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Game 4: Blues/Kings - Recap: School Was In Session |
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My 3 Stars of the Game
1. Mike Richards, LA - 2 assists on the night, but arguably the best player on the ice for the Kings. Really stepped up in the 3rd when his team needed a lift.
2. Slava Voynov, LA - while he didn't hit the scoresheet, I thought Voynov might have been the Kings best defenseman last night ... and that's considering Doughty had a pretty damn good game.
3. Vladimir Sobotka, STL - 2 assists, and another heart-and-soul night.
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Ken Hitchcock says that he learned more about coaching in Game 6 of the 1998 Western Conference Finals than he had in his entire coaching career up to that point. Last night, the Los Angeles Kings put on a clinic for what it takes to win the Stanley Cup; the St. Louis Blues would be well-served to learn in much the same way Hitchcock learned the hard way 15 years ago.
Last night's game could have been Game 1 of the 2012 Western Conference semifinal series between these two teams, or the 6-4 Kings win back on March 5 of this year. It was everything Blues fans dreaded seeing coming into this series, and everything the Kings had done to assert control in games between the two teams - and it was a stark reminder that Los Angeles didn't win the Cup last year on pure luck. It was a game that was winnable early on, and the Blues kept finding ways to give it back; in the 3rd period, they finally managed to do so for good. The Blues should have snagged and taken a 3-1 strangehold on the series headed back home with a chance to close it out; instead, we go back to St. Louis 2-2.
As I said last night, full credit to the Kings for the win. They survived the first 2 period, capitalized on a couple of breakdowns by the Blues defense, and then came out in the 3rd period intent on seizing control of the game and imposing their will. It was desperate hockey by the defending champs, the kind teams have to play if they want to win the Cup - but the Kings hit a gear this group of Blues has yet to find so far at any point in the last 4+ years of playoff games. If the Blues learned anything from last night, it was two things:
1. You cannot sit on a lead and try to protect it and expect good things to happen - especially in the playoffs when the defending champions are on the other bench.
2. If guys in that locker room thought they had reached down and given all they've got, they better dig a whole lot deeper if they want to advance deep in the postseason.
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Game 5 now becomes a "must win" game for the Blues. It arguably could be for the Kings, but I think they have the ability to come into St. Louis and swipe a game there - even if it's Game 7. The Blues going into L.A. and taking a game? I'm really dubious about that. That said, I don't think this series goes back to St. Louis for a Game 7. I think when this series is done, we'll all be able to look at last night's game and say, "that was the turning point in the series." What remains to be seen is whether that was the moment the light went on for the Blues about how they need to play in the playoffs, or whether that was the moment the Kings flipped the switch on and asserted control for good.
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In looking around the Internet after the game, a lot of criticism was levied at Hitchcock for dressing Tarasenko in place of Cracknell - and some fans wanted to blame that change for the loss last night. The criticism is somewhat accurate, but clearly misguided.
Did I have a problem with Tarasenko going into the lineup? No - as long as he was going in for the purpose of trying to find more offense. 5:51 of ice time on 11 shifts, though - and almost exclusively with Porter and Reaves? Tarasenko is clearly not a 4th-line guy, and yet there he was out there having to grind it away. I really didn't get the point of that. Up front with Steen and Backes? 3rd line with McDonald and Sobotka? Either of those places would have been fine for him - but he sure as hell wasn't going to do anything useful on the 4th line playing about 6 minutes. It was a complete waste of a roster move.
Did Tarasenko going into the lineup cause the Blues to lose the game? Of course not; only someone looking to blame Hitchcock for anything under the sun would make such a simple-minded claim. Yes, that 4th line wasn't nearly as effective as it had been in the first three games in the series - but it was 3 mental gaffes that did the team in over a total span of about 15 seconds, none of which involved that line:
1. On the 4-on-4, Oshie muffed a pass into the Kings zone as Polak came scooting up ice on the rush. Jackman blew a tire, Oshie had to haul ass back because Polak was caught, and even then he could have broken the play up ... if he had actually hit the ice to stop the pass from Richards over to Carter. Instead, he waved his stick at the puck, missed, and Carter was able to beat Elliott.
2. Leopold's ill-advised pinch that led to a Kings 3-on-1, where Shattenkirk might as well have held flashlights directing the Kings to the net. Again, no effort to defend the pass across - and with Elliott trying to play the shooter, he simply couldn't get back across in time to stop Penner's tap-in.
3. Berglund's standing around watching the play to the side of the Blues net, which allowed Kopitar to move up and into the slot, where he took a pass from Brown and beat Elliott cleanly before he had time to react.
The Williams deflection, ... that happens, I can excuse that one. The other 3 goals? Quite preventable, and with a little bit of basic defense at least the first two should have never happened. It's why I don't blame Elliott for any of the goals; at most, he could have stopped the Carter goal - but again, Carter never gets that shot off if Oshie lays down on the ice to cut off the pass and force Richards (who was already wide) to take a bad-angle shot (which Elliott was positioned for).
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So ... now what to do with the lines? Great question. I don't think the Blues can go into Game 5 with the same combinations, even if Berglund and Oshie combined for a pair of goals last night. What the "right" combinations should be, I don't know though. Defensively, I'm still OK with the pairings - but Leopold has to realize he's got to be the defensive conscience of his pairing, because comparisons of his partner to Phil Housley are pretty accurate - especially defensively. (That's not a compliment, either.) The forwards, though, ...
Perron should go back to the 3rd line at highest. He's playing like a 3rd liner right now - getting selfish when he has open space, wants to be a pest instead of a playmaker, ... play him down there. Stewart has to go on a line where he's not doing all the chasing; I see way too much of him doing the forechecking - which is fine, but it doesn't really play to his strengths. If Tarasenko is going to stay in the lineup, McDonald has to be the one coming out; guy still has speed, can still handle the puck - but he's doing nothing creative with it and is getting muscled off the puck way too often, and that's not likely to improve in this series. But, I wouldn't do a Perron - Sobotka - Tarasenko line, either; we've seen how that (didn't) work out very well. A very rough back-of-the-envelope sketch says the following:
Steen - Backes - Stewart
Oshie - Berglund - Tarasenko
Schwartz - Sobotka - Perron
Cracknell - Porter - Reaves
I still think in some ways, the Blues have 9 forwards that just don't fit with each other into 3 good lines - but at this point, it's a little late to fix that problem. It would be great if the Blues players could find some chemistry amongst themselves to help create lines - the sooner, the better.
Game 5, tomorrow night - an 8:00pm Central start.
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Around the rest of the playoffs:
Toronto vs. Boston - it's games like last night that makes you see the Bruins and think, "man, they could go all the way this year." Unfortunately, they don't bring that kind of game nearly as often as they should. (See: season finale, at home vs. Ottawa with the NE division title their for the taking.) If the B's are interested in playing, the Maple Leafs are in way over their heads and it could be over in 5 in Boston; if not, the Leafs could drag this out and have a chance.
NY Rangers vs. Washington - the addition of Marc Staal provided a much-needed boost to the Rangers, but they still had to go to the wall to get the victory. If they want to get ahead in this series, they need an even better effort than last night.
Detroit vs. Anaheim - after last night, this series could end up going 7; if it does, the Ducks are going to be kicking themselves for it no matter how it turns out. Similar to the Blues, the Ducks were up 2-1 on the road with a chance to go home to win the series, but didn't go for the kill and let the Red Wings dictate play accordingly - and it resulted in coughing up a pair of 1-goal leads and ended with Brunner's OT winner.
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