Was at the game and was disgusted. It's the NHL playoffs and you don't even come out hitting in your barn....no excuse for that.
The boys have put themselves in a must win situation on Saturday.
I can understand losing to Minnesota but it would be nice to see these guys go down fighting. I just don't think they have it in them.

NHLTIM wrote:Was at the game and was disgusted. It's the NHL playoffs and you don't even come out hitting in your barn....no excuse for that.
The boys have put themselves in a must win situation on Saturday.
I can understand losing to Minnesota but it would be nice to see these guys go down fighting. I just don't think they have it in them.

Reaves was banging out there, but it looked like the D was giving up the blue line.

LrdStnly wrote:

NHLTIM wrote:Was at the game and was disgusted. It's the NHL playoffs and you don't even come out hitting in your barn....no excuse for that.
The boys have put themselves in a must win situation on Saturday.
I can understand losing to Minnesota but it would be nice to see these guys go down fighting. I just don't think they have it in them.

Reaves was banging out there, but it looked like the D was giving up the blue line.

Reaves and Ott but we need more than that. I just don't get it. Minnesota should have had to weather a storm in that first 10 minutes

Jason Pominville wrist shot EN goal 4-2

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Thanks for the video updates Fred but where's the first empty net goal?

Kerbs said after the game that the Blues looked better in game 1 last year vs Chicago with all the injuries than they did this year.

Why the hell did KMOX sign off only 45 minutes after the game?? When the comabirds are in the playoffs the go on for HOURS after the game! They're dissing hockey for sure!

I think it was overconfidence that wasn't warranted, at first, which made them think that all they had to do was to step out on the ice and they'd win. But, because they only know how to bring on their "will to win" and urgency when they are in the middle of a disaster (like when several of their top players are out), they came out just going through the motions. THEN, when they gave up the early goal (on Allen's poor positioning), the air came out of the false "confidence". They finally started playing later, but it was too little too late, and the frustration penalties killed any chance of a comeback.

I think this is a very similar situation to the series in which The Blues lost Game 1 to The Sharks. The got serious, worked hard and decided to put everything into winning, and won the next four straight. I have a feeling they'll react in a similar way in this series, and still win it 4-2.

But, after seeing how well The Blackhawks played vs. The Preds, I think they are still astep above The Blues. And IF The Blues beat The Wild, I wouldn't expect them to beat Chicago (unfortunately).

.....all I can say tonight is that our defense can skate backwards, better and faster than any other team in the league.

NBCSN post game.

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Mikael Granlund wrist shot EN goal 3-1

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When the Blues decided to play the Wild couldn't touch the puck...but it was too late. The playoffs do not suffer teams who need to turn it on...I hope it is on now, or it will be a short run.

That was incredibly disconcerting. It also looked very familiar to the Blues in previous playoffs.

A lot of shots being blocked, hit post, and the other team scoring on the counter. New year, same damn shit.

Oh the joys of being a Blues fan in the playoffs.

The Blues need to win 4 of the next 6 games to win the series. Anything is possible but with the way the Wild are playing now I don't see that happening.

I noticed the Wild's transition game was much better than the Blues. They were able to get the puck out of their zone so fast and start the rush up the ice.

Well we know they won't go up 2-0 and drop 4 in a row. If they play like that they'll just skip to losing 4 in a row. A loss I can handle. Uninspired lethargic play is inexcusable.

The game most definitely just did not have a playoff feel to it. It seemed like just another guy for the boys. I'm pretty glad I decided to not get tickets.

CaptSMRT wrote:When the Blues decided to play the Wild couldn't touch the puck...but it was too late. The playoffs do not suffer teams who need to turn it on...I hope it is on now, or it will be a short run.

Yep

Last night wasn't all negative, guys.

We dominated in stretches, and I also give credit to the Wild for their offense off the rush and counter. They played a really good road game especially insulating Dubnyk by blocking shooting lanes.

The biggest moment in the game was Jaskin missing that open net to tie it at two, and then shortly after that miss the Wild get a goal. When that happened, I just said "blues hockey".

I think with some tweaks to the lineup the Blues still win this in 6. I'd take Gunnarsson out, and I'd put Bort on the third pairing. It is not going to be easy, and the Blues need to raise their game or get ready to be shipped out over the off season.

Doug Glatt wrote:Last night wasn't all negative, guys.

We dominated in stretches, and I also give credit to the Wild for their offense off the rush and counter. They played a really good road game especially insulating Dubnyk by blocking shooting lanes.

The biggest moment in the game was Jaskin missing that open net to tie it at two, and then shortly after that miss the Wild get a goal. When that happened, I just said "blues hockey".

I think with some tweaks to the lineup the Blues still win this in 6. I'd take Gunnarsson out, and I'd put Bort on the third pairing. It is not going to be easy, and the Blues need to raise their game or get ready to be shipped out over the off season.

Yeah, you have to credit the Wild. They played a pretty good road game. I think those spurts where the Blues decided to play showed that they could easily take this series. There just weren't enough of them.

Man in the box wrote:

Doug Glatt wrote:Last night wasn't all negative, guys.

We dominated in stretches, and I also give credit to the Wild for their offense off the rush and counter. They played a really good road game especially insulating Dubnyk by blocking shooting lanes.

The biggest moment in the game was Jaskin missing that open net to tie it at two, and then shortly after that miss the Wild get a goal. When that happened, I just said "blues hockey".

I think with some tweaks to the lineup the Blues still win this in 6. I'd take Gunnarsson out, and I'd put Bort on the third pairing. It is not going to be easy, and the Blues need to raise their game or get ready to be shipped out over the off season.

Yeah, you have to credit the Wild. They played a pretty good road game. I think those spurts where the Blues decided to play showed that they could easily take this series. There just weren't enough of them.

Agreed. The blues were underwhelming to say the least, but they still had a really good chance to tie it. I think if Jaskin scores there, then the game is completely different. Shoulda, woulda, coulda has no place in the playoffs though.

Blues have got to stop the parade to the penalty box, and in turn, force the Wild to take penalties.
And, as Panger kept saying last night, the forwards have got to stop cheating and come back into their zone, allowing the D to stand up instead of allowing the easy entries on every possession.
Turn those easy entries into a few turnovers and odd man rushes, and it's a different game.
As it turns out, the big question everybody talked about was Allen in goal, and along with Petro, he was probably the Blues best player last night.

barnburner wrote:Blues have got to stop the parade to the penalty box, and in turn, force the Wild to take penalties.
And, as Panger kept saying last night, the forwards have got to stop cheating and come back into their zone, allowing the D to stand up instead of allowing the easy entries on every possession.
Turn those easy entries into a few turnovers and odd man rushes, and it's a different game.
As it turns out, the big question everybody talked about was Allen in goal, and along with Petro, he was probably the Blues best player last night.

Well said BB. I completely agree with the penalties and defense against the rush. Watching the penalties was very frustrating. It completely killed any momentum or fluidity.

Haven't read all the comments, but I will offer my 2 cents from being at the game.

1. The opening display was great and really seemed to get the crowd into the game. I sit in the lower bowl and enjoyed it, and I imagine it was even better from the upper bowl. Not sure if they showed any of it on TV, but I hope the team posts it on their website.

2. If I had to break down the loss in one sentence it would be this - the Wild had their slot on lockdown all night, while ours had the "welcome mat" out. I don't want to go down the "outcoached again" road just yet, but in my mind this is more about game plan than it is about execution.

3. I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever seen a Blues team stripped of the puck more than they were in Game 1. Conventional wisdom says that if the defense is clogging the middle, you still have to go to the middle but you need to be drawing penalties fighting through the traffic. It seemed like we never got there, and attempts to crash the slot were met with takeaways that left us scrambling to get back and defend. Something has to change for Game 2 because I expect this will be the Wild's gameplan for the entire series, or at least until it stops working.

4. From what I understand Hitch has already named Allen the starter for Game 2 and said that he thought Allen was "great" last night. I respectfully disagree. That first goal was gawdawful enough, but to give up a goal like that less than three minutes into the game is inexcusable. He sucked the life out of the crowd, and undoubtedly sucked the life out of the bench. He only gave up one other goal, but I thought his rebound control had reverted back to where it was earlier in the year (relatively harmless shots ending up as rebounds on the edge of the crease) and there were several situations where his post coverage was clearly lacking, he just didn't get burned. All in all, I think he just looked OK outside of that first goal, and I thought bringing Ells back for Game 2 might have given the team some jump. But what do I know, I'm just a fan. I just hope Hitch doesn't decide to sink or swim again this year with one goalie because that might end badly for all of us, and would likely cost him his job.

That was an AMAZING wraparound goal by Zucker. I don't even think Ken Dryden could've stopped that!

Tank had ZERO shots on goal. If that doesn't change the Blues are doomed.

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:That was an AMAZING wraparound goal by Zucker. I don't even think Ken Dryden could've stopped that!

Tank had ZERO shots on goal. If that doesn't change the Blues are doomed.

Agree on the wraparound. Zucker got really lucky the rebound went right back to his stick.

The Blues as a whole need to find a way to get more shots through to the net. They were shutdown

This year feels different.