As many were speculating, coach Ken Hitchcock will start Pheonix Copley in Winnipeg this afternoon with Jake Allen not even making the trip.
A game day blog now below.
Follow me on twitter
If Blues fans were frustrated Tuesday, Thursday likely made Tuesday seem like a minor inconvenience. The Capitals destroyed the Blues on the scoreboard, going up 7-1 before the Blues got two late goals to make it 7-3. I won’t spend a ton of time analyzing the game other than to say both the defensive coverage and goaltending were extremely poor.
I think everyone realizes the 1st goal was terribly weak. What many may not realize is that Allen’s play on the 2nd goal also showed various issues. He likely wouldn’t make the save but given how he played the situation he made that likelihood even more remote. He didn’t track the puck well and also didn’t get a push out to the shooter. He appeared to almost just lunge toward the shooter rather than actually getting a push to get out to the shooter. Again, all he did was lower his already low chances of making a save thanks to the very poor defensive coverage.
Of course, the 3rd goal also exposed more weaknesses in Allen’s game as he completely overplayed the situation, taking himself out of position and giving Oshie an easy goal. He again appeared to lose his footing and just lunge to try and make a save.
As a goalie, the 2nd and 3rd goals look like a goalie who is pressing too hard, in essence trying too hard. A goalie wants their reactions to be natural and muscle memory like. They do not want them to be forced. A goalie wants controlled, explosive movement, not wild, desperate movement.
In essence you have to be patient right until the time you react explosively. You can’t force the shot or situation most of the time. When a goalie gets in a situation where they are trying to do too much, they often move too much and lose the proper foundation and positioning not only for the first save but also for setting up their second save.
Perhaps an analogy is in order. Jump as high as you can standing still and land on both feet. Then jump again. Can you get as high as you did on the 1st one? Now jump as high as you can standing still and land only on your weaker leg and try to jump again. Can you get as close to the 1st jump as you did in the first scenario? Not likely. How you made the 1st jump impacted your second jump. Similarly, how a goalie makes their 1st save impacts their ability to make a 2nd save.
Again, the team defense was terrible right along with the goaltending whether that is falling down to give up breakaways, leaving players uncovered in the low slot, or taking dumb penalties but the reality is that the goaltending has to be better. I’ll have more on Allen and the defense in a later blog.
Jets Preview
Pheonix Copley will make his NHL debut (as a starter - he has a little relief NHL experience) in getting the start in Winnipeg this afternoon at 2pm. Copley was acquired in the TJ Oshie trade. He has a 92% save percentage and a 2.32 goals against average in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves this season.
The Jets are 2-3 in their last 5 games and have 1 more point than the Blues in their last 10 games with 9. Much like the Blues, the Jets are scoring enough but not defending enough (3.06 gaa vs the Blues 3.07). Also like the Blues, the Jets have a struggling, late 20s goalie. Ondrej Pavelec was recently recalled from the AHL. Pavelec carries a 3.9 million cap hit. Pavelec does have a 92.8% save percentage against the Blues in his career.
A few Jets have enjoyed success against the Blues. Blake Wheeler has 16 points in 19 games while Dustin Byfuglien has 24 points in 35 games. Luckily for the Blues, they will not have to face rookie phenom Patrik Laine who is still out with a concussion.
The Blues will be looking to win their 3rd road game in a row. Alex Pietrangelo hopes to keep his strong play against the Jets going. He has 15 points in 18 games against the Jets. Vladimir Tarasenko has 10 points in 13 games while Alexander Steen has 23 points in 30 games.
The lines are in flux but expected to start like this:
Schwartz – Stastny – Steen
Fabbri – Berglund - Tarasenko
Jaskin – Lehtera – Perron
Upshall – Brodziak – Reaves
Gunnarsson –Pietrangelo (Bouwmeester is out injured)
Edmundson – Shattenkirk
Bortuzzo - Parayko
Copley
No time for Jammer’s nuggets today.
It’s a great day for hockey.
Fellow Hockeybuzz bloggers
Nashville Predator's Paul McCann,
Winnipeg Jet's Peter Tessier and
Minnesota Wild's Dan Wallace have generously agreed to a friendly charity wager. We were hoping to do the whole division but don't have it fully represented yet. The blogger whose team finishes the highest the standings at the end of the year gets to pick a charity to whom the others donate in their name.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»