Pre-Game Talk: WCQF: [2] Minnesota Wild -vs- St. Louis Blues [3]

[Alklha]

Game 1: 8:30 CDT, Wednesday 04/12 @ Minnesota
Game 2: 7:00 CDT, Friday 04/14 @ Minnesota
Game 3: 2:00 CDT, Sunday 04/16 @ St. Louis
Game 4: 8:30 CDT, Wednesday 04/19 @ St. Louis
Game 5*: TBD, Saturday 04/22 @ Minnesota
Game 6*: TBD, Monday 04/24 @ St. Louis
Game 7*: TBD, Wednesday 04/26 @ Minnesota
*If necessary

Injuries:
Paul Stastny: Week-to-week since March 21. Reported ~6 week timeline.
Robby Fabbri: Season ending ACL injury.

Click to read more...

 

[KingBran]

Lots of days off and a couple late starts... wa...hoo.....

 

[ManyIdeas]

Cool, an afternoon game on a Sunday aaaand it's Easter

 

[SirPaste]

Our schedule sucks

 

[RORbacon]

Brutal scheduling.

 

[PiggySmalls]

I like the spread out schedule. Works in the Blues favor as for Stastny. Game times are no surprise, NBC sucks for providing playoff coverage.

 

[542365]

Go Blues. We need Jake Allen to be good this year. No reason we can't beat these guys even without Stastny and Fabbri if Allen is on his game. They're a team full of guys having career years. It's been showing the last two months. Blues in 6.

 

[BangarangxRufio]

Jake Allen will be the key against the . If he is the goalie he has been of recent, then we have a very good chance of beating a few teams this post season.

 

[Oogie Boogie]

Let's ****ing GO DUDES AND DUDETTES

 

[Oberyn]

Let's ****ing GO DUDES AND DUDETTES

We can't lose with Oogie Boogie on our side

 

[Brian39]

It's that time of year again!

Time to stop thinking about the Cap, trades, the business side and long term development. Time to stop debating Army's philosophy, the pros and cons of tanking, and what guys should be moved. The roster is what it is. The team is constructed and there aren't any moves to be made for next year until this one ends.

From here until the season ends, everyone on here is on the same page and hoping for exactly the same outcome.

I think the Blues take it in 6 if Stastny is good to go for game 1. I think we probably lose the series if he can't play.

Edit: The schedule is what it is. I get why the NHL wants it this way, but it legitimately sucks for both teams. At least we are playing another central team so both teams are out of their comfort zones.

 

[joshyhockey26]

I had a feeling the games would be late. Ohh well, it's the playoffs. The time of year hockey fans are supposed to be tired haha

 

[MissouriMook]

As long as Barbashev continues to play well between Schwartz and Tarasenko, I feel like we should leave that line alone when Stastny comes back. When healthy, I'd like to see:

17-49-91
20-26-57
12-71-21
10-28-75

That 3rd line could be really good or really bad, but I think the Top 6 gives us the 1-2 scoring punch we will need to survive in the playoffs.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

As long as Barbashev continues to play well between Schwartz and Tarasenko, I feel like we should leave that line alone when Stastny comes back. When healthy, I'd like to see:

17-49-91
20-26-57
12-71-21
10-28-75

That 3rd line could be really good or really bad, but I think the Top 6 gives us the 1-2 scoring punch we will need to survive in the playoffs.

I know we'll play Lehtera, but Paajarvi has earned that roster spot in my eyes.

 

[Klank Loves You]

I know we'll play Lehtera, but Paajarvi has earned that roster spot in my eyes.

Im fairly confident that Yeo is going to play Paajarvi over Lehtera.

 

[Brian39]

I know we'll play Lehtera, but Paajarvi has earned that roster spot in my eyes.

I'm not sold that Lehtera makes this lineup when it is fully healthy.

Paajarvi hasn't been out of the lineup since February 6th, he has played very well under Yeo and Yeo seems to value speed more than Hitch did. The Sobotka signing signaled to me that the organization is committed to moving Lehtera. He loses some value by being scratched for the playoffs, but I think most coaches would tell a GM to butt out of roster decisions during the playoffs. I doubt Army has the sway to tell Yeo what players to dress in the playoffs (other than not benching stars, which Lehtera clearly is not).

I won't be shocked if Lehtera is playing in a few days, but I don't think he is a shoe it to bounce Paajarvi or Barby from the lineup.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Let's ****ing GO DUDES AND DUDETTES

Excited to have you aboard Mr. Boogie

 

[taylord22]

If we're going to try and wear down Minny's D, then I don't see a scenario in which Paajarvi is not in. He and Upshall back to back on pursuits is brutal work over the course of a series. That said...the schedule might soften that impact.

We'll have our work cut out for us, as well.

 

[MissouriMook]

If we're going to try and wear down Minny's D, then I don't see a scenario in which Paajarvi is not in. He and Upshall back to back on pursuits is brutal work over the course of a series. That said...the schedule might soften that impact.

We'll have our work cut out for us, as well.

I think you're going to have that effect whether Paajarvi is in there or not by having 17 - 57 - 71 - 10 on each of your four lines. There really isn't a break in there anywhere from the tenacity of the forecheck.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

The keys of the series:

1) Can we start with the puck? Winning off the dot, especially in our own zone, will determine how well we are able to manage the puck. This is pretty obvious stuff, but not having to chase down the puck for the first half of every shift will be a huge advantage for us.

2) Play through the neutral zone. Can we get the puck over the red line cleanly, or will we continue getting choked off and have to dump it in just to get fresh legs on the ice?

3) The play of our defensemen. Will Pietrangelo continue to lead this team, and will Parayko recover from a recent streak of relatively poor perfromances? Can Eddy be physical and stay out of the penalty box? How will Schmaltz deal with the playoff pressure? Can we continue to limit high-danger scoring chances by pushing the pucks to the outside, or will Minny bully their way to the middle like Winnipeg has?

4) The play of our young guys. Assuming that Tarasenko is going to have a big red target on his back the whole series, can Barbashev, Paajarvi, Sanford, Jaskin, and Schmaltz step up and provide the "secondary" scoring that we will need?

5) Goalies. Can Allen stand tall? Can we crack Dubnyk?

6) How are injuries going to factor into the series? We're already down Fabbri, Stastny, Bortuzzo, and Yakupov, and lord knows how many guys are playing banged up. Is Schwartz's ankle ok? If we lose another defenseman, who do we call up? Lindbohm? Butler? Dunn?

Should be a fun series!

 

[taylord22]

I think you're going to have that effect whether Paajarvi is in there or not by having 17 - 57 - 71 - 10 on each of your four lines. There really isn't a break in there anywhere from the tenacity of the forecheck.

Good point. Yeo certainly has his options.

When he's in one of his "hold my beer" moods, you can add 27 into that mix, as well

My biggest concern is what else we due to minimize Minny's speed/counter game. Hitch played it ultra-conservative in the offensive zone, and we got burned badly. In addition, Minny is much bigger/better down the middle. I'm hoping we've grown beyond playing them with a vanilla low-to-high schema.

 

[carter333167]

Petro and Tank need to be stars. Parayko needs to pick up his game a bit and be another star.

If our D plays well, this series comes down to Allen vs Dubnyk. If Jake outplays Dubnyk, I think we win.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

Im fairly confident that Yeo is going to play Paajarvi over Lehtera.

He better, The thought of Lehtera against any fast team makes me sick

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

As long as Barbashev continues to play well between Schwartz and Tarasenko, I feel like we should leave that line alone when Stastny comes back. When healthy, I'd like to see:

17-49-91
20-26-57
12-71-21
10-28-75

That 3rd line could be really good or really bad, but I think the Top 6 gives us the 1-2 scoring punch we will need to survive in the playoffs.

I like keeping Barbie with them as long as he can handle it. I also would like to see MPS in there instead.

20-26-57
17-49-91
21-71-56
10-28-75

 

[stl76]

Barbashev is not ready for top line 1C duties in the playoffs yet. He is a rookie with less than a full NHL season under his belt. If you want to try to shelter that line that's one thing, but it would be a disservice to Vova and Schwartz if it lead to reducing their ice time.

If you roll Barbashev out there against the wild's top line he will get eaten alive defensively and on the dot IMO. I think it would be a HUGE mistake for both the team and for Barb's development.

I know everybody loves to crap on Lehtera these days, but I would be a lot more comfortable with him or Sobotka at C until Barb gets used to the speed and intensity of the playoffs.