GDT: St. Louis Blues vs. Vancouver Canucks -- Game 2 |NHLN, FSMW|5:30 CT|

[Robb_K]

Last 2 times defending Cup champions fell behind 2-0 in playoffs they responded by winning 4 straight to knock out Blues. So that bodes well for us.

It just means that it's possible. But, I don't see The Blues winning the next 4 straight. But, they just need to win 4 of the next 5.

The Blues are just not playing their game consistently. They don't rely on young, fast legs and lots of natural skill. They rely on tough backchecking, positional play, physical game, and need to be in sync with their linemates and shiftmates, and playing with a lot of energy (including sending players without the puck to the net, because they don't have anyone that regularly creates his own offence, without any help. Only Tarasenko is capable of doing that, but he only does it once in a while lately, and not at all since his last injury. The Blues, like the other teams, have had very little time to practise playing together, to get back into their game. With little practise time, the teams that run and gun, and have offensive creators have an advantage over the teams that use mostly teamwork to defend well and score well. When you add to that that The Blues are less "hungry" to win, because they won The Cup last season, you see they have a big problem. Now, against the wall, they've really got to play with determination, and get some breaks, too. I can't see them going all the way, but, I'd like, at least, to see them come back and win this series.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Colt and Bo were incredible last year. Top PK and shutdown pair out of any team in the league

Agreed, Scandella is good. But, we truly miss JayBo. Replace Faulk with a healthy JayBo and i think we look much much better.

Eddy should have been traded for forward help, not a RHD.

Scandella-Pie
Jay-Colt
Dunn-Bort

 

[OceanEscape]

I don't know, I thought the boys really brought it 5on5 tonight and the last game too. Goal tending and special teams is the issue.

Have to give credit to this Canucks team too, we knew they had a lot of young talent, just wasn't expecting them to mature as quickly as they have.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Other than finishing his checks on the forecheck, Schenn has also been completely invisible

He's incredibly streaky player, but when he is on he is truly impact player. Back in Philly he was always at his best when he was getting involved physically.

 

[Star Ocean]

Curious to see an update on Myers.
If he can't go, their next guy is Jordie Benn. And he's someone we can really get to(it's really easy to goad him into penalties and he's not exactly the best with the puck).

Juolevi is the next guy

 

[AzNightmare]

Vancouver fan here.
Great series so far. While I'm super happy with the series lead, and seeing Horvat hit this new level that has never been seen before... (Trust me, this is shocking Vancouver fans)
Blues are clearly dominating 5 on 5 and I think the goaltending is the biggest factor. Binnington hasn't been clutch and even if you guys are outshooting us 2:1 or whatever, it seems like Canucks just make each opportunity count. I'm not sure how good Allen is, but I assume that will be a possibility he's in for game 3?

Personally, I don't think it's out of reach. The games are way too close, and with Myers out. That's very bad for Vancouver... Benn kind of sucks. Juolevi is way too new (I think he literally has 5 mins of NHL exp,) and I don't think he's earned the coaches trust yet. I think Benn is going to get the spot.

I think this could be the opening for you guys to get back into the series. I am NERVOUS (not being sarcastic).

 

[TheDizee]

9 goals on 47 shots for binny

.808 save pct

i fully expect this series to turn around (and fast with b2b games) with better goaltending

 

[Stlblue50]

9 goals on 47 shots for binny

.808 save pct

i fully expect this series to turn around (and fast with b2b games) with better goaltending

Pretty shocking to see those numbers from Binner. After what he did for the team last season it’s impossible for me to mad at him right now, especially after 4+ months off.
When the season stopped he was the hottest goalie in the league over the previous 15 games or so. I would have loved to see what would have happened if the season finished like it should have

 

[Stlblue50]

I don't know, I thought the boys really brought it 5on5 tonight and the last game too. Goal tending and special teams is the issue.

Have to give credit to this Canucks team too, we knew they had a lot of young talent, just wasn't expecting them to mature as quickly as they have.

If the Blues can get goaltending then I really like their chances for a comeback. Peterson has all of his goals on the PP and Vancouver looks outmatched in general 5 on 5.

The PP will be a major issue if they keep throwing out that #1 unit the same way like last year. It’s amazing they won the cup with that pathetic PP. I think they had one of the worst PP% out of any team to win the cup ever.

Just like last year, 27 is killing the flow. He is extremely slow with his decision making and his shots take forever to get off. I’d take him and Schenn off the 1st unit and replace them with Thomas/Dunn.

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

Agreed, Scandella is good. But, we truly miss JayBo. Replace Faulk with a healthy JayBo and i think we look much much better.

Eddy should have been traded for forward help, not a RHD.

Scandella-Pie
Jay-Colt
Dunn-Bort

wouldn’t have Scandella if we didn’t lose Jay.

 

[ort]

It sure would be nice to see them at least one game. I had been looking forward to this return for so long... this quarantine time has been especially rough for me and I was looking for any sort of escape or return to normalcy, and instead of being exciting or fun or an escape it's just been endless frustration and disappointment... it's actually added to the depression and sadness. Hockey coming back has made things worse.

They've lost 6 god damned games in a. row?Q?!@?>>>>>>>> WTF. Like, what the hell is even happening?

EVERYTHING ****ING SUCKS.

 

[ort]

I'm starting to think they made some sort of pact with the devil for the cup run last year and now we'll never win another playoff game ever again.

 

[Blanick]

Honestly I think it all boils down to one thing. Either or PK finds itself or it doesn't. We are giving way too much respect to the skill of the Canucks high end players, we need to challenge them and put pressure on. Canucks have scored 9 goals so far, 5 of them have been on the PP and 1 has been shorthanded. 6 or 9 have been on special teams, we have been the superior team 5 on 5. Now obviously the entire game isn't going to be played 5 on 5 so we need to figure out of special teams if we are going to have a chance to come back.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

wouldn’t have Scandella if we didn’t lose Jay.

Possible. But we'd still want to replace Eddy in a separate trade.

 

[Bluesguru]

It just means that it's possible. But, I don't see The Blues winning the next 4 straight. But, they just need to win 4 of the next 5.

The Blues are just not playing their game consistently. They don't rely on young, fast legs and lots of natural skill. They rely on tough backchecking, positional play, physical game, and need to be in sync with their linemates and shiftmates, and playing with a lot of energy (including sending players without the puck to the net, because they don't have anyone that regularly creates his own offence, without any help. Only Tarasenko is capable of doing that, but he only does it once in a while lately, and not at all since his last injury. The Blues, like the other teams, have had very little time to practise playing together, to get back into their game. With little practise time, the teams that run and gun, and have offensive creators have an advantage over the teams that use mostly teamwork to defend well and score well. When you add to that that The Blues are less "hungry" to win, because they won The Cup last season, you see they have a big problem. Now, against the wall, they've really got to play with determination, and get some breaks, too. I can't see them going all the way, but, I'd like, at least, to see them come back and win this series.

If Binnington were playing like he did last post-season, the series would be tied now. The Blues may not be 100 % back to what they were last year but they’re getting there. Goaltending is our biggest issue right now.

 

[Bluesguru]

Vancouver fan here.
Great series so far. While I'm super happy with the series lead, and seeing Horvat hit this new level that has never been seen before... (Trust me, this is shocking Vancouver fans)
Blues are clearly dominating 5 on 5 and I think the goaltending is the biggest factor. Binnington hasn't been clutch and even if you guys are outshooting us 2:1 or whatever, it seems like Canucks just make each opportunity count. I'm not sure how good Allen is, but I assume that will be a possibility he's in for game 3?

Personally, I don't think it's out of reach. The games are way too close, and with Myers out. That's very bad for Vancouver... Benn kind of sucks. Juolevi is way too new (I think he literally has 5 mins of NHL exp,) and I don't think he's earned the coaches trust yet. I think Benn is going to get the spot.

I think this could be the opening for you guys to get back into the series. I am NERVOUS (not being sarcastic).

Yeah, Gm3 is huge. Goaltending is always the difference. You can’t win without it. Markstrom playing well while Binner has been poor. It’s the H boys giving us fits - Horvat and Hughes.

 

[execwrite1]

Time to call in Jake - maybe he's the hero this year.