Saturday, November 11, 2017

New York Islanders vs St. Louis Blues - Game 18 Recap

Islanders Avenge Early Season Loss Defeating St. Louis 5-2 at Scottrade Center
Goals: Schenn (5) and Upshall (2)
Record 13-4-1

My thoughts on the game
  • Sad day for those who knew and loved the little girl who captured Blues' fans hearts with her fighting spirit and infectious smile, as she passed away earlier today.  A moment of silence for her before the game was fitting. 
  • Go rest high on that mountain, Ari!
  • Blues surely had to play with some heavy hearts tonight.  
  • The Blues went down 3-0 in the first period and then fell into a 4-0 hole early in the second for their worst start all season. Jake Allen was pulled after the 4th goal in favor of backup Carter Hutton, but to be fair to Jake we didn't protect him very well and gave up some easy goals.
  • The Islanders came out aggressive on the forecheck and had the Blues back on their heels for nearly the whole first period. There were several possessions early where the good guys had a hard time even clearing the puck out of their own end. The way New York played was reminiscent of the way the Blues have played most of the season.
  • The Blues had their chances to score with a couple of strong possessions in the 2nd period but couldn't seem to get the puck in the net. Schwarz hit the post once and several others had good scoring chances. 
  • German goalie, Thomas Greiss was solid all night stopping 35 of 37 Blues shots, and was the #1 star of the game.
  • The St. Louis Gateway Honda dealers are getting off cheap as the power play continues to struggle.  We were 0 for 3 tonight and now 1 for 22 in the past several games. The dealers committed to $500 for every power play goal for a worthy cause this season.
  • Coach Mike Yeo said in the postgame that his squad has gotten off to a slow start for 3 games in a row now and has gotten away with it the past 2 games, but not so tonight.  He indicated that it could be due to some confidence based on past results or, as some might say "resting on one's laurels." That attitude has to disappear as it takes hard work and discipline every night in the NHL to continue to win.
  • The Blues surely have a target on their chests due to their red-hot start to the season and their overall lead in the western conference as the top team. Now, coming around for the 2nd time playing some of these teams the opponents know what they're up against when they take the ice against the Blues.  We've got to bring it even harder.
  • We outshot the Islanders 37-29 but that stat is misleading. Shots were nearly even through the first two periods and the Islanders were playing with a 4-1 lead with no need to finish with a rush of offense, yet the Blues did. Thus the shot differential.
  • Needing a fast start in the second period, the Blues went the first 6 minutes of that frame without a shot on goal. It just wasn't their night.
  • Some obvious penalties were missed, especially the stick to the mouth of Paul Stastny who had to leave in the 2nd for stitches to the mouth and reportedly had some damage to more of his teeth.  He did return for the 3rd period. The game was not determined by missed penalty calls. It was just another thing that didn't go the Blues' way tonight.
  • It WAS Veteran's night, though. St. Louis did it up right with all of the military activities. Several season ticket holders gave up their seats for members of the military. Warm up jerseys with a military theme and Jake Allen's military themed mask will all be auctioned off for military charity. Fans brought items to be donated to the military. Some guys repelled into the arena from the rafters, another handled the ceremonial puck drop and sang the national anthem.  In the 2nd intermission a group of young men took the oath on the ice, being sworn into their duties in military service. Kudos to the Blues for everything they did. Nobody did it any better from what I saw.
  • To finish on a positive note, Schenn's goal showed how lethal he can be with the wrist shot.
  • Upshall's 2nd goal of the season came after a shot on goal by Bortuzzo bounced off the goalie and laid in the goal crease, three Islanders along with the goalie were scrambling to clear the puck.  Upshall rushed the goal and poked the puck in the net. It was typical of the hard-nosed type of play Upshall always brings to the ice.
  • Three games next week in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as the Blues head north of the border for the first time this season. Maybe a week-long road trip will help the crew get their heads together and get some things back on track. 
  • Early on, with the record-setting start, some were saying that the return of Bergulnd, Bouwmeester and possibly Sanford was not needed.  But the deeper we get into the season it's starting to become evident that we are not a perfect hockey team and some more depth may be necessary to keep things going.
#AllTogetherNowStL #LGB #AriStrong #ShareArisLight

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