Join Blues beat writer Tom Timmermann for his live playoffs chat at 1 p.m. Wednesday
Get your questions ready and join in at 1 p.m. Wednesday for our weekly Blues chat.
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I don't know that Schenn is thought of as a goon, but he's a very physical player, who is willing to mix it up. That's his reputation. He led the team in fights with three this season and also led the team in major penalties, also with three. But he's not even the toughest member of the Schenn family. His brother Luke had seven majors this season.
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Only if Husso is hurt or the Blues have hit a rough spot, maybe down 2-0 or 3-1 in a series, and looking to shake things up if there have been some soft goals. The postseason schedule shouldn't have any back to backs this season, so if all is going well, Husso will be in goal.
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Tom, I'm not surprised the Blues won Monday night, I believe the Blues to be a much better team that the Wild. Why do I think this? The Blues had SEVEN more regulation wins this season than the Wild, which tells me our boys were able to close out more wins in regulation and didn't have to rely on OT (3-3 play and/or shoot out success). which isn't available to the Wild in the playoffs. If the Blues can win tonight it could be a short series.
What say you, oh wise (and humble) one? -
Well, I'll say if the Blues go up 2-0 with both wins on the road, that's a pretty good position to be in.The Blues may be a better team than the Wild, but I wouldn't say they're a much better team.One thing we'll never know is how differently regular-season NHL games would play out if there wasn't the loser point, where teams glide through the final five minutes of a tied game to get that point and take their chances in OT. Just when games should be getting more exciting they don't.
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The Wilds forwards Greenway and Deslauriers registered half of the hits in limited time but Greenway took two costly penalties and Deslauriers was on the ice for one of the even strength goals. Do you see their coaching staff trying to rein them in to be more effective like Schenn was for the Blues?
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The game ended at 10:48 Central, so you came oh so close.I don't think we'll see 3 on 3 in the postseason any time soon, just because it is so different from everything else. These marathon games, while fun in the moment, can screw up a whole series by the physical toll it takes. A main driving point would be if TV wanted these games to end in a reasonable time, but short of that, I think the NHL is willing to accept it as part of the game's charm. I don't mind them as long as it's not at a game I'm covering.Years ago, my then-colleague Rick Sadowski was covering a Stanley Cup Final series in Boston, and the writes in the press box were laid out geographically, from east to west, and as the game dragged on, he could hear moans go up from different parts of the press box. First from the eastern writers who were going to miss deadline, then from the Central time zone writers and heading west from there. That was one of the beauties of working in Los Angeles. Games hardly ever went beyond 11:30 p.m. Pacific time.
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I would put the NCAA basketball tournament up against it.And having covered both, I would say when you cover the baseball postseason, it's amazing how quickly it goes. A seven-game series takes nine days, as compared to two weeks (or more) for a best-of-seven hockey series.
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Nice job, Tom, how do you see the series now? I saw the Blues dominate the game Monday. The 4-0 score represented how much the Blues outplayed Minn. Maybe the Wild outshot them on the scoreboard, but most of their shots were low % - Husso did stop a number of super chances, including breakaways, however - and the Blues blocked up the crease against rebounds, piling in after Minn shots. The Minn coach always had a pained look on his face. Understandable, his team was OUTCOACHED. ALL the Blues came back on D, and I thought Kyrou played well, with no blunders, a good sign. The Blues special teams are far superior to the Wild--the 6 PKs were brilliant, with no major threats, and the Blues PP is dangerous--really 3 goals. Minn may get rough, but even if penalties aren't called, the Blues will be even to favored. Your take?
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I liked the Blues going into this series, but really wouldn't have been surprised by any outcome because the teams are so close. The Blues got the start they wanted in Game 1, which gave them confidence, gave Husso confidence and clearly frustrated Minnesota. If the Blues can continue to do that, that will be a big thing in their favor. The two models I looked at Game 1 showed a very even game with a slight edge in expected goals to Minnesota. Goaltending is always a factor, and the Blues have always seemed to do all right against Fleury and Husso may be riding another wave. The Blues' power play superiority is also a factor, and if that's good for one goal for the Blues per game, that's a big thing. But I can easily see this series go six games.
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Buchnevich was the only player on that line to do much in Game 1; Tarasenko had no shot attempts and Thomas had one. (Buchnevich had six.) I think it's going to continue that way in St. Paul, and be different when the series comes back to Enterprise Center. Here, Berube will get them on the ice against the matchup he wants.
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Nice win but concerned that Kaprizov and Fiala each had 4/5 shots while 91/18 had 0/1 shots. The Ek line seemed to be against the Thomas line most of the time and outshot the Blues line substantially, more than 2x. Any thoughts on how this matchup went in the regular season, or how it will likely evolve?
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Went back and looked at the two games in April. In the most recent game, on April 16, Berube got the Thomas line out against Brodin and Kulikov on D and Kaprizov's line and they hardly ever went up against the GREEF line. The Thomas line scored two goals in that game. In the April 8 game, the defensive matchups were more evenly split between Brodin-Kulikov and Middleton-Spurgeon and the top three offensive lines, though the Thomas line did its best against Kaprizov's line.
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I've seen worse turnovers, but seldom one that serves up that good of a chance. Kyrou wasn't one of the players made available after the game or today, and we're still not allowed in the dressing room, so he has not been asked about it. He clearly thought it was his own teammate back there. Had it been a deciding factor it certainly would have been a focal point. It's a little easier for players to laugh about those things after a win.
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I think he had some more physical games at the very start of the season, which isn't too surprising considering his age. He probably felt a lot better then. If he gets worn down, I could see Berube turning to Brown or Joshua as the series, or the postseason, goes on. With Walker and Toropchenko as linemates, there may be slightly less need for Bozak to be physical on the fourth line.
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They've switched goalies enough this season that it wouldn't have surprised me to go with Talbot, But as well as the Blues have done against Fleury, his goals-against average against them and his save percentage are better than Talbot's. And the coach said he didn't think any of the goals were directly Fleury's part. So I think he's trying to put forth an image of calmness and not panic after one loss.
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Hey Tom - I listened to a lot of Wild fan reaction after game 1, and they were so doom and gloom. Is it fair to say that the Blues didn't dominate that game the way we all, or especially Wild fans, seem to think they did? Three posts by the Wild and the Blues got three PP goals. More 5v5 tonight I'm sure - I just don't think game 1 was a great barometer of how equal these teams are. Do you agree?
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I think a fair amount of concern for Wild fans was, we weren't a great power play unit in the regular season and we're not going to be one in the postseason, and that's not a good thing. The game kind of highlighted everything Wild fans feared going into the series. But it was a very close game and a bounce or two off the post or a slightly better finish would have changed how things looked. Play that game 100 times and the Wild win half of them. On that day, it was one they didn't.
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Tom -
I was concerned with how much O-zone control the wild were able to secure last game, but at the same time we were clamping down extremely well, limiting high quality scoring opportunities and blocking shots from the outside. Is this part of our strategy against this wild team? Let them possess a lot as long ad were eliminating danger? Or is the long offensive possessions a cause for concern going forward? -
Long offensive possessions are always a cause for concern, though as we've seen with the Blues from time to time, if all they want to do is pass it around the perimeter, well, have at it. But ultimately, you want to have the puck more than the other team. When they finally shoot, you want to get the rebound and get out of there. There were some rebounds and passes that were just out of reach of Wild players in really good scoring positions.
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I read the Wild forum too. I think the comment by their coach that "their special teams have been terrible all year" didn't sit well. Isn't it his job to fix it. They were also bothered that their team didn't practice yesterday. They just needed to rest up and forget Monday. Berube handled the situation totally different. Just hope it works out tonight.
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Whenever a team takes a day off after a loss, there is outrage in some section of fans. This season has been a grind for everyone, and another 30 minutes on the ice may not be what the team does. They may be better served by 30 minutes in the film room. In fact, they're almost certainly better served by 30 minutes in the film room.
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It helps that he's got two defensively responsible players with him, and two guys that won't hesitate to mix it up if someone gets out of line. Ultimately he may be better served playing on a line with a playmaker like Thomas, but on this team, right now it's the best place for Kyrou.
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I don't think we'll see as many penalties in Game 2 as we did in Game 1. Players learn what's going to be called and what they can get away with. There are still more penalties called in the postseason than the regular season, but it won't be as glaring as Game 1.I think.
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I thought the Blues executed their game plan very well, and the outcome was not a fluke. They conceded the perimeter on Defense and shut down the passing and shooting lanes and controlled the rebounds. That strategy gives more possession time to the other team, but lets you control the dirty areas where playoff games are won and lost. Conversely, Minnesota gave the Blues the dirty areas in front of their own net and 4 goals were put in as a result.
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I don't think the outcome was a fluke, but it was a game that could have gone either way. Minnesota had a lot of chances in close that Husso stopped. And the Blues don't want to be killing six power plays again. Even a bad power play team usually scores on one out of six.
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OK, the handful of questions I haven't gotten to all deal with things pretty much answered in another question, so I'll call it a day here. Jim and Jeff and I will be recording a podcast tomorrow afternoon, so look for that and we'll continue to have news and stories aplenty from here and Minnesota.Here's Jim's game-day preview with the news of the day from St. Paul:
Blues Game Day: Leddy a game-time decision, Scandella out again
STLtoday.comLeddy did not participate in morning skate; Blues could be without two of their top six defensemen.We'll be back next week, and who knows what the situation will be by then. Thanks for joining in. Until next time.