GDT: Blues vs. Sharks| Game 4| 8pm -- FSMW|

[Reality Czech]

Shots were 22-19 at 5 on 5 and expected goals were 1.23-1.15 at 5 on 5 (both in favor of SJ). This was an evenly played game at 5 on 5. A great game by the Blues? Absolutely not. A solid game at 5 on 5? Yeah. As I mentioned above, SJ isn't a playoff team but their level of "bad" isn't nearly as incompetent as many are making them out to be. They finished last in the West last year, but they finished 24 points ahead of the last place Red Wings. They were on pace for 74 standings points last season. That is a level of competency that means a game against them is going to be close if you bring your B game and they bring their A game. That is what happened at even strength last night, which I think is right in line with a "solid effort." Arguably slightly below "solid effort," but our PK was excellent so that would put our overall game into "solid effort" territory for me.

The big gap in shots was because SJ was on the PP for 9:14 while we were on the PP for 4:16.

Did you think we played an undisciplined game and deserved to be shorthanded an extra 5 minutes? I certainly didn't.

Did you think that our PK got manhandled by SJ's PP and was lucky to not get scored on? I certainly didn't. Our PK was exceptional. Binner made a few big stops on the PK, but that is absolutely required at the NHL level when you are shorthanded for 9+ minutes in a game.

I think that's a good explanation. It was basically a close game that either team could have won. The Blues had plenty of missed chances and failure to execute, and I also thought the Sharks held their own well. We are lucky our lack of discipline didn't cause us to lose in regulation and I hope these guys will try not to take so many penalties going forward.

Regarding the Sharks, I picked them to finish 4th in our division although I could see any other team besides the Ducks finish in that spot. The Sharks still have a lot of weapons on offence, but question marks on defense and in goal. But Jones looked like a starter last night and they played a solid all-around game. If their back end can hold out and their young players step up, they're probably the 4th best team in the division.

I kind of agree with CaliforniaBlues about the divisions, but it's tough to compare them. If only looking at the top 3 teams, our division is the toughest by far but 5-8 ours is the weakest. To me, the East is by far the toughest and I still think the North division has 5 playoff-worthy teams (plus the Jets and the Sens, who I don't think will be terrible this year). The big downside of playing in our division is that assuming the top 3 teams finish as expected, the teams that don't finish 1st will have to beat 2 Cup contenders in the first two playoff rounds while teams in other divisions might not play a legit contender until the 3rd round. It will be theoretically easier to get into the playoffs in the West relative to other divisions but a much tougher road once you're there.

Then again, maybe people are underrating the Sharks, Wild, Coyotes or Kings and it will be a closer race than expected.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I'm just using the facts as presented by the NHL

View attachment 386626

It’s not my fault if the people running that ranking are numerically illiterate.
0 divided by 0 is undefined, it’s not =0.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I think the Blues, like a few other teams (Col, CBJ, Van, Edm, Boston, I mean I could go on) are still getting their games ironed out due to not having a preseason or decent training camp.

I also think the defensive game is starting to form better now that we they are actually playing with other teams rather than themselves. Same with the PP and PK.

I'd give it at least 10 games before we get to see the true Blues team.

 

[ezcreepin]

It’s not my fault if the people running that ranking are numerically illiterate.
0 divided by 0 is undefined, it’s not =0.

This is true, can confirm

 

[GoldenSeal]

This is true, can confirm

So zero divided by zero is a... mystery?

 

[Brian39]

I think that's a good explanation. It was basically a close game that either team could have won. The Blues had plenty of missed chances and failure to execute, and I also thought the Sharks held their own well. We are lucky our lack of discipline didn't cause us to lose in regulation and I hope these guys will try not to take so many penalties going forward.

Regarding the Sharks, I picked them to finish 4th in our division although I could see any other team besides the Ducks finish in that spot. The Sharks still have a lot of weapons on offence, but question marks on defense and in goal. But Jones looked like a starter last night and they played a solid all-around game. If their back end can hold out and their young players step up, they're probably the 4th best team in the division.

I kind of agree with CaliforniaBlues about the divisions, but it's tough to compare them. If only looking at the top 3 teams, our division is the toughest by far but 5-8 ours is the weakest. To me, the East is by far the toughest and I still think the North division has 5 playoff-worthy teams (plus the Jets and the Sens, who I don't think will be terrible this year). The big downside of playing in our division is that assuming the top 3 teams finish as expected, the West winner will have to beat 2 Cup contenders in the first two playoff rounds while teams in other divisions might not play a legit contender until the 3rd round. It will be theoretically easier to get into the playoffs in the West relative to other divisions but a much tougher road once you're there.

Then again, maybe people are underrating the Sharks, Wild, Coyotes or Kings and it will be a closer race than expected.

I have the Sharks at 5th because I like the Wild this year. Jones did look good last night, but I still have no faith in him for a full season. His issue has always been inconsistency and a handful of games isn't going to change my mind on him.

My only real disagreement with you from this post is that the winner of the West is going to have to beat 2 Cup contenders if the division goes as expected. If the Blues/Avs/Knights are the top 3 teams in the West, then the 1 seed isn't playing a Cup contender in round 1. Whichever of the Wild/Sharks/Kings/Coyotes/Ducks make the 4 seed is not a contender.

 

[Reality Czech]

I have the Sharks at 5th because I like the Wild this year. Jones did look good last night, but I still have no faith in him for a full season. His issue has always been inconsistency and a handful of games isn't going to change my mind on him.

My only real disagreement with you from this post is that the winner of the West is going to have to beat 2 Cup contenders if the division goes as expected. If the Blues/Avs/Knights are the top 3 teams in the West, then the 1 seed isn't playing a Cup contender in round 1. Whichever of the Wild/Sharks/Kings/Coyotes/Ducks make the 4 seed is not a contender.

You're right, I should change the word to "may" have to beat 2 contenders, which is only true for whoever doesn't finish first.

Who knows with the Wild, although if Kaprizov becomes an instant star then they could easily be that 4th team in the West. I agree about Jones, just goes to show that consistent reliable goalies are very hard to find.

 

[joe galiba]

It’s not my fault if the people running that ranking are numerically illiterate.
0 divided by 0 is undefined, it’s not =0.

0/0 is 1 !
no 0/0 is 0 !
no it is infinity!

 

[execwrite1]

Can't help but wonder why they didnt use the money for Krug and Hoffman to just sign Pietrangelo instead.

St. Louis had such a strong identity when they won the cup, signing players like the aforementioned are going to quickly erode that.

Totally convinced the major issue was guaranteed money/signing bonus, not the dollars/term.

 

[execwrite1]

I was just thinking that maybe some of us, myself included, are being a bit too hard on the team. Yes, they have looked somewhat flat so far but then I remembered that three huge core pieces of the team from recent years are not in the lineup, Petro, Steen and Tarasenko. Those are some pretty big holes in the lineup and in the locker room, so maybe we should cut them a little slack as everyone settles into their new roles. Not only that, but they had a short, non-traditional training camp and their schedules are all out of whack because of the past year.

I think it's safe to say that the team will get into more of a groove as the season goes on, so I will try not to get too annoyed by their play so far. It's not a lack of effort from my point of view, but more like guys are still trying to get comfortable. The same could be said of most teams around the league, so maybe we should wait a couple of weeks before we rush to judgment.

We know that it's only a matter of time before some of our skilled players find their game, so maybe we should be encouraged that we've still managed 5/8 points despite looking mediocre or worse most of the time.

Don't need to win the Stanley Cup in January - just need to set a path toward finishing in the top four and make the playoffs.

 

[ort]

If you have an iPhone, ask Siri what zero divided by zero is.

 

[Brockon]

It’s not my fault if the people running that ranking are numerically illiterate.
0 divided by 0 is undefined, it’s not =0.

I mean the fact that they didn't use winning percentage as a stat until the covid shortened season and relied on other tie breakers for ranking should have spelled that out years ago...

FYI that's straight out of the NHL app. So not many math backgrounds coming into the equation I'd imagine.

 

[Novacain]

Shots were 22-19 at 5 on 5 and expected goals were 1.23-1.15 at 5 on 5 (both in favor of SJ). This was an evenly played game at 5 on 5. A great game by the Blues? Absolutely not. A solid game at 5 on 5? Yeah. As I mentioned above, SJ isn't a playoff team but their level of "bad" isn't nearly as incompetent as many are making them out to be. They finished last in the West last year, but they finished 24 points ahead of the last place Red Wings. They were on pace for 74 standings points last season. That is a level of competency that means a game against them is going to be close if you bring your B game and they bring their A game. That is what happened at even strength last night, which I think is right in line with a "solid effort." Arguably slightly below "solid effort," but our PK was excellent so that would put our overall game into "solid effort" territory for me.

First off, I completely disagree with this being a “solid effort”. A team that is supposed to be a Stanley cup contender with depth out the ass playing a projected bottom 10 (I’m probably being generous not calling them bottom 5) team in the NHL and playing even with them even strength is not solid, it’s a bad game. The Sharks have 6 good forwards and 2 good defensemen, with everybody else being either replacement level or worse. Literally half of there entire team would have an uphill fight just to make our lineup. Playing them even isn’t solid, it’s a bad showing.

Also saying “well they were not as bad Detroit” last year is a no duh thing. Detroit put up one of the worst teams in hockey history last year. The Sharks still finished last in the West last year and got worse in the off-season. They aren’t a team we should accept playing 50/50 with if we expect to be great, and playoff seeding in this shortened season makes these games against the dregs of this division much more important.

 

[Novacain]

YES. I think they are the 4th best team in the division. Made the WCF in 18-19, had a terrible year last year, but it was 1 year. They have some great players. Weak depth, but some high end players. Speaking of the weak depth though, I was really impressed with Donato, Sorenson, and John Leonard. Maybe depth not as weak as we thought?

I’ll be short on this: it’s a short season so anything can happen, but I don’t think San Jose is close to as good as Minnesota is. Hell, I’d say it’s more likely Minnesota finishes ahead of St. Louis then finish behind San Jose.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

I’ll be short on this: it’s a short season so anything can happen, but I don’t think San Jose is close to as good as Minnesota is. Hell, I’d say it’s more likely Minnesota finishes ahead of St. Louis then finish behind San Jose.

Because of a decent start? What does Minnesota have on their roster that makes you think Minnesota would finish ahead? Great structure but they have about 3 players that would make our team.

 

[Reality Czech]

I’ll be short on this: it’s a short season so anything can happen, but I don’t think San Jose is close to as good as Minnesota is. Hell, I’d say it’s more likely Minnesota finishes ahead of St. Louis then finish behind San Jose.

I don't think the difference between those two teams is so big. Minnesota has perhaps the worst center depth in the league and a ton of unproven guys on offense. Kaprizov looks like the real deal and their defense is much better than San Jose. But San Jose's offense is much better, especially when you consider Burns and Karlsson, who at least can still play offense. In my opinion, those are the two most likely teams to finish 4th but that will depend on how their supporting cast, defense and goaltending do.

 

[Novacain]

Because of a decent start? What does Minnesota have on their roster that makes you think Minnesota would finish ahead? Great structure but they have about 3 players that would make our team.

This just tells me you know nothing about Minnesota. Minnesota has one of the best groups of defensemen in hockey, with Spurgeon, Dumba, Suter, and Brodin leading. Being honest, if you asked me if I’d trade our top 4 (Krug, Parayko, Faulk, Scandella) for those 4, I’d probably do it. The Wild are an really good defensive team that had to deal with playing in front of one of the worst goaltenders in hockey in Devan Dubnyk, who they made look much better then he actually is. Can Talbot isn’t amazing but he’s a huge upgrade by comparison. There forwards are not great, and they lack the top end that San Jose has, but unlike San Jose they actually have at minimum solid-good players throughout the lineup. The Wild have a talented 3rd line, the Sharks don’t. They have an above average 4th line, the Sharks don’t. They have an edge in goaltending as well, as Jones and Dubnyk is an awful combo, and while Talbot isn’t amazing he’s better then those combos.

I’ll put it this way. The Athletic currently has the Wild at a 72% chance to make the playoffs, and the Sharks at a 4% chance. At the start of the season, the Wild were already over 50% to make it before the hot start. All the Wild really need to do to make it is kick the crap out of the awful California teams (which they have started off doing exactly that) and outplay Arizona, who also mostly suck. Odds for them look good.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

I agree on Minnesota getting the 4th seed.

That defense is very, very good, and Kaprizov definitely looks like the real deal.

They need to do something about the center depth, but I can see them hoping that Rossi can come in and help when he’s back to being healthy.

My pre-season predictions for the division were St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, Minnesota, Arizona, Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim.

So I have SJ at the bottom tier, but that’s mainly because they have a lot of injury prone guys, and not much depth behind them.