The Blues hit a flat note on Sunday, losing their 1st home playoff game of 2019 by a score of 6-3. A Blues fans’ perspective on the game might depend on whether they were a glass half full or half empty personality type.
The half empty fan might be concerned about captain Alex Pietrangelo who struggled a lot on Sunday and wonder whether it was due to a lingering foot issue from the blocked shot at the end of Game 2 or perhaps the multiple cross checks Dustin Byfuglien delivered to his lower spine early in Game 3 while Pietrangelo was down behind his own net.
Whatever the reason, Pietrangelo had issues throughout a lot of the game with the 1st negative results showing up five minutes into the 2nd period when he inexplicably tried to stop a routine shot with his stick, instead deflecting it off Jordan Binnington, the post and then into the net. Given the space and player he was defending, this is a shot that he should never even try to touch.
The negative results continued less than three minutes later when he got puck watching, failing to observe the 4 on 4 situation and defensive coverage areas as he re-enters the defensive zone. He continues to puck watch throughout the play, failing to keep his head on a swivel and starts to puck chase, along with Jaden Schwartz. Their combined efforts allow Patrik Laine to drift to the net uncovered and eventually score a rather easy goal.
The glass half empty fan is concerned about some cracks in Jordan Binnington’s 3rd period and may wonder if the Jets are solving him or perhaps Binnington is just getting tired from a stronger workload that he likely has ever had in his career.
Note the angle of Binngton’s shoulders on Kyle Connor’s power play goal as he gets beats inside his trapper and over his shoulder. His left shoulder dips, creating the area in which the puck goes past him.
Then later note how he is sitting on his skate heels as Byfuglien shots the puck in off his head. Tired goalies do this as I should know, I cut a hole in the back of my goalie pants doing this. His rear should not be this low.
The half empty crowd will see the manhandling the Jets put on the Blues in the 1st two periods, outshooting them 25-13 and tiring the Blues out, often making them look completely flat-footed and standing still in the 2nd period.
On the other hand the half full crowd will think that, even with as bad as the Blues were in the first two periods, they were a Patrick Maroon shot elevation away from being tied 3-3 with less than 16 minutes left in the game. Within a ten second span, the Blues went from almost tying the game to being two goals down as Brandon Tanev used his skate to redirect the pass by Binnington.
The half full fans will note that Vladimir Tarasenko finally got on the board and will be impressed with the amazing set-up by Vince Dunn.
They will also point to Binnington’s stellar play throughout the 1st period.
What this writer finds interesting is that, once again, the team that won both special teams and the hit battle lost the game. What I see is that the water is in the middle of the glass, right where I expected it to be. These teams seem pretty evenly matched and I would expect a close, long series.
In my humble opinion, it should be concerning that the Blues had little to no jump in the 1st period, played even more poorly in the 2nd period. It should be concerning how well the Jets played in the 1st two periods. The Blues 3rd period domination shouldn’t be overvalued though should provide optimism for Blues fans. It should be noted that even with as wide of a spread as there was in play through the 1st two periods, the Blues came inches away from tying the game with 16 minutes to go.
Blues fans should be concerned about Robert Bortuzzo’s health as he had another rough game, this time thanks to shot blocks. Of course, it appears he will be in the lineup tonight.
Speaking of the lineup, Robby Fabbri will be inserted for Zach Sanford. David Perron is expected to play even though he did not practice today.
One thing that I found curious was that, before Game 3, Craig Berube said the discipline “has been good” but said that “we have to up our physicality too. I think we can be more physical in certain areas”. I didn’t like the comment as I thought the Blues physicality had been appropriate and, in fact, their level of it had been partly to credit for their wins. Hopefully, this message isn’t misconstrued by the team into the mistakes of yester years, running out and getting distracted by physicality.
In relation to my first blog about the series, I talked about the teams’ post all-star game performance, scoring composition difference, the players’ histories, and goaltending. In the game 3, the Jets got better goaltending and Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine’s kept their hot play against the Blues going, outscoring the Blues depth.
In looking at today, the Blues really need to get an early goal and control play right off the bat. Hopefully Perron will follow in Laine’s footsteps, scoring after missing the morning skate.
As a side note, while the Blues may have fallen flat on Sunday, Kelly Chase, Brett Hull and the entire Blues staff did not when it came to the pre-game festivities. The pre-game presentation was the best I have ever seen in my 20 years of season tickets in St. Louis. Bravo to them all for a job well done.
Second side note, did anyone see Byfuglien's hand gesture to the crowd after he scored? It seemed questionable but I wasn't at the best angle. Was it a sort of read between the lines gesture or worse? I was surprised I didn't hear any chatter about it after the game.
NHL Champions for Charity
Given that the Predators pulled out the division title, I made my contribution to Best Buddies Tennessee
https://www.bestbuddies.org/tennessee/ is the beneficiary. Best Buddies Tennessee is dedicated to establishing a volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development and inclusive living opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As a side note, I recently got to experience a Best Buddies even in the St. Louis area that was led by the Eureka high school football team. It was a lot of fun and brought a lot of joy to those involved.
It’s a great day for hockey.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
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