Buzz saw, steam
roller, wood chipper, wrecking ball, Terminator, Predator, take your pick. Real
or fictional, the St. Louis Blues ran into a well oiled destruction machine
last night at Scottrade Center that flattened
them, and took them apart piece by piece. The undefeated Chicago Blackhawks
lived up to the hype, dismantling the Blues in every aspect of the game en
route to a 3-0 shutout.
It took only 12
seconds for the Hawks to demonstrate exactly why they were 16-0-3 coming in. The
Blues arch rivals won the opening face off, dropped back into their zone, set
up their offense, and started up the ice. Four sharp passes later, they found Jonathan
Toews on the doorstep for a goal that was far too easy. In the blink of an eye,
the Blues trailed 1-0, and the crowd was stunned.
Towes who won the face
off, was allowed to float right down the middle of the ice completely
untouched, leaving Jaroslav Halak with no chance. Blues fans, hoping to dodge a
bullet, held their breath as the NHL reviewed the goal
that went in off of Towes’ skate. League officials would quickly rule that he
made no specific kicking motion to redirect the puck. The goal would stand,
much to the delight of the significant Blackhawk following in attendance.
The
Blues appeared to be stuck in quicksand, while the Hawks skated circles around
them, outworking the Blues, and controlling the game from start to finish. In
his post game press conference, Coach Hitch would say, “We made too many
mistakes in critical areas, offensively and defensively.”
The Blues managed to
keep the Blackhawks at bay for a while, after giving up the lightning fast
opening goal. They were still clearly out played and out hustled all night long.
The Hawks were more aggressive, maintaining constant pressure in the Blues zone,
throwing pucks at Halak, and crashing the middle looking for rebound
opportunities. The listless Blues allowed chance after chance, in front of
their own goal. Halak played well despite what the score would indicate.
The Blues had several scoring chances in the 2nd period, including 3 power play
opportunities. Kevin Shattenkirk beat goalie Ray Emery with a long wrist shot on
their third man advantage of the period, but the puck rang off the goalpost and
stayed out. The refs immediately indicated no goal, and play continued, even
after an overzealous red light flashed momentarily. Ray Emery, did not start
the game, but was forced to take over after starter Corey Crawford who only faced
7 shots, was unable to answer the bell for the 2nd period. In
typical hockey fashion, no word was given on Crawford’s injury, but he was
clearly in some discomfort at the end of the 1st period. The Blues had
five power play chances on the night, and put 23 total shots on goal, but all
were turned aside. The once potent power play unit has not netted a goal in 5
games, adding to the Blues home scoring woes.
The Hawks on the
other hand, would break through again early in the 3rd period. The
Blues were sloppy in their end, giving up a bad turnover behind the net. Winger
Bryan Bickell gained control of the puck and found a wide open Andrew Shaw, all
alone in the slot, who ripped a wrister past Halak. It was a recurring theme on
the night. The Blues could not keep anyone out of the middle of the ice in
front of the defenseless Halak, who deserved a better fate. Where is Chris
Pronger when we need him? Prongs was actually in the building last night, as
was the great Al MacInnis, to celebrate #5 Barret Jackman becoming the Blues
all time leader in games played by a defenseman, 616 and counting. They could
have used both Hall of Famers last night.
A
few minutes later, after killing off another feeble Blues power play effort, the
Hawks would once again catch the Blues out of position. Toews scored his second
goal of the night, tapping in a rebound off a big shot from the point by
defenseman Nick Leddy. The goal put the Hawks ahead 3-0, and they were on
cruise control from there
It was not the
performance the Blues needed against the NHL’s top team, who
extended their record to 17-0-3 on the season, good for a league high 37
points. Anaheim and Montreal have 28 points,
and can only see shrinking taillights as the Blackhawks continue to race away
from the rest of the league.
The loss drops the Blues
into 7th place in the Western Conference. Their 22 points are tied
with 4 other teams, including the Kings, Wild, Sharks, and Stars. The Phoenix
Coyotes are nipping all their heels with 21 points, and the Blues next opponent
Edmonton Oilers, are also in the mix with 20 points.
The Blues will have
to battle hard, to stay in the playoff picture. It will not take long to figure
out which direction they’re going, as they will take on the Oilers tonight at
Scottrade, before hitting the road to play Dallas, L.A., Phoenix, San Jose, and Anaheim. This next road
trip may very well decide the season for the Blues, and it will be imperative
that they figure out how to score some goals during the stretch. The Blues
could find themselves on the outside looking in very quickly, with little time
to make up ground should they fall behind in the conference.
If there is any
consolation, the Blues have played much better hockey on the road. Still, it
would be nice to rinse away the bad taste of the Chicago loss tonight at
home, before packing their bags for Dallas. Coach Hitchcock
has said that we will see goalie Brian Elliott in one of the next two games,
most likely in Dallas. “He had another
good day of practice, and we’ve got to get him going soon,” said Hitch of
Elliott on Wednesday.
The Blues are dealing with the injury bug
once again. Vladimir Terasenko has been out since sustaining a head injury in Colorado. Welcome to the NHL rookie, here’s
your concussion. Andy McDonald was hurt in practice on Tuesday, and was placed
on the IR list with a knee injury. Alexander Steen is listed as day-to-day,
with what is being called an upper body injury. The Blues have recalled Chris
Porter, and Andrew Murray from Peoria, and they refuse
to make excuses for their play.
“These are short-term injuries. Everybody’s
got them,” Hitchcock said after Wednesday’s practice. “All you’ve got to do is
[watch] the NHL Network every hour and there’s
another injury that pops up. We’ve been lucky so far. We’ve got three or four
quality forwards out, but everybody’s got that going.”
“We’ll get through this fine.”
The puck drops tonight at 7pm, and the game can be
seen on Fox Sports Midwest. John Kelly @jkellyhockey and Darren Pang @panger40
will have the call, with BernieFederko
Rodney N Eldridge
The Sportz Yak
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