Friday, March 9, 2018

Blues Lose 2-0 in San Jose

St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks - Game 67 Recap
Goals: None
Record 35-27-5
My thoughts on the game

  • After 4 days off, the Blues started a 3 game trip through California needing 3 wins for any hope of climbing back into a playoff spot. They sit 4 points back of the last wild card spot with just 15 games to go.
  • Reading through the projected lineup earlier in the day, we all were surprised to learn at game time that Carter Hutton had sustained a neck injury late in the day and would not start. Jake Allen got the nod and the Blues recalled Ville Husso from San Antonio while Hutton is out. Tonight, they employed the emergency backup system and signed Ben Wexler as the backup for the San Jose game until Husso can join the team in LA on Friday. Wexler is a California native who played 3 years at U of Illinois where he played 26 games in 3 years. 
  • Jake Allen came to play and thank goodness we didn't need Wexler. Allen stopped all 31 shots he faced at even strength. The only hole he showed was one that allowed a power play goal late in the game.
  • This one started off with a lot of back and forth in the early going. San Jose is an aggressive team and plays well at home. They came out charging and the Blues had to play good defense to keep them off the scoreboard. With J-Bo out, Edmundson out and 2 rookies out there in Dunn and Schmaltz, it looked all game like the Blues had shored up the defense.
  • I thought San Jose had most of the offensive pressure in the first. St. Louis didn't manage a shot on goal until about 8 1/2 minutes into the game. In fact, they only had 4 shots on goal in the first. Allen made some good saves on the Sharks' 9 shots on goal and the first ended 0-0.
  • The 2nd period started out much the same. San Jose brought pressure early. Four and a half minutes in they had a nifty passing play when Tierney found Labanc in front of the net wide open, but Jake stopped the point blank shot.
  • San Jose kept up the pressure and caused Vince Dunn to get called for hooking at the 4:58 mark. The Sharks got 2 shots on goal during the man advantage, but Jake made both saves.
  • The 2nd period played out pretty evenly with 10 shots on goal by the Blues and 12 by the Sharks. The score remained 0-0 through 2.
  • This was a cleanly played game with only 3 penalties, so the power play chances were few but they ended up being the difference in this one.
  • The Blues got their chance at the 4:12 mark of the third. They had finally managed to get some sustained offensive pressure when the Sharks tackled Berglund behind the net and they were called for hooking against Brodziak.
  • Disappointingly, the power play yielded zero shots on goal.
  • Yeo tried to shake things up a little late in the game. The 4th line of Soshnikov, Sundqvist and Thompson wasn't seeing much of the ice, but he moved Soshnikov up on a line with Schenn and Schwartz a couple of times. No matter the combinations, the Blues just couldn't find any sort of offense. They managed 2 shots on goal in the third period. 
  • At the 10:30 mark of the third, Evander Kane's stick was up under the arms of Brodziak. As Brodziak turned away from Kane, he acted as if he couldn't get his stick free and Kyle was called for holding the stick. From my perspective, Brodziak had both hands on his own stick and the only way he was holding Kane's stick was if he had a third hand. 
  • There is no review of such things and the call gave another power play to San Jose. 
  • The Blues managed to kill off most of this penalty. Jake was fighting hard and made some good saves. But with just 18 seconds left in the 2 minute penalty, Mikkel Boedker got the puck in the slot and surprised Allen as he got a shot off quickly and just beat Jake on his stick side off the inside of the post. It would prove to be the game-winner.
  • Jake was pulled for an extra attacker with under 2 minutes to go, but the Blues found it hard to maintain possession of the puck in order to create any chances. San Jose got an empty net goal with 15 seconds left to seal the deal.
  • Jake was the 3rd star and it was nice to see him play so well. His counterpart, Martin Jones was the 2nd star, but only had to stop 16 shots on the other end. 
  • We blocked 23 shots to the Sharks' 18 blocks, but even adding their blocks to our shots on goal, we still didn't match their shots on goal as we were outshot 36-16. I doubt many games have been won by a team who only managed 16 shots on goal in a game and who were outshot by 20 shots. 
  • The offense has disappeared in this second half of the season. Yet, as bad as it's been the season is still not over, the playoffs is still a possibility. We MUST WIN in LA on Saturday and Anaheim on Monday!
#AllTogetherNowStL #LGB

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