Pre-Game Talk: Predators vs Blues

[Jonesey]

I completely agree. Trying for a stretch pass after sitting behind the goal for several seconds has almost zero chance of working.

I also want to see us force Rinne to play the puck as much as possible. He isn't the worst puckhandling goalie out there, but I'd rather see him handling pucks than their D. He is erratic with the puck and doesn't have the puckhandling strength to overcome bad decisions. The more he leaves the net the better it is for the Blues IMO.

Rinne is the sole reason the Blackhawks rarely established a forecheck on their dumps. He was otherworldly in controlling the play on dumps.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

Rinne is the sole reason the Blackhawks rarely established a forecheck on their dumps. He was otherworldly in controlling the play on dumps.

yeah if we dump the puck in we need to keep the puck in the corner, cant dump behind the net on Rinne

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Nashville might as well give up now

 

[Jonesey]

yeah if we dump the puck in we need to keep the puck in the corner, cant dump behind the net on Rinne

Exactly. For some reason Chicago could not figure this out and it really hurt their zone time.

I expect STL to be smarter with the dumps and put a lot of pressure on the Preds to make good, fast decisions with the puck with their backs turned to the pressure.

 

[Brian39]

Rinne is the sole reason the Blackhawks rarely established a forecheck on their dumps. He was otherworldly in controlling the play on dumps.

I'll take Rinne making the first pass over Subban, Josi, Ellis, and Ekhom every single time. IMO your top 4 is the best transition D in the NHL.

I probably worded my post poorly.

I'm not trying to say he is a poor decision-maker, but no goalie makes the correct decision with the puck every time. The more times we are forcing Rinne to play the puck (rather than being able to just set it up for a defender), the greater the chances that a poor decision is made. My experience watching Rinne is that his pure strength playing the puck isn't good enough to overcome a bad decision and his bad decisions have a greater chance of leading to turnovers than a goalie like Bishop who can just wire the puck consistently.

I'd rather force Rinne to beat our forecheck than any of the top 4 D man. They are just objectively better at transitioning the puck than Rinne, so putting the puck in Rinne's control as much as possible is a good thing for the Blues.

Edit: I just read your most recent post and agree with you 100%. I'm not looking for the Blues to dump it behind the net. I'm looking for soft dumps toward the corners with a forechecker coming with speed. I want to see Rinne forced to decide between wandering laterally to play the puck ahead of the goal line or conceding possession to our forechecker/watching his D man take a brutal hit.

 

[Jonesey]

I'll take Rinne making the first pass over Subban, Josi, Ellis, and Ekhom every single time. IMO your top 4 is the best transition D in the NHL.

I probably worded my post poorly.

I'm not trying to say he is a poor decision-maker, but no goalie makes the correct decision with the puck every time. The more times we are forcing Rinne to play the puck (rather than being able to just set it up for a defender), the greater the chances that a poor decision is made. My experience watching Rinne is that his pure strength playing the puck isn't good enough to overcome a bad decision and his bad decisions have a greater chance of leading to turnovers than a goalie like Bishop who can just wire the puck consistently.

I'd rather force Rinne to beat our forecheck than any of the top 4 D man. They are just objectively better at transitioning the puck than Rinne, so putting the puck in Rinne's control as much as possible is a good thing for the Blues.

Edit: I just read your most recent post and agree with you 100%. I'm not looking for the Blues to dump it behind the net. I'm looking for soft dumps toward the corners with a forechecker coming with speed. I want to see Rinne forced to decide between wandering laterally to play the puck ahead of the goal line or conceding possession to our forechecker/watching his D man take a brutal hit.

You nailed it right here. This should be the gameplan for the Blues going into the game and adjusting from there if it doesn't work. I still cannot believe Chicago didn't figure this out.

I'm so incredibly nervous for this series that I don't know how I'm going to be able to settle down and be calm when the kids go to bed during the game!

 

[ACBSTL]

The Blues need to make quick passes out of the D zone before the Preds can set up in the neutral zone.

 

[Ranksu]

 

[BluesBrother]

I Hope that having stastny back, our pp will be much better. Tarasenko is going to score 5 goals in this series.. The media thinks nashville is the favourite, but I think players on both sides know the difference is very marginal. Let's go blues!!!!

 

[ort]

I feel like the Blues match up much better against the Preds. The Wild have always been a thorn in their side. Something about the styles they play always seems to put Minnesota at an advantage.

I'm hoping for a much more even series this time. Games against the Predators always feel more evenly matched to me.

I think this is going to be a great series. I've wanted to have a playoff series with Nashville forever and I think this is going to be a long nasty dramatic series.