GDT: WCF Game 2: Blues @ Sharks | 8pm NBCSN | Let's Try This Again

[GoldenSeal]

I'll take a win every day of the week, but as much a fan I am of our guys, I have to say we played like crap, we can not keep doing that and praying someone like Sunny and Bort flies in and saves us. Big Boys STEP THE FK UP or ride pine. This is the Conference Finals, yall don't want a shot at your name on a shiny cup?

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I'll take a win every day of the week, but as much a fan I am of our guys, I have to say we played like crap, we can not keep doing that and praying someone like Sunny and Bort flies in and saves us. Big Boys STEP THE FK UP or ride pine. This is the Conference Finals, yall don't a shot at your name on a shiny cup?

Yep. This was a B+ game that went quickly to a C- game and back to a B+ game because of Bort.

 

[Default]

ez

 

[Meatball]

Yep. This was a B+ game that went quickly to a C- game and back to a B+ game because of Bort.

The A game Blues last played in Game 7 against Dallas, yeah?

 

[TheDizee]

beat the shit out of them at home now

no mercy

 

[mk80]

Let's be fair... I think that was waaaay more luck than anything. It was another shot into a defenders legs, that magically found a WIDE open Schwartz.

If by "set up" you mean "shoot it off a Sharks leg onto Schwartz's stick," then I guess so.

The bounce was definitely favorable, but he made some good plays on the shift to maintain possession that eventually resulted in the goal by Schwartz. Would I like him to have more goals at this point in the playoffs? Absolutely I would. But just because he doesn't score in a game doesn't mean he's been terrible in the game.

 

[Blueston]

Amy Marxkors' boyfriend is a lucky guy.

Do you know her personally? Is she sweet and thoughtful and generally even-tempered? A great cook? Share your values? Or you just think she is hot and that is all that matters?

 

[ScratchCatFever]

91 needs to show up in a big way in both of these next two games. I hate to single out one guy, but this is what you pay your star players for, to elevate their game when it matters most and put the team on his shoulders. As Vladi goes, so go the Blues.

 

[ScratchCatFever]

I gained alot of respect for Couture after listening to that interview.

I was going to comment on this as well. Guy is a true professional and isn't afraid to candidly answer tough questions. Hate to think we passed on him in his draft year.

 

[WeWentBlues]

PP1 I want to see Thomas, O'Reilly, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Parayko

 

[shpongle falls]

ROR just set a franchise post-season record after getting a point in a 7th straight game. That was as quiet of a record-setting point streak as I've ever seen.

Definitely. I missed the last game but tonight I thought O'Rielly looked better than he did in the Dallas series.

 

[PiggySmalls]

Definitely. I missed the last game but tonight I thought O'Rielly looked better than he did in the Dallas series.

Yeah he has looked better this series. I’d really hate to know what injury he has. They had Bozak come in and take defensive zone faceoffs during the PK and then get off the ice. That should erase any questions about whether he is injured or not.

 

[Halak Ness Monster]

What amazes me is that this was a "bad" game for Pietrangelo and yet he led the team with 4 blocked shots, slid over to stop a 2 on 1, got a really nice assist, and played 25 minutes in a game where the Sharks only scored twice.

We're spoiled. Fans expect too much out of 27. Everyone makes mistakes and tonight he made a bad mistake on the PP. He made up for it by helping to shut down San Jose for the last 30 minutes of the game.

 

[heynowbababooey]

Great win for the blues. Really hoping they win.

 

[bluebird enthusiast]

What amazes me is that this was a "bad" game for Pietrangelo and yet he led the team with 4 blocked shots, slid over to stop a 2 on 1, got a really nice assist, and played 25 minutes in a game where the Sharks only scored twice.

We're spoiled. Fans expect too much out of 27. Everyone makes mistakes and tonight he made a bad mistake on the PP. He made up for it by helping to shut down San Jose for the last 30 minutes of the game.

I though we were going to run him out of town judging by how the board reacted. Wins cure all

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

PP1 I want to see Thomas, O'Reilly, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Parayko

PP1 and PP2 need 2D. No more 4F and using an umbrella shenanigans.

 

[PiggySmalls]

PP1 and PP2 need 2D. No more 4F and using an umbrella shenanigans.

Exactly. The Blues strength is their ability to cycle and activate their D. There was a reason why the Blues were tied for the most goals by a defenseman. Why would you not want to utilize this strength. Especially on PP1 it allows Vova to stay lower around the circles and alleviate his need to worry about covering the weak side point.

 

[Bluesin7]

I still think we should use CBJ's powerplay style. They put one man in front as a screen, another above him in the middle slot, one on each hashmark and then a guy up top. They pretty much just cycle it until a clean shot comes in then go for tips/rebounds. Greasy PP goals, that's what we need to do.

Put Tarasenko on one hash (that's where the skill players go, they had Panarin on one hash), Thomas/Schwartz on the other hash, Maroon in front for the screen, Schwartz/Schenn/O'Reilly above him in the slot, and Dunn/Pietro/Parayko at the top. Mix and match however you'd like. I think that's how it should look.

 

[HighNote]

Dunn was our best player. That was the only player that really stuck out to me. Parayko was pretty good, and Bortuzzo of course.

Edmundson was bad, Tarasenko was pretty invisible again, Pietrangelo is good most of the time but it seems like any time he makes a mistake it's a huge one.

The first half of the game in general I thought we were playing pretty badly, but we got better as the game went on. Defensively we were very strong in the second half of the game. This is a good game to build off of, but we still need to be better, that was more of a B effort overall.

Man oh man do we need Gunnarsson back. I feel so much more comfortable with him on defense than Edmundson. If he's good to go, I'd run:

Bouwmeester - Pietrangelo all-purpose pairing
Gunnarsson - Parayko give them most of the defensive assignments, shutting down their top guys
Dunn - Bortuzzo offensive zone mainly

 

[Xerloris]

What amazes me is that this was a "bad" game for Pietrangelo and yet he led the team with 4 blocked shots, slid over to stop a 2 on 1, got a really nice assist, and played 25 minutes in a game where the Sharks only scored twice.

We're spoiled. Fans expect too much out of 27. Everyone makes mistakes and tonight he made a bad mistake on the PP. He made up for it by helping to shut down San Jose for the last 30 minutes of the game.

Expecting a highly paid professional to not make a completely bullshit turnover on the PP is expecting to much?

 

[HighNote]

Also, I'd just completely scrap the powerplay and start from scratch. The Sharks get more scoring chances on our powerplay than we do.

 

[simon IC]

Perron can’t possibly be that stupid, right? There’s two seconds left, shoot the ****ing thing.

Ummm ... yes, I think he can. DP57 has the hockey IQ of a gnat.

 

[simon IC]

I'd like to take a second to look at this image right before the SHG against.

Perron has the puck under control on the near wall with his head up. He has a clear outlet in the middle and one in the near corner off the screen, with two of the SJ defenders caught well above the tops of the circles. Instead of taking the opportunity to penetrate the middle or move the puck down low, he makes a blind behind the back pass to the point (with two defenders already high in the zone) that leaves Pietrangelo in this position here.

Note that Couture is close enough that he's in the shooting lane and obstructing a pass to the middle, while also obstructing the pass to the weak side. Perron isn't an option because he's guarded as well. Pietrangelo has exactly zero passing/shooting options, and his only real play is to dump the puck into the near corner or to shoot it intentionally wide of the net.

Now, Pietrangelo played that about as poorly as he could have played it from there, but he should have never been put in that position by Perron. That puck needed to go to the middle or down low in the zone.

San Jose is overplaying the points specifically, and is overplaying the puck in general. If you're not going to make the direct easy plays that take advantage of the space they're leaving open as a result of that, then you deserve what you get when it all goes wrong.

Once again Easton, you nailed it. Thank you.

 

[HighNote]

I've noticed that the Sharks PK is very aggressive, similar to the Stars' PK.

 

[simon IC]

everyone was *****ing at Petro...but i was WTF'ing Perron when that play happened. So stupid.

Yes, me too.