St. Louis Blues 21-22

pruman91 · Mar 13, 2022

Blues lose 4-3 in overtime ........Winnepeg controlled almost all of OT before scoring the game winner........

Binnington was ok but Husso is my # 1 goalie if I was Chief........

Blues got a point but should have gotten 2 ........

Next game is Thursday 03/17/22 at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins @ 7 pm CT

LETS GO BLUES

pruman91 · Mar 14, 2022

Another overtime loss for Blues, 4-3 to Jets

Team drops to 1-6 in OT this season.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
The Blues just can’t get this overtime thing down. They have been a top 10 team all season long in the overall NHL standings. But they remain near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to OT.
The latest example came Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets. After a late goal by the Blues’ Brayden Schenn tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on a two-on-one rush in OT to give the Jets a 4-3 victory at Enterprise Center.
The Blues fell to 1-6 this season in overtime. For those scoring at home, only lowly Buffalo (1-7) has a worse record in three-on-three play.
“Overtimes have not been good this year for us,” Schenn said. “That’s the guys you put on the ice to do it, myself included. We’ve got to be better.”

pruman91 · Mar 17, 2022

Will they or won't they? As trade deadline nears, is a new D-man in Blues' future?

Salary cap constraints make a move complicated for GM Doug Armstrong.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
After losing the likes of Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Joel Edmundson, Vince Dunn and Carl Gunnarsson in recent offseasons via trade, free agency, retirement or the expansion draft, defense was the Blues’ biggest question mark entering this season.
Did they have enough in their defensemen corps to make a deep run in the playoffs?
Nearly six months later, with NHL trade deadline a mere five days away, the question hasn’t changed all that much. Make no mistake, the Blues have a good defense. You’re not ranked eighth in goals allowed per game (2.71) by accident — not more than two-thirds of the way into the season.
But is it good enough for this team to be a legit Stanley Cup contender? That’s still debatable.

Nikko Mikkola has made great strides this season. But do the Blues feel comfortable enough with him — or Marco Scandella, who has had his share of hiccups — to place either in a top-four role during the playoffs?

pruman91 · Mar 17, 2022

Blues notebook: Bozak to miss at least four weeks

Veteran center suffered a lower body injury in practice Tuesday.

www.stltoday.com

Tyler Bozak left the ice 10 minutes early during Tuesday’s practice at Enterprise Center. At the time, coach Craig Berube thought Bozak had tweaked something.
Turns out it was more than a tweak. The team announced Wednesday that Bozak would be out at least a month because of a lower-body injury.
“It’s a loss for sure,” said coach Craig Berube, who was a bit surprised to learn the injury was so significant. “Unfortunate for not only us but him.”
Bozak has played 47 games this season, scoring three goals with eight assists in what has been mostly a fourth-line and penalty-killing role. Bozak is a team-worst minus-11 and has been averaging a career-low 12:01 of ice time.

He missed seven games on the COVID list at the end of November and the first half of December, was a healthy scratch for four games coming out of the All-Star break, and missed last week’s 6-2 win over the New York Rangers because of a non-COVID illness.
Even at the minimum of four weeks, Bozak will miss 14 of the Blues’ 23 remaining regular-season games.

pruman91 · Mar 18, 2022

Blues battle back to get a point but lose in shootout to Penguins 3-2

Perron, Barbashev score in regulation while Husso stops 43 of 45 shots

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
The ability to play a solid 60 minutes will be one of the keys to success for the Blues as they come down the stretch and head for the playoffs.
The search continues.
Against the Penguins on Thursday, the Blues were flat in the first period, flatter in the second, and only a revived third period and another good game in goal from Ville Husso got them even in the game and earned them a point before they lost in a shootout, 3-2, at Enterprise Center.
“The first two periods wasn’t very good,” Blues coach Craig Berube said.
“I just think that compete level for 60 minutes (was missing),” said forward Brandon Saad. “We’ll take any points we can get, but at the same time, that wasn’t our best effort. It’s good to get a point, but it’s something we need to correct.”

That the Blues got a point was no small feat considering they were outshot 45-25 in the game and the shot attempts were 77-44 in favor of Pittsburgh. Including the four shots that he faced in the shootout, Husso stopped 46 of the 49 shots he faced in the game. That added up to one point in the standings.

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I missed the game to watch the unbelievable first day of the NCAA tourney........looks like I made the right decision

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Mar 19, 2022

Any guesses as to what, if any, moves Army makes between now and the trade deadline on Monday?

whatahack · Mar 19, 2022

Gotta do something on D

pruman91 · Mar 20, 2022

Blues' defense a no-show in 5-4 loss to Columbus

Husso gives up season-high five goals; Perron hat trick wasted in defeat.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The NHL regular season is 75 percent complete. It’s the stretch run. A time for urgency and energy. Could someone please inform the Blues?
The team’s March malaise continued Saturday at Nationwide Arena, where the Blues fell behind 1-0 early, tied the game briefly in the opening period, but then played catchup the rest of the way in a frustrating 5-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blues trailed 2-1, 3-2, and 4-3, but each time Columbus scored next to make it a two-goal deficit for St. Louis.
“Listen, we scored four goals,” coach Craig Berube said. “That’s enough goals to win a hockey game for sure. We gotta do a better job keeping it out of our net.”

For sure. The Blues got a hat trick from David Perron, the sixth of his career and his second of the season. Alexei Toropchenko scored his first NHL goal. But there wasn’t much on defense or in goal, where Ville Husso allowed a season-high five goals.

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i didn't watch this game as i was watching the NCAA tourney and it sounds like I didn't miss anything special.........

I agree with my friend above that something needs to be done about the Blues D as what we have now isn't going to do it as far as a long playoff run .....

pruman91 · Mar 20, 2022

Blues notebook: As Binnington trade rumors swirl, Husso struggles in Columbus

Blues' Tarasenko is scratched for the game against Blue Jackets because of injury.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With rumors swirling that the Blues are shopping goalie Jordan Binnington, Ville Husso got the start Saturday in the team’s last game before the trade deadline
The result was Husso’s worst game of the season, at least in terms of goals allowed in a 5-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Husso entered the contest second in the NHL in save percentage (.930) and fifth in goals-against average (2.22). But he allowed a season-high five goals Saturday on 27 shots, including at least a couple he’d like to have back.
“I’ve got to look at the (Columbus) goals,” coach Craig Berube said afterwards. “I can’t really comment on them right now.”

For eight games from mid February to early March, Husso and Binnington alternated starts, game by game. But the Columbus start marked the fourth for Husso in the past five contests, with Binnington’s only start since March 8 coming March 13 against Winnipeg in a 4-3 overtime loss.
Reports first surfaced that the Blues were interested in trading Binnington on Thursday in a story on the Daily Faceoff website.A source close to Binnington told the Post-Dispatch before Saturday’s game that there was “nothing to it” when asked about the rumors. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong did not respond to a text message seeking comment.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Mar 21, 2022

Not too surprised by the Blues move as they needed help on the blue line. Leddy is more of a defensive minded defenseman which will help if he gets paired with someone like Faulk.

Stinks to see Sundqvist and Walman go though. Sundqvist has been injured most of this season. And as much I liked Walman I could see it being a situation similar to Fabbri where he's able to grow more on a rebuilding team rather than jump back and forth between the big club and Springfield.

whatahack · Mar 21, 2022

A little surprised Binnington is still a Blue. He seems like an emotional guy, so im guessing he is not a happy camper.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Mar 21, 2022

whatahack said:
A little surprised Binnington is still a Blue. He seems like an emotional guy, so im guessing he is not a happy camper.

I had heard him rumored as possible trade bait.

whatahack · Mar 22, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
I had heard him rumored as possible trade bait.

Yep...Army was shopping him

whatahack · Mar 22, 2022

That was one of the best all around games the Blues have played in awhile

pruman91 · Mar 22, 2022

whatahack said:
That was one of the best all around games the Blues have played in awhile

I missed it
Did they win ?

whatahack · Mar 22, 2022

pruman91 said:
I missed it
Did they win ?

Yep...5-2

Se Il Illini · Mar 22, 2022

Good game tonight.

whatahack · Mar 22, 2022

Schenn was a man possessed.
Leddy looked good. Nothing fancy, but steady.
I've been impressed by Toropchenko

pruman91 · Mar 23, 2022

Blues rejoin the playoff race, cruise past Caps 5-2

Schenn leads the way with a goal and two assists.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
WASHINGTON — Before at least some of the Blues went to sleep Monday night, they found themselves out of second place in the Central, and all the way down to the fourth spot — a wild-card spot — in the division.
That’s because Minnesota and Nashville both won Monday to move ahead of St. Louis. The Blues have squandered their cushion with a March malaise. And this time of year, things can happen fast.
“You wake up one morning and you’re in a wild-card (spot) — that’s the way it goes,” coach Craig Berube said. “We gotta keep winning games. That’s what it tells you. That’s it.”
After winning only two of their previous nine games in March (going 2-4-3), the Blues returned to their winning ways with a 5-2 triumph Tuesday over Washington at Capital One Arena.

“Yeah, we realize how tight it is,” Brayden Schenn said. “And where we sit in the standings. Like I said, you gotta worry about your two points each night. In the previous 10 (games), I don’t believe we’ve been great. We gotta get a whole lot better in the last 20 games here.” They got better Tuesday; Schenn made sure of it with a gritty goal and a gritty assist. That was the theme of the night, with the first four Blues goals coming on effort plays from in close. It’s been a topic of discussion lately for the team.

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LETS GO BLUES

pruman91 · Mar 23, 2022

Blues notebook: Leddy hopes new team suits him

He made his Blues debut Tuesday against Washington paired with Colton Parayko on defense.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
WASHINGTON — As is frequently the case is in such matters, Nick Leddy didn’t have much advance notice that he was getting traded from Detroit to St. Louis.
“As the deadline got closer I sat out a few games,” Leddy said. “But as it got closer, obviously the mind was running. I had seen and heard rumors. That was kind of the extent of the last four, five days.”
On Monday he left practice with the Detroit Red Wings and found out he had been traded to St. Louis on the way home from the rink.
“And was on a flight by 6 p.m. (to Washington),” Leddy said after Tuesday’s morning skate, his first time on the ice with his new teammates. “So yesterday was a whirlwind.”

The veteran defenseman packed as many clothes as possible on short notice.
“We were kind of lucky (in Detroit) and it was a little bit different,” he said. “When we went on the road in Detroit we had track suits, so we never had to wear suits. That’s one thing I’ll have get back used to.”

pruman91 · Mar 24, 2022

Roster is set, and so is the Blues' personality

Can the Blues flourish down the stretch and in the playoffs with a more skiilled, less heavy team?

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
The trade deadline has come and gone. The roster is set. And to a degree, so is the personality of this Blues team.
For example, if you were hoping for a big, physical, road-grading defenseman that would keep the net front clean — well, you didn’t get him at the deadline.
Instead, you got another puck mover in Nick Leddy.
This is a different-looking Blues team than the 2019 Stanley Cup champions. Whether it’s good enough to make another Cup run — well, we’re about to find out.
“I think if you look back (at 2019), our (defensive) corps was totally different in how they played, size-wise, things like that,” coach Craig Berube said. “They were big guys that were simple and defended well, and then up front we had a good balance.

“A lot like now (up front), but I think we had probably not as much scoring back then up front as we do now. I think we had different types of players.”

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good read

Blues vs. Flyers: Philly is floundering

Flyers have not won a road game in the 2022 calendar year.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
Blues vs. Flyers
When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Enterprise Center

TV, radio: No TV, streaming on ESPN+; WXOS (101.1 FM)

pruman91 · Mar 24, 2022

Flyers lead Blues 2-0 after 1.........................

Yep , Binnington is in goal tonight....................

Poor play so far , lack of puck controlin the Flyers end and it seems the Flyers are in control of the game pace..........I expect Chief is raising his voice somewhat in this intermission.......The Flyers are one of the worst teams in the NHL and the Blues are being contained big time and the Flyers have 2 goals with one being what I would call soft and the other was a scrum around the Blues next with the puck bouncing out to the slot for a wicked wrister goal.....

Need to pick up the pace before it gets out of hand here....

pruman91 · Mar 24, 2022

Flyers lead the Blues 3-2 after 2....................

Yuck

whatahack · Mar 24, 2022

I just don't understand this team...

pruman91 · Mar 24, 2022

Flyer lead 5-2 with @ 2 minutes left ....

I can't watch anymore....going to watch sweet 16 ........yuck