Penguins at St. Louis Blues: Two Keys To Winning
By Kate Cimini
The Blue Note will take on the Steel City’s Penguins tonight at 7 PM CST in the Scottrade Center. If things go well for St. Louis, this will be the fourth loss in the row for the Penguins and a win the Blues will need to maintain their place in the standings over the next two weeks. The Chicago Blackhawks are only five points behind the Blues, and are picking up steam just as St. Louis is hitting a patch of elite competitors. Here are two key things the Blues will need to do if they want to win against Pittsburgh effectively.
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Stay Out Of The Box
The Blues have most recently had a bad habit of taking too many penalties — last night’s game against Boston reminded us of that clearly, with Backes taking two back-to-back penalties and handing a power play situation over to the Bruins. St. Louis was lucky the Bruins are in such disarray and were unable to make much of the situation.
In Tuesday’s game against Dallas, Jackman displayed similarly poor decision-making skills. He, at least, saved his instigator penalty for the last few minutes of the game, when the Blues were already too far down to come back without some kind of gift from the Stars. That game was full of foolish penalties (remember when both teams got caught for too many men? Ridiculous) and it cost them the comeback they needed after the first period.
Feb 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Barret Jackman (5) and Dallas Stars left wing Antoine Roussel (21) fight during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Dallas Stars defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
They cannot afford to give those opportunities to Pittsburgh. The Penguins are a dangerous team on the power play, converting approximately 20% of the time and sitting at number nine in the NHL.
The Blues have the edge, with their penalty kill efficacy around 81% but there is little to no sense in handing power play chances to the Penguins. They’ve lost three in a row and will be bringing their A game tonight to the Scottrade Center.
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Backcheck, Backcheck, Backcheck
It goes without saying, and on a defensively-responsible team like the Blues I wouldn’t normally point this out, but Pittsburgh is fast, and Crosby is the fastest of them.
While Crosby hasn’t scored a point in three games, he’s doing an excellent job of setting his teammates up for a shot on net, and Pittsburgh has no trouble going to the crease when they want to push that puck in. For Elliott’s sake, the defense needs to buckle down and the forwards need to do their absolute best to keep the puck moving forward.
The addition of Lindbohm will certainly help with that; he’s known for having an excellent net-front presence and last night showed not only a dogged stay-out-of-our-crease mentality, but a hunger for points. I liked his play last night, but he needs to stay out of the penalty box tonight. He’ll be more valuable on the ice for the Blues than off.
What do you think the Blues need to do tonight?