Blues/Avalanche playoff series discussion

[TheDizee]

Binnington was a .943 against Minnesota and a .944 tonight.
The difference between these teams is the skaters.

special teams & goaltending is how you beat em. gotta draw more PP

 

[Ranksu]

If I remember correctly there was 4-5 goal post by Avs. Binny was our best player with ROR.

Total domination by Avs. We are 3-4 steps behind Avs. Even Avs defense is superior vs. our.

Where was Faulk? Only saw him do one good transition play by himself, but nothing special.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

It’s one game. This isn’t over yet. We were never going to sweep them. Blues looked like altitude was bothering them. 2 periods with long change killed them. I expect we will be much better tomorrow.

 

[Chet Manly]

Im still trying to figure out what the hell the Blues were thinking headed into this series.

No way they're looking past the Avs. This is their biggest matchup.

So why the f*** wouldn't you put in the time to get acclimated? Game 2 could have been the 7 day mark at 5,000'.

Some will say "Staying home to build morale". Yeah, I'm sure morale was real high while everyone was sucking wind between breaks.

This move baffles me.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Last night reminded me of game 1 vs Boston. Part of the issue I think is Avs in the 1st had some amount of rust, but in 2nd and 3rd benefitted from being a little more rested. The glass half full take is that Binnington is back, and he made that a stealable game. If the skaters show up and Binnington continues with this form, we'll at least get some amount of wins.

 

[Punished ROR]

I understand not arriving in Denver ASAP -- these guys have family lives, plus you have to factor in the expense of putting an entire team up in a hotel for that long -- but yeesh, one extra day would've been nice. They looked more and more gassed as the game progressed.

 

[PJJJP]

The blues need to figure out how to get past the avs in the neutral zone. The whole game was Colorado easily entering our zone but us having to chip and chase in their zone.

 

[The Note]

I'm of two minds. The first being, obviously, that you don't want to see one team running play that much and everyone outside of ROR and Binnington looked varying degrees of bad. If you get 3 more efforts just like that then the series is going to be pretty brief. Just weren't good enough in any facet (outside of goaltending) to compete against the best team in the conference on the road. You can't really afford to spot the Avs any games and they had a good chance at stealing a game on the road they didn't have any business winning, and it stings to let an opportunity like that slip through your hands.

The flip side is that I always assumed last night was going to be an uphill battle, and I'm not overly surprised the Blues looked a bit flat and the Avs looked sharp. Binnington looking strong behind that team makes me feel better that you can reasonably expect some strong efforts out of him moving forward and if the rest of the team actually shows up, I think the Blues have a chance to make this a series still. But, it all starts tomorrow. If they go down 2-0 they're going to be in dire straits. I'm sure the team knows that, and knows that last night was pretty putrid despite getting to OT. I expect they'll be much better. If they get rolled over again tomorrow and lose, then I think you can hit the panic button. But losing game 1 in OT in a pretty poor effort doesn't have me entirely concerned as of now.

 

[Chet Manly]

I understand not arriving in Denver ASAP -- these guys have family lives, plus you have to factor in the expense of putting an entire team up in a hotel for that long -- but yeesh, one extra day would've been nice. They looked more and more gassed as the game progressed.

Yeah, Im not buying that. At ALL.

A half billion dollar hockey club can't afford to lodge 24 millionaires that aren't getting paid anyways??? This should be, without a doubt, THE most important thing to the club right now. Getting guys in place, getting them rested, and getting them prepared for the next series. That's ALL that matters right now.

It's Round 2. Against CO. Their families know EXACTLY what's going on and how important this is. Oh, they have to spend a week away from home for work?? Yeah, a lot of us do that. and 99% of us don't get repaid in city-wide admiration and multi-million dollar bonus checks. Sack up (Them, not you). They would have only been gone a week.

I hate this shit. Going into arguably the hardest series of the finals, and they take ZERO steps in preparation???

 

[PocketNines]

When we get to the offseason, and we are discussing "what roster changes need to be made to defeat Colorado in 22-23 when both teams will again be on a collision course," people are going to be suggesting trading Binnington again. Binnington is the kind of goalie who will take a true contender where it wants to go. For so many years we agonized we didn't have a big game goaltender and now the Blues have one in his physical prime.

The Blues' third line needs Schenn, Toropchenko to establish himself further and take that spot and someone not currently on the roster to supplant Barbashev in the middle. They need a different third line center than Barbashev.

Thomas has to be better. They need to keep Thomas long term, so he just has to improve in competition like this.

Kyrou is behind Thomas. He has some moments in him but his play away from the puck defensively is close to unwatchable. It's a liability in a series like this. If the Blues stick with both players my concern is we are just going to have to wait for them to mature over a period of iterations and it will squander some excellent rosters while we wait.

Defensively the Blues have some nice pieces but they need an impact #1 all minutes defenseman to push the defensive group all down one notch.

 

[Punished ROR]

Yeah, Im not buying that. At ALL.

A half billion dollar hockey club can't afford to lodge 24 millionaires that aren't getting paid anyways??? This should be, without a doubt, THE most important thing to the club right now. Getting guys in place, getting them rested, and getting them prepared for the next series. That's ALL that matters right now.

It's Round 2. Against CO. Their families know EXACTLY what's going on and how important this is. Oh, they have to spend a week away from home for work?? Yeah, a lot of us do that. and 99% of us don't get repaid in city-wide admiration and multi-million dollar bonus checks. Sack up (Them, not you). They would have only been gone a week.

I hate this shit. Going into arguably the hardest series of the finals, and they take ZERO steps in preparation???

I hear ya, and FWIW I share your sentiments. I wanted the team in Denver the day after ousting Minnesota.

OTOH, I'm willing to extend (some) benefit of the doubt because I'm not sure how realistic that is in pro sports. Do other teams prep like that, or is it completely unheard of? Do the Blues have sleep scientists or something on the payroll advising them when to arrive, etc? Does ownership have the cash and are they willing to spend it?

I simply don't know the answers to all those questions, so I'm hesitant to say what they should have done. Still, there is no denying they looked like trash last night, and I think they would have looked a lot better if they'd gotten in with at least one whole day to acclimate.

I'd be interested to know more about it, though.

 

[Brian39]

The Blues' third line needs Schenn, Toropchenko to establish himself further and take that spot and someone not currently on the roster to supplant Barbashev in the middle. They need a different third line center than Barbashev.

I disagree that we need to go out and get a 3C. I think moving Schenn to center on the 3rd line solves that problem. If you're using Schenn on the 3rd line, it should absolutely be at center. ROR, Thomas, Schenn down the middle is a hell of a good backbone to your offense.

I don't want to unpack your entire comment and stat talking about the offseason. We have a number of very big decisions to make and I don't want to derail this playoff thread. But I responded to the 3C portion because that is an adjustment that can be made right now.

 

[PocketNines]

I disagree that we need to go out and get a 3C. I think moving Schenn to center on the 3rd line solves that problem. If you're using Schenn on the 3rd line, it should absolutely be at center. ROR, Thomas, Schenn down the middle is a hell of a good backbone to your offense.

I don't want to unpack your entire comment and stat talking about the offseason. We have a number of very big decisions to make and I don't want to derail this playoff thread. But I responded to the 3C portion because that is an adjustment that can be made right now.

Yeah you're right after I wrote it I realized the player I want is Crouse and the third line would be Crouse-Schenn-Toropchenko. Easier to find a 3d line winger than a center anyway

 

[Reality Czech]

Yeah, Im not buying that. At ALL.

A half billion dollar hockey club can't afford to lodge 24 millionaires that aren't getting paid anyways??? This should be, without a doubt, THE most important thing to the club right now. Getting guys in place, getting them rested, and getting them prepared for the next series. That's ALL that matters right now.

It's Round 2. Against CO. Their families know EXACTLY what's going on and how important this is. Oh, they have to spend a week away from home for work?? Yeah, a lot of us do that. and 99% of us don't get repaid in city-wide admiration and multi-million dollar bonus checks. Sack up (Them, not you). They would have only been gone a week.

I hate this shit. Going into arguably the hardest series of the finals, and they take ZERO steps in preparation???

I dunno man, I think the altitude thing is being overblown a bit. I definitely get what you're saying but these guys have played in Denver before. I'm sure if they thought going a week earlier would give them a better chance of winning then they would have. But these guys are also creatures of habit and if they decided that they didn't wanna to spend an extra week away from home living in a hotel then I trust their judgment.

Sure it could have played a role in our loss but I'm not buying it as a significant train we lost. The way I see it is that we were outmatched most of the night by a superior team. I think we just didn't make plays when they were available and were on our heels most of the night. Teams that only get scoring from one line don't win too many playoff series, so if everyone not named ROR and Kyrou don't start scoring a bit then we don't stand a chance.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I was happy to see Binnington play well enough to win vs Minnesota, but last night showed me he’s dialed in as well as he ever has been. Frankly, he deserved a win last night. A note of caution though, he played very well the first game last year. And that was another game where it felt it was stealable.

O’Reilly sure is a postseason performer. There’s no doubt he’s the right guy to have as a captain.

I’m not sure why there is so much focus on the altitude. What I saw was more mental errors and passes to no one. That 2nd period was rough.

it would have been nice to steal game 1 after being outplayed so badly.

For the Blues to win this series, Berube will have to win the game of adjustments. Colorado looked well prepared last night. For example, the way their PK defended to PP option where the pass goes to the side of the net then quickly to ROR in the slot. The defender actually laid down to take away the pass there.

The Blues will have to suppress shot numbers and scoring chances better than that. But it has to be by possessing the puck on the other end of the ice. Colorado excelled at moving The puck quickly and with too much extended zone time.

Krug’s absence was notable. Perunovich can do an adequate job on the PP, but he isn’t nearly as effective at puck movement. I don’t blame him, as he shouldn’t be having to fill this role at this point of his career. Anyway, the Colorado forecheck was a problem, and adjustments by Berube and his staff will be necessary to turn the tables tomorrow. A split from these first two games would be a big positive.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Smart thing to at least consider. The altitude and amount of games that we've already been playing with 11/7 is probably having a negative impact on the forwards. And in the playoffs, if you are considering a change, you shouldn't wait too long.

 

[BlueOil]

Smart thing to at least consider. The altitude and amount of games that we've already been playing with 11/7 is probably having a negative impact on the forwards. And in the playoffs, if you are considering a change, you shouldn't wait too long.

hopefully scandella is ready too

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Smart thing to at least consider. The altitude and amount of games that we've already been playing with 11/7 is probably having a negative impact on the forwards. And in the playoffs, if you are considering a change, you shouldn't wait too long.

Scoring depth is back to being an issue.

We have the talent. They are AWOL.

 

[Tarasenkshow]

It’s one game. This isn’t over yet. We were never going to sweep them. Blues looked like altitude was bothering them. 2 periods with long change killed them. I expect we will be much better tomorrow.

This is the most accurate assessment. Don't put much stock in game 1. It still baffles me that, with our time off, we didn't head to the altitude early. I understand resting at home for the next series against the rest of the league, but not when you're dealing with altitude. The Avs had like 8 days to train there and we should have followed shortly behind. Our first period was great. Second...long change...gassed and playing too conservatively and we're chasing the puck, at altitude, for 20 mins. Terrible strategy to keep pace with a team that is FULLY rested.
You could hear the lack of breath is Schenn's intermission interview. He sounded like an asthmatic and could barely string 3 words together without a gasp.
Hopefully our staff learns from this obvious blunder and takes a different approach next time we find ourselves in this situation. Or....it could be that we're playing the home ice advantage and hoping to steal one there. We are also banking that having 12 days up in the elevation isn't going to be kind to you coming back to the midwest humidity at sea level. We could see the Avs looking the same way we did, last night, in game three.

 

[Allens Five Hole]

I’m not sure why there is so much focus on the altitude. What I saw was more mental errors and passes to no one. That 2nd period was rough.

It most definitely wasn't the reason we were outshot over 2 to 1 in the game and out chanced at an even higher ratio, but the effect altitude has would absolutely show in mental errors. When you're gassed, you stop playing on instinct and start playing deliberate. We were playing extremely deliberate last night.

They're going to be the better team 5 on 5 regardless of how close we are to sea level, but I do think altitude was a factor, especially in the 2nd and OT when we had the long change.

A huge reason we got dominated so badly was how awful we were on the dot. THAT has to change next game (looking at you, Bob Tom).

 

[Brian39]

We are also banking that having 12 days up in the elevation isn't going to be kind to you coming back to the midwest humidity at sea level. We could see the Avs looking the same way we did, last night, in game three.

Fully anecdotal, but in the 8 years I lived in Colorado, I never had any conditioning/fatigue issues coming to St. Louis summers when I was inside. Other than making anything above 80 degrees feel like a sticky nightmare, I don't think extra humidity impacts people who aren't used to it. Being outside felt like death, but the extra humidity in a cooled building was never an issue for me when I'd skate with old friends. The Enterprise Center has to have tons of dehumidifiers running to prevent fog, so I don't think that humidity will have any impact on a team used to the thin dry air.

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Hi

What's going on with Krug? Expected to come back soon or season's over?

 

[TheDizee]

you guys put too much emphasis into altitude. they got dunked on last night because they half assed it. simple as that. even in the first period they played with a boring and lackluster attitude. i commented about this after the period.

0 shot in OT????? that has NOTHING to do with altitude and has EVERYTHING to do with not giving a f*** and waiting for it to be over. that is the problem with this team being so selective in shots. in OT you should be throwing the kitchen sink at the net (especially vs the avs goalie who sucks) but the blues still want to wait for the perfect play and shot to arrive.

yes the officiating stunk but that game would have been 8-2 had the avs not choked on so many free goals as they did. everyone praising binner right now is literally 5 posts away + like 3 fanned shots on empty nets from trashing him too. that second goal he let in was certainly nothing special. but he was about the only player who played last night for a full game.

robert thomas and the russians are seriously crippling this team. even kyrou is more engaged than they are and kyrou has been a inconsistent nightmare.

 

[TheDizee]

You have no idea what you're talking about. You went after Binnington viciously this year because your emotional issues dictated that and now you're talking key to the series is good goaltending. You couldn't predict the sun to rise.

special teams and goaltending is indeed how you beat them. look how shitty they played but because of good PP, PK and goaltending they were 1 shot away from winning. now the blues need to fight for more PPs and play to a draw 5on5 and hopefully get the same quality of goaltending. i will hold my breath on binner providing that for a entire series but i guess we will see.

 

[Tarasenkshow]

you guys put too much emphasis into altitude. they got dunked on last night because they half assed it. simple as that. even in the first period they played with a boring and lackluster attitude. i commented about this after the period.

0 shot in OT????? that has NOTHING to do with altitude and has EVERYTHING to do with not giving a f*** and waiting for it to be over. yes the officiating stunk but that game would have been 8-2 had the avs not choked on so many free goals as they did. everyone praising binner right now is literally 5 posts away + like 3 fanned shots on empty nets from trashing him too. that second goal he let in was certainly nothing special. but he was about the only player who played last night for a full game.

robert thomas and the russians are seriously crippling this team. even kyrou is more engaged than they are and kyrou has been a inconsistent nightmare.

Have you actually ever exercised at altitude. It can be a dizzying experience. What you perceive as lazy and half-assing it, honestly looks like a team that is gassed at altitude chasing the puck and making it worse. That's just my assessment.