i just want to say i dont think we were "dominated"
your forecheck is intense, but in terms of generating the turnovers for high quality chances, it didnt really happen. id say you had the puck longer, but we did the same to you for some stretches and made halak work a little harder. imo. though overall shot count paints a different story, 11 were from shattenkirk alone and you only had 8 more than us. we made some poor choices with the puck at times, but we also generated quite a few clean zone entries, and worked our forecheck very well.
probably homer bias creeping in though.
i was surprised at just how fast all of your players are. the bottom six battle will be intense this whole series and im already hating that reaves kid. looks like the top lines shut each other down, but id say your top line edged it in this game, hoping they step up in game 2.
i just want to say i dont think we were "dominated"
your forecheck is intense, but in terms of generating the turnovers for high quality chances, it didnt really happen. id say you had the puck longer, but we did the same to you for some stretches and made halak work a little harder. imo. though overall shot count paints a different story, 11 were from shattenkirk alone and you only had 8 more than us. we made some poor choices with the puck at times, but we also generated quite a few clean zone entries, and worked our forecheck very well.
probably homer bias creeping in though.
i was surprised at just how fast all of your players are. the bottom six battle will be intense this whole series and im already hating that reaves kid. looks like the top lines shut each other down, but id say your top line edged it in this game, hoping they step up in game 2.
Gotta say, Ryan Reaves played so well yesterday before he got hurt, I legitimately would consider giving Arnott (who looked tiiiiirrreeed late) a day to rest on Saturday, and making our 3rd line Stewart/Sobotka/Reaves. If anyone can make Stewart play to the intensity he needs, it's those two.
But yeah, Reaves could be the Blues breakout player in these playoffs without scoring a goal.
Gotta say, Ryan Reaves played so well yesterday before he got hurt, I legitimately would consider giving Arnott (who looked tiiiiirrreeed late) a day to rest on Saturday, and making our 3rd line Stewart/Sobotka/Reaves. If anyone can make Stewart play to the intensity he needs, it's those two.
But yeah, Reaves could be the Blues breakout player in these playoffs without scoring a goal.
seriously, by the end of the first period i think my wife had yelled at #75 like 8 times
whats his injury situation?
i also read a lot of stewart talk happening. obviously im watching the sharks a lot closer. was he a pylon?
seriously, by the end of the first period i think my wife had yelled at #75 like 8 times
whats his injury situation?
i also read a lot of stewart talk happening. obviously im watching the sharks a lot closer. was he a pylon?
It looked like he caught a skate or something like that in the face in the 3rd after finishing a check, and didn't get another shift. Either he was hurt or Hitchcock went to 11 forwards in an OT game and held of on a guy who seemed to be all over the place, which would have been a gigantic mistake.
As for Stewart, I don't think he played bad at all yesterday it's just... With his skillset, he could be a force of nature. I sometimes wonder if he overthinks things instead of just letting the game come naturally to him. If anyone can make Stewie go back to thinking "Shut up and hit someone!", it's gotta be Sobotka and Reaves. And if he re-realizes just how talented and strong he is devensivly, it will probably lead to him waking up offensivly.
i just want to say i dont think we were "dominated"
your forecheck is intense, but in terms of generating the turnovers for high quality chances, it didnt really happen. id say you had the puck longer, but we did the same to you for some stretches and made halak work a little harder. imo. though overall shot count paints a different story, 11 were from shattenkirk alone and you only had 8 more than us. we made some poor choices with the puck at times, but we also generated quite a few clean zone entries, and worked our forecheck very well.
probably homer bias creeping in though.
i was surprised at just how fast all of your players are. the bottom six battle will be intense this whole series and im already hating that reaves kid. looks like the top lines shut each other down, but id say your top line edged it in this game, hoping they step up in game 2.
I don't know if you can call it dominating the play, but the Blues definitely controlled the tempo in the 3rd and overtime. San Jose got tired faster than the Blues did and that led to the lopsided looking first overtime, then the Blues became just as tired and the Sharks got the goal. The first 2 were definitely back and forth, but I just felt that the Blues controlled the pace for a pretty good amount of time there.
Teams with 13 more points in the regular season than their playoff foes are 11-9 in the prelimminary round (55% winning pct).
Sharks are 5-2 in road series all-time
In the first round road teams that win game 1 are 25-54 in game 2 (31.6%)
lower seeds that win game one of a first round series win the series 49.4% of the time (39-40)
In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through 2011, inclusive, road teams down a goal with 5:17 left in regulation had a game record of only 45-517 (.080) prior to San Jose's win.
St. Louis is 25-25 in Game 1s San Jose is 14-14 in Game 1's
St. Louis is 10-9 in first round series (19-30 overall)
San Jose is 10-4 in first round series (13-14 overall)
Well, I'd rather be dominated and win, than dominate and lose, at least in the POs.
I did miss most of the game - Reaves, is he going to be able to play Saturday, or is the jury still out on that one?
I don't know if you can call it dominating the play, but the Blues definitely controlled the tempo in the 3rd and overtime. San Jose got tired faster than the Blues did and that led to the lopsided looking first overtime, then the Blues became just as tired and the Sharks got the goal. The first 2 were definitely back and forth, but I just felt that the Blues controlled the pace for a pretty good amount of time there.
The Blues definitely controlled the pace by far in the 1st OT, but the Sharks did heavily in the 2nd OT, and they actually had about equal scoring chances (calculate by Fear the Fin) after regulation. YOu have to consider that 11 of the Blues 42 shots were from defenseman Shattenkirk, almost all of which were point shots, and therefore low probability. I guess it looked a little worse than it was, but it's amazing that the Sharks got out of the first OT, considering how badly the BLues outplayed them in that period.
I was yelling at Shatty at the beginning of the game last game to start taking shots because he looked a little nervous at the beginning. I think he finally heard me which led to the first Blues goal. Honestly that's how the Blues score most of their goals when they are not on an odd man rush or the PP.
I was getting sick of the constant cycling then trying to take shots from the side only to be blocked by Sharks players. I look for Shatty or Pie to take shots from the points, get a rebound, and bang it in.
Well, I'd rather be dominated and win, than dominate and lose, at least in the POs.
I did miss most of the game - Reaves, is he going to be able to play Saturday, or is the jury still out on that one?
Just a hunch that he plays. He took a skate above the eye, but didn't look to be bleeding too much.
I can't see him sitting the way he was playing yesterday.
I thought it was over after the Blues took that 2-1 lead in the third. Good resilience by the Sharks to come back despite being outplayed in the 3rd.
I was just waiting for one of those 14 shots to go in during the first OT, but Nemo played pretty incredible.
I have a feeling this is going to be a long and bruising series. So much hitting in that game. I wouldn't be surprised if 2 or 3 more games go to OT as well.
seriously, by the end of the first period i think my wife had yelled at #75 like 8 times
whats his injury situation?
i also read a lot of stewart talk happening. obviously im watching the sharks a lot closer. was he a pylon?
Stewart has had a disappointing season, not meeting expectations.
With Brewer and Boyes gone, and Jackman playing well, Stewart has become the new whipping boy.
Some people feel the 2OT goal was his fault. Not Shattenkirk for not clearing the zone, not Sobotka for not having his man (subtle interference, not complaining), but Stewart for not noticing.
They completely are overlooking the solid but unspectacular game he had, including what I felt was a great first period.
I believe the term is 'confirmation bias'. People are looking for Stewart to mess up, so when he does it confirms he is a scrub.
Stewart has had a disappointing season, not meeting expectations.
With Brewer and Boyes gone, and Jackman playing well, Stewart has become the new whipping boy.
Some people feel the 2OT goal was his fault. Not Shattenkirk for not clearing the zone, not Sobotka for not having his man (subtle interference, not complaining), but Stewart for not noticing.
They completely are overlooking the solid but unspectacular game he had, including what I felt was a great first period.
I believe the term is 'confirmation bias'. People are looking for Stewart to mess up, so when he does it confirms he is a scrub.
we definitely have that going on with Niemi i think. seemed like some of the guys on here were grudgingly admitting niemi had a great game. but then quickly saying he cant sustain it. honestly the tip in shouldve never happened and vlasic just plain got outworked.
this game was the only one ive seen so far that was called correctly by the refs. the hits were clean, nothing malicious. just good hard play on both sides.
you were the better team, you executed your system probably exactly how the coach wanted, but our PK did its job and i think limited you guys mostly to point or outside bad angle shots, which is what our defensive system is.
id say our breakouts still need work, and i wish we didnt give up the neutral zone so easily. should be a good game 2.
