Blues Become Prey for Predators – NSH 4, STL 3
You don’t scratch a healthy #1 draft pick, even to send a message. Period. And yet, this is exactly what Blues head coach Andy Murray did this Tuesday night, when the Blues hosted the Nashville Predators. Erik Johnson, the Blues best defender (arguably the best overall player) and #1 overall pick in 2006 was a healthy scratch in a game when they certainly could have used his puck moving abilities and heavy shot, as St. Louis fell to their Central Division rivals 4-3.
In typical Blues fashion, St. Louis fans were promised false hope as Carlo Colaiacovo scored less than two minutes into the first period. This early goal led many to believe that some momentum could be gained and that our boys would be firing on all cylinders to protect and add to that lead. Shame on us; we know better than that, especially at home.
Marcel Goc, an acquisition from San Jose and one of the few players mostly unknown to Mason, tied the game shortly afterwards on a screen shot. As per usual, Blues forwards did more harm than help on the play, as 1-way player Brad Boyes completely blocked Mason’s view of the shot.
Swedish rookie Patric Hornqvist added one more for Nashville, who earned their goals in the first by outshooting the Blues 15-6 in the 1st period. It was a PPG, one that resulted from the Blues perpetual inability to clear the puck from our zone.
The second period saw more of the same offensive problems for the Blues, who were once again outshot for the entire period (11-9), and outscored 1-0. This time, Joel Ward scored a 5-on-3 goal for the Preds, a gift from the defensive dunces of the Blues. The goal COULD have been prevented, had gorilla Barret Jackman decided NOT to be the cause of a delay of game penalty, doubling the man advantage.
For once in the past week, the Blues showed up for the 3rd period, despite giving up the first goal on an embarrassing play for old-timer Darryl Sydor.
(sidebar: Darryl Sydor is a waste of cap space and ice time. The Blues could be staring at another young, talented defenseman like Pietrangelo or Junland, but they choose to start a 37 year old relic who falls over when backchecking. It was a fine decision to CONSIDER him as veteran support, but he’s simply too old to be useful. That much should have been clear after his invitation to training camp. I thought we were done signing has-beens/never was’es when we got rid of Jamal Mayers, for chrissake…)
The Blues scored two unanswered goals afterward, including a goal from Alex Steen, one of the better skaters for St. Louis as of late. Andy McDonald added a powerplay tally at 12:30. Once again, the Blues pulled Mason with less than 2 minutes to go, which proved to be as useful as sitting Erik Johnson tonight, as the Blues failed to connect with the extra skater.
Scratching Berglund, Perron, or even our beloved TJ Oshie for a game is acceptable. All the members of last year’s “kid line” need time to take a look at their game (occasionally from the bench or broadcast booth) and fix problem areas. This is a luxury that Erik Johnson simply cannot afford. We need him to be on the ice every single night. He needs to be as durable as he is talented.
When your defender leads your team in scoring points for 3 weeks in a row, YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO SIT HIM. His four goals and 17 assists mean that he’s doing the right things. Johnson’s got more confidence than ever and we need to use that to our advantage, especially when he’s the #1 draft pick, a workhorse on the ice, and a natural leader in the locker room.
Shea Weber’s presence on the ice tonight proves this. He’s another good, young defenseman with many of the same offensive benefits as EJ. And what happened for him tonight? He only led the team in shots (7 on the night), PP time (7:03), and racked up a ton of ice time for a 24-year old (25:10). This is the kind of performance we need from our number one defenseman. The only problem is that he can’t do it if he’s riding the pine pony!
Andy Murray needs to get his lines and his starters sorted out, especially before they face last season’s playoff rivals (and all-around assholes) the Vancouver Canucks. A win on Thursday would help ease the pain of still being the worst home team in the NHL. With the All-Star break getting closer and closer, it’s time the Blues put up or shut up.