GDT: Game 2/82 Blues vs Sharks 9:30PM CST ESPN+/HULU

[Linkens Mastery]

Wait a darn minute..... did the Blues score with an empty net??? What is this witchcraft!!!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I mean, If you think the team you just saw pull out a miracle win fighting their own best efforts against the worst team in the NHl last year will win 50, you’re likely just drunk

You ain’t gon’ last.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Wait a darn minute..... did the Blues score with an empty net??? What is this witchcraft!!!

They did. Though we really need to talk about the strategy of pulling the goalie with 2.5 minutes left when the team has shown an obvious affinity for getting scored on very quickly after the goalie is pulled. I'd like to see possession first at that point.

 

[Eldon Reid]

96 more wins in a row to complete the perfect season!

 

[Brian39]

You never want to go down 4-1 against a team like the Sharks, but I thought there were way more positives than negatives in that game.

I see comments about the Blues not starting on time, sleepwalking through the first 40 minutes, etc and I really don't agree with them. We looked great in the 1st. We were 70% or better in every possession/chance metric. We had 11 high danger chances, 2.6 expected goals for, and were doing a great job of getting Blackwood moving pre-shot. He made a number of excellent saves, they scored a very fluky goal, and then Hofer made a pretty poor play cheating to the other post for the Sharks 2nd goal. Yes we went to the locker room down 2-1, but sometimes that happens in this sport. Dominate like that every period and you will very rarely get outscored.

The 2nd was not good at all. You can tell we were deflated from the lack of results in period 1 and San Jose had energy from surviving the 1st with a lead. And then the 3rd was good. I don't think we played as well in the 3rd as we did in the 1st, but Blackwood finally faltered, which often happens as the shot count starts pushing into the high 30s.

All in all, we ended the game 61% or better in every metric at 5 on 5. Two of the four pucks that went into our net were put in by our own player and Hofer looked off overall. Our contributions came from up and down the lineup. As importantly, we scored in a wide variety of ways. Goal #1 was a fluky bounce on a 2 on 1 rush. Goal 2 was a behind the net jam play following a nice forecheck turnover. Goal 3 was off a contested neutral zone battle where we forced the puck into their zone, turned it over inside the blueline and then fed a trailing D man for a slot shot. Goal 4 was extended O zone movement with an empty net. Then goal 5 was an end-to-end rush with a clean shot from Schenn. None of those goals looked alike and demonstrated a variety of ways we can generate chances. And that is on top of the team generating a number of A grade scoring chances that were stopped.

Again, don't like to go down 4-1, but I thought our play for the first 40 minutes was much better than the score suggested. San Jose was very fortunate to be up 4-1 and we didn't throw in the towel as things went sideways.

 

[SirPaste]

Glad I ended up staying up to watch it but that 4:45 alarm clock was a killer this morning. Great to see this team have some fight in them, or as our old friend Panger would say "show some gumption" in the comeback win. Gonna be a tough one tonight in Vegas

 

[Brian39]

How has Broberg looked? I can see two points in two games, totaling last years numbers. But how has he actually looked.

The skating is as advertised and expected. I really enjoy watching his stride and he can skate himself out of trouble and into good ice based on speed alone. However, I've been more impressed by his edgework and ability to make quick adjustments to shake a forechecker. He does a good job surprising opponents with a subtle move to improve his available passing lanes.

So far I've been pleasantly surprised by his breakout passes. It could just be a small sample size, but there have been fewer 'what the hell are you thinking' pass attempts than my past viewings of him. His instincts with the puck have been good so far in all 3 zones. I expected that in the O-zone, but his decision making in the D zone has been better than expected.

His stick disruption has been pretty solid. I've been impressed with his gap control and his ability to force attacking forwards to go where he wants them to go. And he has the edgework to avoid getting burned one way or the other when the forward commits to that path.

I think he has looked like an actual 2nd pair D man in both games so far.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

f*** espn and their little OT montage, the first two clips were the Yzermam goal and the Bobby Orr goal

That pissed me off too.

 

[bleedblue1223]

f*** espn and their little OT montage, the first two clips were the Yzermam goal and the Bobby Orr goal

Unfortunately, those are 2 of the more iconic goals in NHL history.