The
St. Louis Blues rolled into Jobing.com Arena in Glendale AZ Thursday night, in
a fairly desperate situation. Regular season games are rarely deemed as “must
win,” especially with 20+ games to play. However, with the Blues in a critical nose
dive and with the team in apparent disarray, the contest against the Phoenix
Coyotes last night certainly fit the bill. When the Blues hit the road this
week, they sat smack in the middle of the playoff picture. At game time last
night, they found themselves looking up from 9th place in the
Western Conference.
They gave a
lack-luster performance in Dallas against the Stars
on Sunday afternoon, earning a sound 4-1 whipping. Tuesday night, the L.A. Kings
would spot the Blues a 4-1 lead, and then go on to score 5 unanswered goals, en
route to a 6-4 come from behind victory. The Blues flat out fell apart in every
aspect of the game, and the defending Stanley Cup Champs definitely took
advantage.
The Blues also have
something of a goalie situation,
meaning that both Brian
Elliott and Jaroslav
Halak have struggled to say the least. Let’s not hold them solely
responsible however. The Blues defense has not played well in front of either
guy. Their play has been sloppy, they’ve regularly turned the puck over in their
own zone constantly getting caught out of position, and they’ve allowed far too
many easy chances by wide open snipers. It is safe to say that the Great Ken
Dryden himself would struggle facing the constant point blank barrage Halak and
Elliott have seen this year.
That
said, there have also been far too many soft
goals allowed by both goalies, and neither player looks very comfortable out
there right now. The Blues recalled exciting young rookie Jake Allen from Peoria, after the loss in
L.A. Allen was nothing short of spectacular in his last brief visit to the NHL, earning 3 wins in
4 starts before returning to the farm team. With the Blues once again needing a
spark, the rookie got the start last night against the Coyotes.
In
any sport, it is sometimes very clear that certain athletes are just a little
bit different. Some might even use the word “special.” When you watch them,
their movements look very smooth, almost effortless. Jake Allen has that kind
of air about him. He does not look like a rookie when he warms up, or when the
clock starts ticking. He stops pucks with very little reaction, and does not
allow many long rebounds. Allen does not hope to make saves he knows he will
make saves. He has no fear, and he appears to be incredibly focused on the
puck, rarely surprised by any shot.
Allen definitely
belongs in the NHL. Hopefully the
powers that be now understand that it may be time to make some roster moves,
and get him some help, before he ends up a fragile mess like his predecessors.
While they still have some trade value, perhaps the Blues could seek to move
Halak or Elliott, for some more productive players, as they try to make a
playoff push. A veteran defensemen could certainly help the injury ridden Blues
right now.
With the rookie between
the pipes, the Blues Chris
Stewart(9, 11) would open the scoring, banging in a rebound off a shot from
the point by Alex
Pietrangelo(5, 11). The Blues gained control of the puck and dropped it
back to Pietrangelo at the blue line. “Petro” let the shot fly, and the Coyotes
Mike Smith made the initial save, but Stewart was all alone on the doorstep to
notch his 9th goal of the season. The Blues would go on to kill off a
penalty, and appeared to be heading into the first intermission with a lead. Unfortunately,
on a late power play, they committed another bad turnover which would result in
a short handed goal by the Coyotes David Moss at 18:54. Their momentum
went right out the window, and the period ended in a 1-1 tie.
Speaking
of momentum, the Blues would find themselves trailing 2-1 just 41 seconds into
the second period. Once again, a horrible turnover right in front of Allen
resulted in an uncontested scoring chance for Shane Doan. Doan would make no
mistake with his slap shot from the near slot, beating the helpless Allen glove
side. The Blues seemed to be crumbling as they had two nights ago in L.A., and the Coyote
fans were howling after taking the lead. Coach Hitchcock had to be thinking to
himself, “here we go again,” whether he would ever admit to it or not.
Then,
Patrik Berglund(11,
3) took over, and the Blues suddenly had life. Berglund took a neat pass from Barret Jackman(2,
5), flipped a shot on goal, and followed his shot to the net. After Stewart
fanned on the rebound, the puck landed on Berglund’s stick, and he put it in the
back of the net behind Smith, tying the game at 2-2, and stealing back the
momentum.
It
would not take long for the St. Louis line of David Perron, Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart to
strike again. This time the Blues would take advantage of a turnover by the
Coyotes, and race in on Smith. Perron led Berglund with a pass to the net, and
Berglund would take care of the rest, lifting a backhander top shelf from a
wicked angle. Smith had no chance, and the Blues quickly had the lead 3-2. The
Blues were not done scoring in the 2nd period. Roughly 2 minutes
after taking the lead, Scott
Nichol would earn his first goal of the season, on a strong fore check by
the Blues. Winger Jaden
Schwartz(2, 4) worked hard in the corner to get control of the puck and
dart in front of the net. He slid a pass over to Nichol, who did not miss, and
all of a sudden the Blues were up 4-2.
They
were in a similar position two nights ago, and Blues fans have come to expect
that no lead is safe with this team. There was a definite difference in the
body language last night against the Coyotes however, possibly due to the calm
of their rookie goal tender, who made the routine saves, and kept the Blues out
in front. The 2nd period would end with the Blues up 4-2, and the
Coyotes reeling.
The
3rd period was not a disaster for the Note, who finally played 60
minutes of hockey for a change. Vladimir Sobotka (4,
6) would put the Blues ahead 5-2, and later Pietrangelo , would tack on goal number 6.
They would go on to win the game 6-3, after Phoenix Keith Yandle scored a late
3rd period goal with time running out, and the game already in hand
for the Blues. It’s never good to give up goals at the end of any period, but
with a 4 goal cushion, this time it would not be a problem. The Blues still
need to address playing a full 60 minutes of hockey moving forward, but the
game last night was truly a breath of fresh air for the St. Louis faithful, who
could see their team’s playoff hopes fading on this road trip.
The
Blues next action is Saturday afternoon in San Jose. The Sharks have
become a dangerous conference rival for the Blues, and every game seems to take
on a playoff feel between the teams. The Blues will need to play with the same
sense of urgency they showed in Phoenix, if they want to
win in the “Shark Tank.” Jake Allen will get the start again, looking to avenge
his only NHL loss, a 2-1 regulation defeat at
home on Feb. 19th.
With the victory
over Phoenix, the Blues have
crept back into the 8th and final playoff spot, with 26 points. Once
again, they are tied with 3 teams, Dallas Stars, L.A. Kings, and their next
opponents, the San Jose Sharks. It would be very nice if they could get
themselves on a winning streak at this juncture, and force someone else to
scramble for the 8th slot, and a potential meeting with the
unbelievable Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.
Rodney N Eldridge
The
Sportz Yak
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