Vincenzo Arelliti
He Can't Play Center
As usual, I seem to be watching a different game than the rest of you.
Did you all think this was going to be easy? This is the best team in the West, and possibly the League. We were never going to sweep them. At best, it was always going to go to 6. Nothing has changed -- for two periods we almost stole game 1 from the home team -- the best team in the West. The result wasn't what we wanted, but there were some good signs in this game. We had sustained pressure and control over the game for varying stretches of time in all three periods despite having Perron out. This game was a lot closer than the score and the shots would have you believe.
Thomas was effective last night, but he, like most of our forwards, struggled to sustain offense. He's on track to be what he was always going to be: a more offensive, less defensive ROR. He won't be hitting that stride until we get out of COVID and he;s not spening half the season injured.
Hoffman should no longer be talked about as poor defensively or soft. If you're still parroting that, you just aren't watching him play. He was good along the boards last night, played good positional defense, and was even physical separating players from the puck on the forecheck and was a contributor to the cycle. Without Perron across from him on the powerplay, though, his effectiveness has been lessened (from guaranteed to score to simply a strong threat to score -- perhaps our only threat if they clog the middle.
Tarasenko can contribute. He played a role on the third line and even had some good chances early on. That's when he'll be most effective considering all the injuries and lack of ice time. While this isn't goal-per-game Vlad, this is a Vlad that most of us didn't expect to get, and he's showing that he can still be highly effective depth in the middle-6.
Faulk had a strong game, but his biggest mistake was taking that penalty 30 seconds into the period. He and Parayko are capable of shutting down the Avs offense if they aren't spending 75% of the game in the d-zone. The biggest issue was coming from our forwards being unable to sustain pressure in the o-zone against COL's forecheck, and not having a way to get set to play defense in the neutral zone due to Colorado's speed in transition. The Blues have to be more aggressive here, and I think they will be as first games are typically more so about feeling each other out and trying not to let up a back-breaking breakaway.
Kyrou continues to score. We need to try to utilize him more. He also has been struggling with puck control and playing defense along the boards. If he can get some help or start creating his own offense from the d-zone like he has shown he is capable of, we have a path to victory. At the end of the day, we will have to outscore Colorado and rely on Binnington to be Binnington, but we can't do that if we don't have any sustained pressure or breakaways.
O'Reilly is the real deal. If he doesn't take that unavoidable penalty, I believe we are able to hold off the powerplay as Bozak doesn't get beat by Makar if he's ROR. Then the Blues have a 1-0 game in their favor entering the 3rd. That doesn't mean we win, but I think that underlines just how close this game actually was until things fell apart in the third.
Speaking of the third, Colorado looked gassed at one point. We can wear this team down. We aren't elite at it like in 2019, but we are still capable of bringing the game down to our speed. Some nights Mackinnon is just going to beat you, and last night was an example of that. Even when he wasn't on the ice, the effects from his previous shift were still being felt as Colorado's depth was able to take advantage of the easier zone starts. Bozak has got to be better on the dot in key situations if we're going to counter that.
The 4th line played well, and Barbashev is showing that he can play a complete game in a top-9 role. We'll need a ll the depth scoring we can get, so that's a good sign. In a similar fashion, Jaden Schwartz has got to start showing up -- whether on the score sheet or not. We rely on him for so much that specifically counters Colorado's game. He's got to be effective, but I'm not sure if he can do that while also having to play against Rantanen and Landeskog. Having Perron here helps a ton.
I still think there's a way the Blues win this. They weren't ever going to sweep Colorado. The question was always going to be if Colorado's first line could dominate enough games to win them the round. The Blues have shown they can limit that, and with Binnington playing the way he is, I think that Colorado won't be able to win 4 without having their depth be put under the microscope (not just goalscoring, but being able to drive the play from the d-zone when their top-line isn't carrying the transition for them). With Perron out, things do not look good, but if ROR can find a way to limit that top-line, our depth can outshine theirs as we wear them down.
Did you all think this was going to be easy? This is the best team in the West, and possibly the League. We were never going to sweep them. At best, it was always going to go to 6. Nothing has changed -- for two periods we almost stole game 1 from the home team -- the best team in the West. The result wasn't what we wanted, but there were some good signs in this game. We had sustained pressure and control over the game for varying stretches of time in all three periods despite having Perron out. This game was a lot closer than the score and the shots would have you believe.
Thomas was effective last night, but he, like most of our forwards, struggled to sustain offense. He's on track to be what he was always going to be: a more offensive, less defensive ROR. He won't be hitting that stride until we get out of COVID and he;s not spening half the season injured.
Hoffman should no longer be talked about as poor defensively or soft. If you're still parroting that, you just aren't watching him play. He was good along the boards last night, played good positional defense, and was even physical separating players from the puck on the forecheck and was a contributor to the cycle. Without Perron across from him on the powerplay, though, his effectiveness has been lessened (from guaranteed to score to simply a strong threat to score -- perhaps our only threat if they clog the middle.
Tarasenko can contribute. He played a role on the third line and even had some good chances early on. That's when he'll be most effective considering all the injuries and lack of ice time. While this isn't goal-per-game Vlad, this is a Vlad that most of us didn't expect to get, and he's showing that he can still be highly effective depth in the middle-6.
Faulk had a strong game, but his biggest mistake was taking that penalty 30 seconds into the period. He and Parayko are capable of shutting down the Avs offense if they aren't spending 75% of the game in the d-zone. The biggest issue was coming from our forwards being unable to sustain pressure in the o-zone against COL's forecheck, and not having a way to get set to play defense in the neutral zone due to Colorado's speed in transition. The Blues have to be more aggressive here, and I think they will be as first games are typically more so about feeling each other out and trying not to let up a back-breaking breakaway.
Kyrou continues to score. We need to try to utilize him more. He also has been struggling with puck control and playing defense along the boards. If he can get some help or start creating his own offense from the d-zone like he has shown he is capable of, we have a path to victory. At the end of the day, we will have to outscore Colorado and rely on Binnington to be Binnington, but we can't do that if we don't have any sustained pressure or breakaways.
O'Reilly is the real deal. If he doesn't take that unavoidable penalty, I believe we are able to hold off the powerplay as Bozak doesn't get beat by Makar if he's ROR. Then the Blues have a 1-0 game in their favor entering the 3rd. That doesn't mean we win, but I think that underlines just how close this game actually was until things fell apart in the third.
Speaking of the third, Colorado looked gassed at one point. We can wear this team down. We aren't elite at it like in 2019, but we are still capable of bringing the game down to our speed. Some nights Mackinnon is just going to beat you, and last night was an example of that. Even when he wasn't on the ice, the effects from his previous shift were still being felt as Colorado's depth was able to take advantage of the easier zone starts. Bozak has got to be better on the dot in key situations if we're going to counter that.
The 4th line played well, and Barbashev is showing that he can play a complete game in a top-9 role. We'll need a ll the depth scoring we can get, so that's a good sign. In a similar fashion, Jaden Schwartz has got to start showing up -- whether on the score sheet or not. We rely on him for so much that specifically counters Colorado's game. He's got to be effective, but I'm not sure if he can do that while also having to play against Rantanen and Landeskog. Having Perron here helps a ton.
I still think there's a way the Blues win this. They weren't ever going to sweep Colorado. The question was always going to be if Colorado's first line could dominate enough games to win them the round. The Blues have shown they can limit that, and with Binnington playing the way he is, I think that Colorado won't be able to win 4 without having their depth be put under the microscope (not just goalscoring, but being able to drive the play from the d-zone when their top-line isn't carrying the transition for them). With Perron out, things do not look good, but if ROR can find a way to limit that top-line, our depth can outshine theirs as we wear them down.
