Saturday, December 16, 2017

Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues - Game 34 Recap

Blues Bounce Back With Hutton's 9th Career Shutout

Goals: Tarasenko (15) and Dunn (3)
Record 22-10-2
My Thoughts on Tonight's Game
  • Carter Hutton was the highlight reel tonight. What a game! Just when the Blues needed someone to step up, Hutton answered the call.  He stopped all 48 Winnipeg shots on goal including 21 in the 2nd period when the Jets really turned up the heat and threw everything they had at him.  He is now 5-2-0 and improves his save percentage to .949 with a 1.63 GAA.
  • The Jets entered the game in 3rd place in the Central Division, just 3 points behind the Blues. This was the first of a home and home back-to-back matchup with them as they face off again in Winnipeg on Sunday night at 5 PM.
  • The Jets are also 4th in the league on the power play with a 25.42 success percentage, while the Blues penalty kill has been hot of late, killing 20 of their last 21 penalties and climbing above 80% for the season. It would be a battle of strength vs strength on this side of special teams.
  • Winnipeg was on the power play 4 times in this game and they did not score. The Blues won this battle tonight and are now 24 for their last 25 killing penalties.
  • The other side of the special teams has not been St. Louis' strong suit, but from the reports it sounds like Coach Yeo spent a lot of time in practice working on the power play. That extra work paid off as Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the first period on the power play and Vince Dunn scored again in the 3rd on another man advantage. They were 2 for 5 tonight for a 40% success rate and it was the difference in the game. 
  • As I've written several times this season, in close games special teams are the difference in winning and losing. Had we not gotten any power play goals tonight, we could have very easily lost in overtime or a shootout.
  • We had several other chances to score but Jets' backup goalie, Steve Mason was also strong in net tonight.  Stastny had a short-handed chance, Sundqvist nearly poked one in, Steen had a wrap around attempt and those are just a few of the chances that Mason was able to keep out of the net.
  • Other than the 2nd period where Winnipeg pretty much controlled things, St. Louis played a very solid game. 
  • Bortuzzo took a helmet to the face and then a stick to the mouth but finished the game and seems to be ok. Samuel Blais left the game in the 1st with a lower body injury.  He came back in the 2nd but left the ice again and didn't return. Just another injury to deal with.
  •  Both teams will have their starters going tomorrow night in Winnipeg. Jake Allen is 17-8-2 on the season with a 2.54 GAA and .911 Save Percentage. Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck is 16-4-4 with a .917 Save Percentage and a 2.55 GAA. Pretty evenly matched records and stats.
  • Winnipeg is 1-4-1 in their last 6 games.  St. Louis is 5-2-0 in their last 7. Another win on Sunday for the Blues would be nice to keep the cushion in the standings.
#AllTogetherNowStL #LGB

No comments:

Post a Comment

Patrik, Berglund, Bergie! Hat-Trick Leads Blues to 4-1 Win in Chicago

St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks - Game 81 Recap Goals: Berglund (15,16,17) and Schwartz (23) Record 44-31-6 My thoughts on this g...