2021 Blues Regular Season multi-purpose thread

[Stealth JD]

To me it isn’t about earning playing time. Barby has been solid this year and I would like to have at least one intact line against the Kings. I like rewarding Kostin so I think it would be good to move him up, which is why I might put him with ROR.

I'd considered Kostin with ROR and Perry too...but with both Saad and Buch out, you're likely bringing in both Clifford and Neal. Neal and Perron had success 4 years ago, while Clifford is strictly a fourth liner. There are a few ways to play it; we'll probably know the time of tomorrow's morning skate, if not today's practice.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Last game, Kostin was bumped to a scoring line and it ended with a spectacular chance by Alex Martinez followed by a penalty against Martinez. Then Klim was benched.

Or am I completely off the mark here?

Neighbours saw little ice in the 3rd, but one of those few shifts was at a key moment and he made a key play to get the puck out of the zone without icing it.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Is that Joe Farhatt?

No, that's Billy Mays.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I would hardly call Kostin replacing Saad on the top line a promotion.

 

[Majorityof1]

I would hardly call Kostin replacing Saad on the top line a promotion.

Not a permanent one, but would they have done so if he was in the doghouse as suggested? They could have put Neighbours or Bozak up there and short shifted the 4th line. Kostin is definitely going to get double shifted off that line a good bit. ROR will have 20 minutes and Kostin will have 12. But he has a lot better chance to shine and earn more minutes than Neighbours does playing with Clifford and Bozak. Neighbours got that chance to play with ROR in the pre-season. So if Kostin was in the dog house, Neighbours would have gotten it again.

 

[ezcreepin]

The odds that Berube was mad at Kostin for his penalty last game is like 1 in 10,000. The call was weak and Kostin was using his body to retrieve a puck, the type of thing they have been teaching this team for years now. Not to mention that Kostin is being moved up to the top line, something that other have commented isn't a chance a player would normally get if they were in the doghouse so to speak. There are a lot of interchangeable parts on this team which is why the depth is the best it's been in years, but typically you'd see a bench rather than a promotion if Berube were mad at Kostin.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Not a permanent one, but would they have done so if he was in the doghouse as suggested? They could have put Neighbours or Bozak up there and short shifted the 4th line. Kostin is definitely going to get double shifted off that line a good bit. ROR will have 20 minutes and Kostin will have 12. But he has a lot better chance to shine and earn more minutes than Neighbours does playing with Clifford and Bozak. Neighbours got that chance to play with ROR in the pre-season. So if Kostin was in the dog house, Neighbours would have gotten it again.

Yes, Berube could go with Neighbours again, but we've seen that Jake needs to work on a few offensive aspects of his game. He CAN do that on the 4th line (where he currently belongs) because the Blues, arguably, have the the most offensively potent 4th line the League.

I think the move is more of placing Neighbours where he needs to be than Kostin being promoted.

AGAIN!!!!!!! he briefly played higher in the lineup against Vegas and completely lost Martinez. The tripping call....weak....whatever.....but again it was on his matchup with Martinez.

 

[Xerloris]

I imagine the length at which Kostin was bitched at for that penalty was probably like "Hey be more careful with your stick next time". If there was anything said at all.

 

[Robb_K]

The Blues go on The PK. Big kill needed.

 

[mk80]

Is that Joe Farhatt?

No, Phil Swift with "Flex Glue!"

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Blues have 11 players that are a point per game. And one of those is at two points per Game.

 

[vanuck]

Hey guys, Canucks fan here who's intrigued by Kyrou. How is he not getting time on PP1 with his insane start?

 

[Renard]

No, Phil Swift with "Flex Glue!"

I went to school with Phil and his brother, Natso Swift.

 

[Stealth JD]

Hey guys, Canucks fan here who's intrigued by Kyrou. How is he not getting time on PP1 with his insane start?

have you seen their top power play? this is a veteran-laden, deep group. pp2 is a perfect opportunity for him to get acclimated on special teams; he'll move into PP1 eventually, either due to injury or ineffectiveness of the top unit. Perron, ROR, Schenn, Tarasenko, Buchnevich, Thomas, Saad, Bozak....lots of options for Berube to choose from; no disrespect shown to Kyrou for only getting PP2 time.

 

[Reality Czech]

Hey guys, Canucks fan here who's intrigued by Kyrou. How is he not getting time on PP1 with his insane start?

Who would he replace out of Perron, ROR, Schenn and Tarasenko? The PP is humming along at 42% so no need to make a change now, but if one of the wingers goes down then I'm sure Kyrou will be one of the first to move up.

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

With all the talk of the Blues “not being a defensive team”, they’re quietly in the top 4 of the Western Conference in GAA. Yeah yeah, small sample size…but only San Jose, Dallas, and Edmonton are ahead of them. And if you haven’t looked at the bottom half of the Central Division yet, it’s worth a look. A bunch of sieves.

I think the offense flying and the third period “struggles” have obscured it for a lot of folks, but the Blues are doing a very good job at keeping pucks out of their net through four games.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

With all the talk of the Blues “not being a defensive team”, they’re quietly in the top 4 of the Western Conference in GAA. Yeah yeah, small sample size…but only San Jose, Dallas, and Edmonton are ahead of them. And if you haven’t looked at the bottom half of the Central Division yet, it’s worth a look. A bunch of sieves.

I think the offense flying and the third period “struggles” have obscured it for a lot of folks, but the Blues are doing a very good job at keeping pucks out of their net through four games.

Wow, this is surprising since all we heard all summer was that 2/3 of our top dmen are either midgets or suck

 

[Majorityof1]

With all the talk of the Blues “not being a defensive team”, they’re quietly in the top 4 of the Western Conference in GAA. Yeah yeah, small sample size…but only San Jose, Dallas, and Edmonton are ahead of them. And if you haven’t looked at the bottom half of the Central Division yet, it’s worth a look. A bunch of sieves.

I think the offense flying and the third period “struggles” have obscured it for a lot of folks, but the Blues are doing a very good job at keeping pucks out of their net through four games.

Wow, this is surprising since all we heard all summer was that 2/3 of our top dmen are either midgets or suck

We are tied for 4th, and only because the Western Conference is a lot more high scoring so far this year. We are tied for 13th overall. You can thank Binnington for being that high, not our defense. We are 4th worst in the league in Shots Against/60, 5th worst in xGA/60, 5th worst in Scoring Chances Against/60, 2nd worst in High-Danger Chances Against/60. What is saving us is that we are #3 in PDO due to a high shooting and save percentage.

Our offense is a lot better than it has been before. But I am not comfortable being middle of the pack on GAA because of Binnington playing well, and hoping to win the cup on offense. The defense needs to be better for us to make a big push.

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

We are tied for 4th, and only because the Western Conference is a lot more high scoring so far this year. We are tied for 13th overall. You can thank Binnington for being that high, not our defense. We are 4th worst in the league in Shots Against/60, 5th worst in xGA/60, 5th worst in Scoring Chances Against/60, 2nd worst in High-Danger Chances Against/60. What is saving us is that we are #3 in PDO due to a high shooting and save percentage.

Our offense is a lot better than it has been before. But I am not comfortable being middle of the pack on GAA because of Binnington playing well, and hoping to win the cup on offense. The defense needs to be better for us to make a big push.

In the three games I have been able to watch (all but COL), it seemed like the Blues had the majority of high-danger chances. Even the crazy VGK game with a ton of shots, it seemed like the Blues’ attempts were higher quality. Genuinely curious - Do the numbers invalidate my eye test?

 

[Stealth JD]

It's tough to complain about the defense, because most of the goals that the Blues have allowed have been in garbage time of games they've already had well in hand. You don't want to get into bad habits, but if the biggest concern is that they start to coast after they've dug out of a hole and buried an opponent, I'd say that's looking for something to complain about. Special teams have been great, the passing has been sharp and the creativity has been evident in the offensive zone. But they're supporting each other well, and clearing the zone better than at any point in the past two years.

I'm starting to believe that this defense may be up to the task of establishing the Blues as one of the teams to beat in the West. Binner has been terrific, and while we'd all like another weapon on the back-end for Chief to rely on, the bottom-line guys are holding their own while the Blues top lines feast on the other teams insufficient depth. If the Blues can keep up this level of play for another couple of weeks, the main boards will start accusing the Blues of coming to burn down their villages.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

We are tied for 4th, and only because the Western Conference is a lot more high scoring so far this year. We are tied for 13th overall. You can thank Binnington for being that high, not our defense. We are 4th worst in the league in Shots Against/60, 5th worst in xGA/60, 5th worst in Scoring Chances Against/60, 2nd worst in High-Danger Chances Against/60. What is saving us is that we are #3 in PDO due to a high shooting and save percentage.

Our offense is a lot better than it has been before. But I am not comfortable being middle of the pack on GAA because of Binnington playing well, and hoping to win the cup on offense. The defense needs to be better for us to make a big push.

How much of this is score effect? We have had big leads in 3/4 games and that tends to skew these kind of stats.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

How much of this is score effect? We have had big leads in 3/4 games and that tends to skew these kind of stats.

Good question. Outliers skewing data is what it is right now. The numbers will normalize.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

The expected goals for and against does suggest the Blues have benefited from some luck. I think that’s probably why Dom trusts his model more than early results. We’ll see how the results hold up.

But winning games breeds confidence, and it’s clear the Blues have scoring threats on every line.

 

[PocketNines]

Blues offense reminds me of those Sabres teams from 15 or so years ago. A lot of interchangeability. Blues were built in the Cup run to withstand a momentum offensive barrage. Now looks like they are built to be the barrage. 5 goals in ~5min, 4 goals in ~8min. This team is one player away.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I honestly believe this team needs a Holm in the backend. Whether that Holm is Ek or Lind it doesn't matter. The issue is definitely cap space tho

This after the trade deadline would be absolutely disgusting.

Lindholm-Parayko
Krug-Faulk
Peru/Scandella-Bortuzzo