have to. Even so, through 3 games we're +4.
* We need the Binnington from 2019 back. The sooner, the better. Yeah, a swath of goals he's given up aren't on him - but those are goals he still found ways to make saves on in the past.
* Thomas needs guys to finish his passes.
* Kyrou's speed is undeniable. At some point, teams are going to start keying on him; what does he do then to get himself into position to make plays and score goals? Don't need an answer here, but something to think about.
* Dunn. Go sit in the press box and think about it for a game.

Bottom line: I don't know a 5-4 win like we did it last night is necessarily a cause for celebration, but we got 2 points so that's a plus. Lots to work on, we need 2 from the next game as well - and ideally, a hotter fire in guys bellies from the very start.

I thought we came out with good zip and we’re easily better team first 5 minutes. Then fell behind but fought back. Some execution issues but liked the effort.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

It's 3 games, and already there's a lot of hot takes that will probably be revised in about 25 or so games. Here's my $0.02 on last night:

* The fact that we came out supposedly pissed off about Friday night in Colorado and largely slept through the 1st period and went into the break down 2-0 (meaning across the prior 3 periods we'd been outscored 10-0), ... disconcerting. An elite-caliber team cannot have that kind of lack of effort, even if it's against a supposedly-lousy team like San Jose. That was inexcusable.
* The PK ... well, it's beating a dead horse and yes I know we're missing the 3 guys who were with this team all of last year that had the most PK time + Pietrangelo who was 7th, but JFC guys it's like some of them have never PK'd a day in their life. Yeah, this is partly "every mistake is ending up in the back of the net" but this is also partly just lack of awareness. No, I don't expect our PK to churn along at 42.9% all year but at this rate getting to 75% for the season would feel like a major accomplishment.
* ES, we can be a beast. Will that keep up? Until special teams kick in, it's going to have to. Even so, through 3 games we're +4.
* We need the Binnington from 2019 back. The sooner, the better. Yeah, a swath of goals he's given up aren't on him - but those are goals he still found ways to make saves on in the past.
* Thomas needs guys to finish his passes.
* Kyrou's speed is undeniable. At some point, teams are going to start keying on him; what does he do then to get himself into position to make plays and score goals? Don't need an answer here, but something to think about.
* Dunn. Go sit in the press box and think about it for a game.

Bottom line: I don't know a 5-4 win like we did it last night is necessarily a cause for celebration, but we got 2 points so that's a plus. Lots to work on, we need 2 from the next game as well - and ideally, a hotter fire in guys bellies from the very start.

Yeah, 5-4 wasn’t the response I was looking for. You could visibly see the Sharks gain confidence when they got the 2 goal lead. I think if the Blues had scored first, they might have wilted. Some of those San Jose players have to have PTSD coming to St Louis.

The Blues were excellent on PK for so long it became a given. But the coach who was responsible for it moved on a couple years ago, and now the majority of the players who were part of that era are gone too. I see this as a real test for this group. With the number of defensively responsible forwards, you would think it would be attainable to have a top 10 unit. I think a lot of PK is intensity and willpower, after some fundamentals are in place. The rest is preparation and knowing the PP you are defending. The format this year is going to lend itself to scouting the opponents VERY well.

I’m not in favor of knee-jerk moves after a couple games, but you have to think Mikkola gets a game soon.

 

[BluesFan98]

Faulk has been the best blues player since the bubble but people won’t admit it since they made up their mind after 20 games.

 

[Celtic Note]

to me it is most noticeable on the PK, it really stands out, especially since it keeps going into our net

There is a reason some of our players have a good plus minus despite all the goals scored against us. The simplistic answer is that PP goals against doesn’t hurt your plus/minus. Scandella for example is +3 I believe, but if we included all the goals scored against on the PK, that number would be pretty bad.

 

[Majorityof1]

Faulk has been the best blues player since the bubble but people won’t admit it since they made up their mind after 20 games.

You do realize he played hockey before the Blues, right? I've watched Faulk in a 100 games. My best friend lives in Carolina. We go to games when I visit, and I watch them whenever I get the chance. But because you think he has been good the past 3 games (since the bubble), I should completely reevaluate my opinion? No thanks. I'll stick to what I think based on seeing a whole heck of a lot more than you seem to have.

I am completely capable of changing my mind if someone shows me something worth changing it for. I was pretty hard on Kyrou when he was in juniors but I have admitted to being wrong in this very thread. So why would I be willing to change my mind on one player but be so adamant on Faulk? Maybe I just still do not like what I see.