GDT: G1, R1| Blues @ Wild| 8:30pm| ESPN, BSMW|

[Fez Whatley]

I took a nap and slept through the game rip. But I did end up watching the game and Im still unsure of this team.

I'm usually pretty optimistic, but man it seems like too many things have to go in the blooze favor to get past this round and the next.

Good win and shutout tho guys hopefully they can keep it up. One constant is that they can score so it'll be entertaining just like the whole season.

 

[The Note]

Good win. Think it was probably closer than the scoreline indicated and the 5-on-5 play could still be stronger IMO but also tough to settle into a groove when the game is officiated the way it was last night. Wild fans and some media seemed to gloss over the chasm in special teams that exists between the two teams, but this game showed what a difference it can make. Obviously most of the game is played 5-on-5, but those PP goals count just the same as EV goals. Long series, only one game, etc. but this game is the blueprint, I think. Good enough at 5-on-5, timely saves (obviously not going to get a shutout every game) and win the special teams battle. The Wild really seemed flustered for most of the game too.

I agree with others that noted the game plan seemed to be focused on taking away the Thomas line, and the challenge then becomes handling the other forward lines, it'll be interesting to see how the Wild adjust. All the pressure is on the Wild to win tomorrow and they likely will (damn well better) be without their captain and best defense man. Blues win G2 and this might be over quicker than I expected.

 

[Puck Luck]

Thank you! that was my reaction too to some of these calls

 

[WeWentBlues]

You know its playoff season when these GDTs hit 40+ pages.

I'd like to see the Blues keep their composure better after the whistles (Faulk punch) and the crap away from the play (Perron x2 at the Blues bench). Fortunately, the Wild's PP went 0-for last night.

Schenn was an absolute warrior last night. O'Reilly had one of his best games of the season.

Couldn't tell you how many times Thomas was on his butt last night. Hopefully the extra attention doesn't rattle the kid because we will need him.

 

[Oberyn]

The Blues veterans were the difference makers last night. Perron, ROR, Saad, and Schenn were all fantastic throughout the game. Husso came up big several times to keep the Blues in the lead. Buchnevich got better as the game went along but his line as a whole with Thomas and Tarasenko needs to pick it up. Barbashev threw some big hits but not much other than that. Kyrou looked timid to start the game but made some good plays in the latter half of the game. The 4th line did their job and grinded out the Wild players while not being a liability defensively.

On the defensive end, Parayko made some bad defensive gaffes that the Wild took advantage of. The most egregious is when his partner reverses the puck to him and he tries to quickly rim it around the boards. I noticed this play was anticipated by the Wild forecheckers and resulted in a turnover. I'd like to see him make some adjustments there. The defense as a whole was solid. Faulk played well as usual, and Krug was dynamite on the PP. I was worried for Mikkola, and while he did cough up some pucks due to his inability to make an outlet pass, I appreciated his physicality and aggression with the Wild forwards.

Blues won the special teams battle huge last night. Hopefully Greenway keeps being an idiot out there. The Thomas line will need to ratchet it up and start getting on the board.

 

[MissouriMook]

He's a very shy and humble guy. He never really liked talking about his playing days.

Even after pumping bud lite into him for a couple hours.

I've slowed down my jersey purchases in recent years, but his #28 is still on my wish list. I hope he's OK with that.

 

[MissouriMook]

Couldn't tell you how many times Thomas was on his butt last night. Hopefully the extra attention doesn't rattle the kid because we will need him.

It seemed like a lot of guys were falling down without even getting hit. I would normally say that the ice must have been bad, but the Wild players didn't seem to be having the same issues. Then again, it was the first game we've played in that building all season.

 

[Brian39]

This team very clearly had a game plan to be much more physical than they were in the regular season. Both during play and engaging in the scrums after the whistle. I like this for a couple reasons. First, it demonstrates that this team recognizes that there is a stylistic difference between the regular season and playoffs. Whether that is Berube or the vets from the 2019 run, that is exactly what "playoff experience" looks like. Second, it plays right into our special teams advantage. We rattled the Wild and goaded them into some stupid plays. The result was a combined 12 powerplay opportunities, which is absolutely what we want.

The message was sent loud and clear: we are going to beat you up. So you are either going to roll over and take it or you're going to retaliate and put our PP on the ice as often as yours. If you roll over and take it, then we are going to use that physicality to even out the 5 on 5 edge. If we trade penalties, we'll take the bet that our special teams will win the game. The Wild wouldn't/couldn't turn the other cheek last night and our special teams won the game. And on top of that, we frustrated them enough that their captain pulled the dirtiest play of the game. He's either going to get suspended or have a giant target on his back that will likely lead to more post-whistle boil-overs that give the refs chances to "calm things down" by taking players to the box. Win-win.

Absolute masterful execution of a plan. This game couldn't have gone better. The Wild's formula was to take advantage of home ice and keep the game at 5 on 5. After game 1 we're sitting at a combined 46 penalty minutes and their home crowd was booing the team off the ice as the buzzer sounded. And Husso came away with a 37 save shutout in his playoff debut.

I don't want the Blues to change a thing. I don't think the Blues ever lost their composure after the whistles. We absolutely escalated some scrums (risking penalties by doing so), but I think that was 100% calculated to raise the physicality of the series and force the refs to either let this turn into a slog or try to take control by calling a bunch of penalties. I absolutely want them to keep that going unless/until the Wild stop retaliating and actually burn us with their PP.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

No suspension for Spurgeon after he tried to put Buchnevich in a wheelchair.

 

[BlueOil]

No suspension for Spurgeon after he tried to put Buchnevich in a wheelchair.

just means they have one less excuse when they lose game 2

 

[542365]

Very 21-22 Blues game last night. Outshot, 5v5 play meh, goalie made some big saves, special teams dominated. If they keep calling games this tight the Blues have a huge advantage. Would be huge to take Game 2 and head home up 2-0, but they’ve done the minimum. They don’t have to win another game on the road in order to win the series.

 

[Xerloris]

Very 21-22 Blues game last night. Outshot, 5v5 play meh, goalie made some big saves, special teams dominated. If they keep calling games this tight the Blues have a huge advantage. Would be huge to take Game 2 and head home up 2-0, but they’ve done the minimum. They don’t have to win another game on the road in order to win the series.

Wrong way to look at it and I certainly hope the team doesn't think that way. IMO every single play off game is a MUST WIN and thinking "we don't have to win another on the road" is how you get eliminated.

 

[PocketNines]

Eh I am no super knowledgeable guy but I disagree. He’s played within the team game and flashed some good speed at times. Compared to the last two months, he looks to me like he has more focus tonight.

He definitely looked more focused tonight than he has in three months and he flashed some speed, it was a major improvement, but he also still looked terrible.

He checks by bending over at the waist from a stop, reaching with his stick, he is continually reacting too late to where the puck is going, and it's going to take a profound change in how he understands himself as a player for him to be any use to a team in the playoffs. The Blues just cannot give him the contract he will want. With the top prospect in the org playing Kyrou's position and a glaring hole on the top pair of the left defense still, it seems pretty clear to me where this needs to go for the Blues to keep the team contending.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

This team very clearly had a game plan to be much more physical than they were in the regular season. Both during play and engaging in the scrums after the whistle. I like this for a couple reasons. First, it demonstrates that this team recognizes that there is a stylistic difference between the regular season and playoffs. Whether that is Berube or the vets from the 2019 run, that is exactly what "playoff experience" looks like. Second, it plays right into our special teams advantage. We rattled the Wild and goaded them into some stupid plays. The result was a combined 12 powerplay opportunities, which is absolutely what we want.

The message was sent loud and clear: we are going to beat you up. So you are either going to roll over and take it or you're going to retaliate and put our PP on the ice as often as yours. If you roll over and take it, then we are going to use that physicality to even out the 5 on 5 edge. If we trade penalties, we'll take the bet that our special teams will win the game. The Wild wouldn't/couldn't turn the other cheek last night and our special teams won the game. And on top of that, we frustrated them enough that their captain pulled the dirtiest play of the game. He's either going to get suspended or have a giant target on his back that will likely lead to more post-whistle boil-overs that give the refs chances to "calm things down" by taking players to the box. Win-win.

Absolute masterful execution of a plan. This game couldn't have gone better. The Wild's formula was to take advantage of home ice and keep the game at 5 on 5. After game 1 we're sitting at a combined 46 penalty minutes and their home crowd was booing the team off the ice as the buzzer sounded. And Husso came away with a 37 save shutout in his playoff debut.

I don't want the Blues to change a thing. I don't think the Blues ever lost their composure after the whistles. We absolutely escalated some scrums (risking penalties by doing so), but I think that was 100% calculated to raise the physicality of the series and force the refs to either let this turn into a slog or try to take control by calling a bunch of penalties. I absolutely want them to keep that going unless/until the Wild stop retaliating and actually burn us with their PP.

I’m reminded of Backes face washing Parise and trying to goad him into something. After a while Parise just said, “are you done?” This Wild team lost its composure last night. I think Spurgeon trying to injure Buchnevich points to the fact that he fears having to face a healthy Blues roster.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

For what it's worth, it appears that Wild fans are angry at Spurgeon and are disappointed, although relieved, that he wasn't suspended.

To echo Yappy above, after Perron smashed Hartman into the boards, the Wild started to back off and then Sploogeman with the wincy poo face crosscheck into Buch's calves/achilles.

I like the Wild, but what they did last night was pathetic.

I expect the Wild game plan for tmrw to center on clean hard hitting. If they don't regain their composure and cleanly finish their checks, then they will not be able to shift the physical momentum to their side.

 

[JoshFromMO]

Can anyone get the Parayko/Jost incident that got them both minutes?

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I like the Wild. Even though it's gonna be rough at times and a bar brawl, I would root for the Wild if they knocked out the Blues. Felt the same about the Jets and Dallas during the Cup year. Still hoping we knock them out, but I won't be pissed if they beat us.

Colorado on the other hand, F those guys.

 

[izzy]

 

[Oberyn]

Hope Schenn lays Spurgeon out on Wednesday

 

[mk80]

This really points to the way the Blues are approaching these playoffs again this year like in 2019. A very business like attitude.

Overall the only thing that I'd like to see going forward is a bit more even play at 5v5. The first two periods last night had long stretches in our end, and some of that was helped along by the Wild having powerplays. I thought the 3rd was our best 5v5 period but the may have been because the Wild checked out for it at that point.

If we can get some more sustained pressure in their end which we did for a few shifts strung together at various points, stay out of the box ourselves, and hopefully the Wild keep playing undisciplined we'll be fine going forward. I expect them to come out for Game 2 and throw everything they have on net at us, they are going to have a lot of pressure on their backs to get a goal on the board and show they can play with us. Tomorrow might be the best game from the Wild we see all series, even though it's early in the series, their backs are against the wall almost at this point and especially if they go down 2-0 in a series heading to St. Louis

 

[Spektre]

That's intent to injure.




If Spurgeon is suspended in game 2, Minny is in trouble.

A 5K fine still counts as nothing

 

[Chet Manly]

A 5K fine still counts as nothing

We all know DPS gives discounts in the post season. And I don't believe he's been suspended before (I may be wrong)

Regular season - 1-2 games
Playoffs - 5k fine