GDT: WCQF - Game 5 : Blues @ Wild

[Ginger Papa]

I didn’t see a GDT up when I stopped by to visit, so thought I’d help out @The Note .




Tonight we wear Away colours
Against the Wild we prepare
With Fleury and Kaprizov
An amazing elite pair

Well, I just want to show them up
Well, I just want
I just want to
To show them up (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Let's tangle (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
And give them hell (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Come together now (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Yeah, Blues gel

I expect a Game with passion
Skill level to be insane
Physical play and defence
Bringing Minnesota pain

I just want to show them up
Well, I just want
I just want to
To show them up (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Let's wrangle (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
And give them hell (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Come together now (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Yeah, Blues gel

Boy’s lets dangle (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Fill the net as well (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Come together now (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Shots Binny repels (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)

Our doubts crumble (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Confidence swells (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
The Blues peaking together
Yeah, how they‘ve gelled


Lineups based upon NHL.com


Blues projected lineups

Brandon Saad -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron

Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Vladimir Tarasenko

Ivan Barbashev -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou

Alexei Toropchenko -- Tyler Bozak -

Nick Leddy -- Colton Parayko

Calle Rosen -- Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola -- Robert Bortuzzo

Scott Perunovich

Jordan Binnington

Scratched: Dakota Joshua, Logan Brown, Nathan Walker

Injured: Marco Scandella (lower body), Torey Krug (lower body)



Wild projected lineups

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Kevin Fiala -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Matt Boldy

Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno

Nicolas Deslauriers -- Tyson Jost -- Brandon Duhaime

Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill -- Alex Goligoski

Marc-Andre Fleury


Scratched: Nick Bjugstad, Connor Dewar, Dmitry Kulikov, Jordie Benn

Injured: None


And some memes for good luck and health:

Click to read more...

 

[Brian39]

Morning Skate:



For those who can't see twitter

Saad-Thomas-Kyrou
Schenn-ROR-Perron
Buch-Barby-Vova
Torpo-Bozak-Brown

Leddy-Parayko
Rosen-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortz
Perunovich-Santini

Binner
Husso

What a luxury it is to have 4 guys in ROR, Thomas, Schenn, and Barby who can legitimately center a top 9 line. All 3 of those groups have the ability to play like a top 15-20 line in the NHL. The "3rd line" there was genuinely the best line in hockey for a mutli-week stretch. This forward group is a matchup nightmare.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Leddy and Bortuzzo are back. Bortuzzo is not human I swear.

 

[oPlaiD]

Morning Skate:



For those who can't see twitter

Saad-Thomas-Kyrou
Schenn-ROR-Perron
Buch-Barby-Vova
Torpo-Bozak-Brown

Leddy-Parayko
Rosen-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortz
Perunovich-Santini

Binner
Husso

What a luxury it is to have 4 guys in ROR, Thomas, Schenn, and Barby who can legitimately center a top 9 line. All 3 of those groups have the ability to play like a top 15-20 line in the NHL. The "3rd line" there was genuinely the best line in hockey for a mutli-week stretch. This forward group is a matchup nightmare.

Word is that Perunovich was practicing on the 1st PP unit today, so the 11/7 thing with him in seems very likely.

 

[SwivelSchwartz]

Huge boost of confidence getting those two back. Winner of game 5 of a 2-2 series wins 80% of the time.

 

[Stealth JD]

Last minute changes to the D:

Junland-Faulk
Salvador-McKee
VanRyn-Tucker
Perunovich-Jeff Brown


Let's Go Blues!

 

[Robb_K]

Morning Skate:



For those who can't see twitter

Saad-Thomas-Kyrou
Schenn-ROR-Perron
Buch-Barby-Vova
Torpo-Bozak-Brown

Leddy-Parayko
Rosen-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortz
Perunovich-Santini

Binner
Husso

What a luxury it is to have 4 guys in ROR, Thomas, Schenn, and Barby who can legitimately center a top 9 line. All 3 of those groups have the ability to play like a top 15-20 line in the NHL. The "3rd line" there was genuinely the best line in hockey for a mutli-week stretch. This forward group is a matchup nightmare.

I'm not thrilled with a Mikkola-Bortuzzo pairing. But, I'm also not happy with Mikkola being in a Top 4 pairing. I like Leddy back with Parayko for sure. Maybe Bortuzzo with Faulk, and Rosen with Mikkola, because we need a puck carrier to be paired with Mikkola, so the latter isn't counted on to carry the puck forward in the D-Zone, and not counted on to successfully complete breakout passes, or carry the puck out into The Neutral Zone, under extreme pressure. Rosen can perform those tasks. Bortuzzo raises his game in the playoffs. Maybe Rosen can take some of Bortuzzo's 2nd pairing minutes, as well, because the3rd pairing's minutes will be so low, and because Bortuzzo is still recovering, it will be safer not to give him too many minutes.

 

[KirkOut]

Last minute changes to the D:

Junland-Faulk
Salvador-McKee
VanRyn-Tucker
Perunovich-Jeff Brown


Let's Go Blues!

Christian Backman in shambles

 

[BlueDream]

I'm not thrilled with a Mikkola-Bortuzzo pairing. But, I'm also not happy with Mikkola being in a Top 4 pairing. I like Leddy back with Parayko for sure. Maybe Bortuzzo with Faulk, and Rosen with Mikkola, because we need a puck carrier to be paired with Mikkola, so the latter isn't counted on to carry the puck forward in the D-Zone, and not counted on to successfully complete breakout passes, or carry the puck out into The Neutral Zone, under extreme pressure. Rosen can perform those tasks. Bortuzzo raises his game in the playoffs. Maybe Rosen can take some of Bortuzzo's 2nd pairing minutes, as well, because the3rd pairing's minutes will be so low, and because Bortuzzo is still recovering, it will be safer not to give him too many minutes.

The pairings should be:

Leddy-Parayko
Mikkola-Faulk
Rosen-Bortuzzo
Perunovich

Not sure why you don't want Mikkola in the top 4 because in that group of d-men, he's clearly a top 4 guy. Bortuzzo and Rosen are not. Mikkola has actually been pretty darn good this series, and Faulk can be the puck mover for him.

 

[Chet Manly]

Lets f***ing GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

 

[Stealth JD]

How big of a bulls-eye is Leddy going to have on him tonight? You can bet every trip to the corner is going to be a rough ride, and every opportunity to hit him shoulder-on-shoulder is going to be taken. Minnesota's got some big boys. I don't know that I'd be able to medically clear him in good conscience, but what can you do? Pro sports > long term cognitive abilities.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

So is Krug out for the remainder?

How big of a bulls-eye is Leddy going to have on him tonight? You can bet every trip to the corner is going to be a rough ride, and every opportunity to hit him shoulder-on-shoulder is going to be taken. Minnesota's got some big boys. I don't know that I'd be able to medically clear him in good conscience, but what can you do? Pro sports > long term cognitive abilities.

I heard the Wild have small Dmen. So two can play at that game.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Let’s come back home up 3-2!!!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Word is that Perunovich was practicing on the 1st PP unit today, so the 11/7 thing with him in seems very likely.

Sounds good to me. If Scandella hadn't left early in G4, my guess was that Perunovich would have skate no more than about 8-9 mns. He got 12+.

If we get some decent PP time, I suspect Perunovich will score his 1st NHL goal tonight.

The defense is due for some offensive production. Chief can throw another look/game plan at the Wild by activating the D toward offense. It would be an unexpected curveball that I don't think Evason will strongly consider.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

We’re gonna go in their building and reclaim home ice for the series. We win tonight.

 

[Robb_K]

The pairings should be:

Leddy-Parayko
Mikkola-Faulk
Rosen-Bortuzzo
Perunovich

Not sure why you don't want Mikkola in the top 4 because in that group of d-men, he's clearly a top 4 guy. Bortuzzo and Rosen are not. Mikkola has actually been pretty darn good this series, and Faulk can be the puck mover for him.

Lou Korac listed these as the expected pairings this morning:

Leddy-Parayko
Rosen-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortuzzo

From my eyes, Mikkola gets very nervous when pressured in his own zone, often losing the puck to forecheckers, arrives late in races to loose pucks, and makes bad passes when flustered under pressure deep in his zone, leading to interceptions and loss of possession. I like the pairings above better. Rosen is steadier than Mikkola, and a much better puckhandler. Mikkola makes some great hits, and sometimes is very effective joining the offence in the O-Zone, making unexpected drives to the net, and spectacular-looking plays. But, I'd rather have Rosen's steadiness, greater confidence, and solid puckhandling in The 2nd pairing, and in the higher minutes of playing time.

 

[mk80]

Let's Go Blues!!!

Leddy and Bortuzzo will be huge additions to the blueline. I liked the way Perunovich looked outside of a couple moments on Sunday, so I like rolling the 7D and 11 forwards again for tonight.

 

[stl76]

Lou Korac listed these as the expected pairings this morning:

Leddy-Parayko
Rosen-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortuzzo

From my eyes, Mikkola gets very nervous when pressured in his own zone, often losing the puck to forecheckers, arrives late in races to loose pucks, and makes bad passes when flustered under pressure deep in his zone, leading to interceptions and loss of possession. I like the pairings above better. Rosen is steadier than Mikkola, and a much better puckhandler. Mikkola makes some great hits, and sometimes is very effective joining the offence in the O-Zone, making unexpected drives to the net, and spectacular-looking plays. But, I'd rather have Rosen's steadiness, greater confidence, and solid puckhandling in The 2nd pairing, and in the higher minutes of playing time.

Agreed 100%, have really liked Rosen’s game this series. There is a reason he got several more minutes of ice time than Mikkola last game. Hopefully Mikkola can step it up!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Let's Go Blues!!!

Leddy and Bortuzzo will be huge additions to the blueline. I liked the way Perunovich looked outside of a couple moments on Sunday, so I like rolling the 7D and 11 forwards again for tonight.

For tonight's game, I'd like to see Chief employ a D that drives to the net with one forward rotating up high.

The coaching staff should continue to mix up the looks we give the Wild. The Blues already play a deceptive style with all the crazy passing, but we need to keep them guessing.

 

[542365]

Go Blues. Score more goals than the other team!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Lou Korac listed these as the expected pairings this morning:

Leddy-Parayko
Rosen-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortuzzo

From my eyes, Mikkola gets very nervous when pressured in his own zone, often losing the puck to forecheckers, arrives late in races to loose pucks, and makes bad passes when flustered under pressure deep in his zone, leading to interceptions and loss of possession. I like the pairings above better. Rosen is steadier than Mikkola, and a much better puckhandler. Mikkola makes some great hits, and sometimes is very effective joining the offence in the O-Zone, making unexpected drives to the net, and spectacular-looking plays. But, I'd rather have Rosen's steadiness, greater confidence, and solid puckhandling in The 2nd pairing, and in the higher minutes of playing time.

I agree with this. Mikkola needs to be on the 3rd pairing.

 

[BAdvocate]

Coyotes fan popping in to say Go Blues! Hopefully a repeat of game 1 and then clinch at home in front of Blues fans!

I'll take any positive thoughts you are willing to sacrifice towards the Coyotes draft lottery luck in about 75 minutes.....

Going to call the Blues game winning goal tonight via deflection off Spurgeon's ACL (just a bruise, no injury).

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

It's the most minor of nits to pick, and it's a well I've gone to before, but why not Joshua over Torpo? Brings the same level of grit with more intelligence.

But if that's my only grievance, that's pretty good. Love the 7 D plan again. If they're going 11 F, I hope it's Bozo and Brown then.

 

[MissouriMook]

It's the most minor of nits to pick, and it's a well I've gone to before, but why not Joshua over Torpo? Brings the same level of grit with more intelligence.

But if that's my only grievance, that's pretty good. Love the 7 D plan again. If they're going 11 F, I hope it's Bozo and Brown then.

Not possible at the moment as they have re-assigned Joshua to Springfield. Your point is a valid one, though.

 

[Mike Liut]

Did they ever announced the outcome of Krug’s injury?