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St. Louis Blues Beat: Week 3 2015

By Brandon J. Griffin

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What a rough week 3 for the St. Louis Blues, there were only two games on the docket and neither of them were wins. The boys in blue just can’t seem to catch a break, another week meant another handful of injuries.

It all started with team announcing that Jaden Schwartz will be out at least twelve weeks following an ankle surgery. The Blues will now have to persevere through an early season test of the team’s depth. This will also force some weird new line combinations, Hitchcock will have to get creative.

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After a 3-0 shut out at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, the Blues were looking to rebound against the New York Islanders on Saturday night but things did not go according to plan. A hard fought game that ended in overtime on a slow moving fluke bounce goal by Mikhail Grabovski.

The Islanders came into Scottrade with a couple key players scratched due to their poor outing against the Bruins Friday night. That didn’t translate into an advantage for the Blues, as they are down a good chunk of their key players.

Another strong outing by rookie Colton Parayko, as he scored two points on a couple of strange plays. He was the only Blues player to pick up two points and the only player on either team with a plus two rating.

The story at the end of the week was the Blues were simply outmatched, and beaten by two teams that were way hungrier. The team needs to find something to rally around though, as week four’s schedule isn’t any easier.

The Blues have three games to play this week with Tampa Bay, Anaheim, and Minnesota all paying a visit to St. Louis. All three teams are far from push overs, given the Blues current lineup’s health, still that is no excuse in the world of professional sports.

First up, the Lightning come to town, in what will be the Blues toughest match up this week. The Bolts are no joke, they are very much alive with a 5-2-2 record to start the season. The story here is whether or not the triplets line wakes up, it’s only a matter of time before they start dominating the league again.

Even if the triplets stay dormant, beyond them Tampa has an organizational depth that rivals the Blues (when healthy). From top to bottom TBL is one of the best teams in hockey, this will be a tough win for the Blues to come out with. However, former Blue, Ben Bishop has only one win in four starts versus St. Louis in his career, so there is hope.

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Thursday night the Anaheim Ducks come to town, a team that has been one of the biggest disappointments so far this season. Anaheim is 1-5-1 to start the season, despite great goaltending, they have not been able to get their offense going.

How long will it last though? A team led by Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf will surely figure out how to put the puck in the net. As far as the Blues are concerned however, we hope the struggle continues and the team can hand them yet another loss.

For the Blues to beat the Ducks, the focus has to be on goaltender Freddy Andersen. Despite having zero wins, his numbers are impressive. He is a big reason why the Ducks will eventually turn it around, just hopefully not until after Thursday night.

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    • Saturday night is the tale of some good old fashion revenge, as the Minnesota Wild return to St. Louis. This one is a simple revenge game, for the way the playoffs ended and for their first match up of the season. The Blues will have the momentum advantage going into this game, especially if they mange a win against Anaheim.

    Hitchcock needs to rally his troop entering this game, it should be a proving point for his effectiveness. If the Blues are to have success in this division and in the postseason, they need to beat the Wild.

    Tarasenko had zero points in the two games this week, that streak will end this week. The top line is the only one set in stone it seems for the Blues, but by Saturday Hitch should have the chemistry figured out and be able to stick it to Minnesota. The Blues need to showcase their depth, and with the injuries they have been given the perfect opportunity to do so.

    Assuming Anaheim continues to struggle, and Hitchcock can rally his troops against the Wild effectively, I expect the Blues to come out of this week with a 7-3-1 record. I think when Tampa comes to play in the western conference they’re here to prove a point, and with a laundry list of injuries I don’t think the Blues can keep up. The other two games however, I believe the Blues can win, it all depends on Hitchcock’s level of creativity and proactively reading match-ups.

    Next: Blues Line Combinations Show Change

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