Shattenkirk played Couture (and only him) soft the whole game, from the first shift of the game til the last; they are good friends but no friendships in the playoffs. Never engaged with him, just stuck his stick in to try to fish the puck out and lost at least 5 easily winnable (or at least scramble) the possession. He definitely had his legs offensively though.
Perron was getting manhandled the whole night by Burns. During the season he had a lot of success (despite being pretty small) with that one hand on the stick, shield the puck with his body move out of the corner but Burns just sat him down all night long. I would go with Steen-Backes-Oshie and Mac-Berglund-Perron to get Perron away from Burns and match him against 2 smaller, physically weaker defenders in Boyle-Vlasic. Either that or move Steen to the third line because he can get any line going and move up maybe Sobotka to line 1. Definitely like SOB and Mac-Berg-Perron better though.
Polak got beat bad on the 2nd goal but was very good the rest of the game. Jackman saved 2 goals but had some bad passes off easy plays. Pietrangelo needs to be better in all aspects; he didn't have many what I call explosive plays, defensively and offensively. A play where he just simply steps in and breaks up a play instantly and transitions it out for example. Russell was as good as I've ever seen him, can't ask for anything more.
Halak was quite poor and looked shaky all night.
What did you think of Stewart's overall performance last night?
Yeah you just gotta tip your hat to the Sharks and move on. It's not going to be an easy series. Last night I was frustrated because it's tough to lose like that but still, it was a good game and I really can't wait to try to even up the series tomorrow.
Don't really like what Lou Korac wrote on NHL.com. Yeah those might have been penalties but it's the playoffs and a lot of stuff doesn't get called. Also, we had several chances to clear the puck and didn't so that last goal is the team's fault. They probably shouldn't have missed Burns' delay of game, but Jason Demers' interference penalty was extremely weak so those things even themselves out.
Hopefully we bring the same energy Saturday night, which we should. A few players made some mistakes last night but those things happen. I don't really think anyone played bad.
The thing about Stewart is if he's not creating scoring chances or at a minimum drawing defensive attention/energy, he's not particularly strong a backchecker. As you can see, he's spotty with his backchecking effort and it cost the Blues at the worst possible time. So what if he only does that occasionally? In the playoffs, occasionally is deadly.
Last night, he wasn't creating chances or opening up chances for others by forcing San Jose to worry about him. He isn't needed for PP or PK, as he never plays those.
If the Blues qualify him (means they get compensation if he signs a better offer the Blues choose not to match), I could see a team like Pittsburgh offering him a deal the Blues wouldn't match (3yrs x 3.5M, Blues would be stupid to match). Ideally Toronto would do it because that 1st and 3d would be more valuable.
Hitchcock will likely have to make some changes on his third and fourth lines to compete with San Jose.
The top lines of the Blues and Sharks are going to neutralize each other. The Blues' second line did its job with two goals from Patrik Berglund, one at even-strength and another on the power play. So it appears Hitchcock may need to find some offense from his third line.
The line of Vladimir Sobotka, Jason Arnott and Chris Stewart had a combined two shots on goal. Meanwhile, San Jose's third line picked up the game-tying goal, 2-2, from third-liner Andrew Desjardins with 5:16 left in regulation.
Matt D'Agostini is an option, and Hitchcock could also consider Jaden Schwartz. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Hitchcock could sit Langenbrunner, Stewart or Jason Arnott.
Defensively, Hitchcock may opt to substitute for Kent Huskins, who appeared a step slow while playing 24:29.
"Possible lineup changes," Hitchcock said, without offering anymore.
Forwards:
Steen 27:45
Oshie 26:35
Berglund 26:33
McDonald 26:23
Backes 24:53
Perron 22:54
Sobotka 20:18
Arnott 16:10 – save 2.85M
Nichol 15:46
Stewart 15:22 – save 3.25M
Langenbrunner 14:15 – save 2.5M
Reaves 8:01
That's 8.6M to replace depth & not that many minutes for the money. Even if they lose in the first round this year I think they won't need quite the same veteran element and if they do lose in the first round they need different veteran element.
Oshie and Perron will get between Steen and Backes money. Their raises won't be bank-breaking at all. Everyone else is under contract on the forward line. Adding ELCs in Schwartz and Tarasenko will allow them to save $$.
If they take the money they're going to save at forward and apply it to remaking the LD it's going to be a better team going forward.
The thing about Stewart is if he's not creating scoring chances or at a minimum drawing defensive attention/energy, he's not particularly strong a backchecker. As you can see, he's spotty with his backchecking effort and it cost the Blues at the worst possible time. So what if he only does that occasionally? In the playoffs, occasionally is deadly.
Last night, he wasn't creating chances or opening up chances for others by forcing San Jose to worry about him. He isn't needed for PP or PK, as he never plays those.
If the Blues qualify him (means they get compensation if he signs a better offer the Blues choose not to match), I could see a team like Pittsburgh offering him a deal the Blues wouldn't match (3yrs x 3.5M, Blues would be stupid to match). Ideally Toronto would do it because that 1st and 3d would be more valuable.
Clearly, Stewart's St. Louis future is on the line. If he doesn't do it now, would gladly take Toronto's 1 and 3 for him.
Just think, the Cards were 10 1/2 back and made the playoffs. Lost their first game to the Phillies and won the series. Lost their first game to the Brewers and won the series. Were a strike away from elimination TWICE in the World Series and..........brought home a ring!
Now lets see what the Blues can prove!! I'm still extremely optimistic about this series even though we're down.
