Exactly, the Wild are NOT a dark horse whatsoever.
Anyways, good win, nice to see Perron break out and get some points. Was it the Blues best game? No, they were a bit sloppy, but it wasn't as bad as others are acting like. I'll take it.
Another good game by Nichol and Reaves. Them both standing in front of the net totally caused Redden's goal since their goalie couldn't do anything about it.
Stewart looked great tonight. He's still noticeably faster. His goal was nice, he controlled the puck and played physical. Also saw him make a nice backchecking play to steal the puck away from a Dallas player. Hope he keeps it up, so far so good.
Sobotka got noticeably worse as the game went along. Holy crap, towards the end there he could not handle the puck if his life depended on it. Before that he was good though.
It's funny because after the last game so many people here were gushing over Schwartz. Umm, why? He has bulked up and I like that he's willing to get his nose dirty and go to the tough areas to battle, but he's easily been our worst forward so far and it isn't that close. He shows some flashes but just isn't providing much offensively yet. I'm not saying he's been horrible, because it's just that most other players have been good, but he hasn't been that great and kinda looks a step behind the others ('step behind' actually isn't the right term, I just don't know what to call it...He's up to speed but just isn't as sharp I guess). But I realize he's a rookie and only has 12 games of NHL experience so in no way am I worried about him at all...I'm just sayin, and judging by his ice time Hitch probably agrees.
Backes may not be putting up as many points as others but he's so damn valuable to the team. He's just a wrecking ball out there, crushing guys. I like it.
Shattenkirk is really good. Redden has been impressive IMO.
Tarasenko's all around game is great to see...passing, backchecking, just good effort.
Watching what I missed earlier, here are some thoughts:
The first Blues PK was pretty brutal. At one point Pietrangelo was outnumbered 1 on 2 in front of the net when the coveraged failed to rotate properly on a slow-developing situation. That mistake led to a glorious scoring chance. There were a couple of failed clears (the most notable by Jackman) that extended the shift, which led to increasingly sloppy and passive play. Then Jackman releases from a reasonable defensive position against his assignment to float aimlessly toward the net, and his (now uncovered) mark swoops in for the easy loose puck recovery and uncontested shot from right in front of the net.
Reaves had some great shifts in the offensive zone, where his all-around play has really improved. The quality of his play decreased noticeably in the other two zones, though. There was a sloppy turnover on a zone entry that led to transition play the other way, and Reaves also took himself out of position to go for a big hit in the neutral zone (which he barely missed) that also led to a quality transition chance for Dallas. He's basically a non-factor in the defensive zone, but fortunately the 4th line is good enough at driving the play forward that it doesn't matter much.
Redden showed a bit more, both good and bad. He let a guy get behind him when he failed to win a neutral zone battle on a stretch play (which was covered well by his teammates), and made a brutal turnover just inside his blueline that led directly to the Stars 3rd goal. On the flip side, he showed nice positioning and stick-work in transition, and the vision/touch to turn around the play with a quick precision pass. He also did a good job of getting his shot off quickly (and on net through traffic) in the offensive zone. Regardless of how the ice time gets divided up between him and Cole (and both should see plenty), I think it's pretty clear that the game hasn't passed him by. Great signing.
Minnesota is no longer a dark horse. They led The NHL in points early last season before succumbing to a plethora of injuries. Now, with Parise, Suter and Granlund added to their roster, and healthy forwards, and two solid goaltenders with enough NHL experience behind them, they should be highly rated (and, thus, -not a "dark horse" team).
Sobotka got noticeably worse as the game went along. Holy crap, towards the end there he could not handle the puck if his life depended on it. Before that he was good though.
It's funny because after the last game so many people here were gushing over Schwartz. Umm, why? He has bulked up and I like that he's willing to get his nose dirty and go to the tough areas to battle, but he's easily been our worst forward so far and it isn't that close. He shows some flashes but just isn't providing much offensively yet. I'm not saying he's been horrible, because it's just that most other players have been good, but he hasn't been that great and kinda looks a step behind the others ('step behind' actually isn't the right term, I just don't know what to call it...He's up to speed but just isn't as sharp I guess). But I realize he's a rookie and only has 12 games of NHL experience so in no way am I worried about him at all...I'm just sayin, and judging by his ice time Hitch probably agrees.
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careful, when I noticed the same damn thing, it was called "criticizing"....I noticed @ one point in the game he was put on the 4th line & sobo was put in his place, speaking of sobo, wtf is wrong with him??? he keeps huggin opposition players like he has a man-crush on them He need to stop all the holding...if he needs someone to hold let's all chip in & get him a puppy!!
Back to Schwartz, if I were Hitch, I'd recall porter right now & try either he or dags on the stewie-berg line & let Schwartz develop more in Peoria, for his own sake, if not the teams
Halak wasn't sharp, but good enough to win. The team played well for stretches, but didn't control the tempo like we've come to expect. I look for a bounce-back game tomorrow....but it will be tough with the early game on a back-to-back. Lucky to get the two points tonight, but they found a way to win.
“Schwartzie has played awful well,” Hitchcock added. “He’s getting lots of chances, and that’s going to end up going in for him. But in the meantime, he’s just so dependable and he’s so strong in the areas that you need, it’s a good sign for us.”
He need to stop all the holding...if he needs someone to hold let's all chip in & get him a puppy!!
