St. Louis Blues Morning Links: Duck A L’Orange
Good morning Blues fans! We might not know what to do with ourselves. The Blues have done something we have not seen in two months. Win back-to-back games.
The St. Louis Blues were in need of something on this west coast road trip. We were not quite sure exactly what it was.
After the Blues seemed to be falling apart at the seams, many of us were just wanting to see some good hockey. We were not even demanding wins any more. It was just a decent effort that most fans clamored for.
Well, the Blues did just that and more. They had a rather embarrassing loss against the Los Angeles Kings and while St. Louis always struggles against LA, they were without their usual goaltender.
So, we began calling for sweeping changes. Maybe fans need to call for heads to roll every single time because the team seems to respond to that.
St. Louis came out and took the game right to San Jose on Saturday. They dominated a physically bigger team and put a full effort into a full 60 minutes. It was not something we have seen too often in 2016-17, so you could have forgiven them if they could not do it two nights in a row.
Forget all that, the Blues did the exact same thing the next night in Anaheim. Again it was a great team effort with good goaltending, decent defending and timely scoring.
The goals the Blues got were not flashy. They were not pretty. They were grit and determination and getting to the hard areas of the ice.
Additionally, both goals were from Patrik Berglund. That says enough about the Blues effort by itself.
Nothing against Berglund, but many of us were ready to give him up for dead. He’s a strong player that, when motivated, can dominate a game but rarely does it.
The big Swede is now on a bona fide hot streak. Like the goaltending, the Blues need to ride his and their hot streak as long as possible.
The team has won two in a row for the first time in almost two months. The last time we saw multiple wins was way back in mid-November.
That’s not too long on the calendar, but there have been a lot of games in that period. Thus, it is way too long with either losing multiple games in a row or going back and forth.
Now St. Louis is presented with a new challenge – keep it going. Getting a legitimate win streak together will not be easy.
The Blues have Ottawa on Tuesday and then Washington on Thursday before returning to the road. While the Blues still have a great home record, those two are going to be difficult Eastern Conference opponents.
Ottawa is fighting for their playoff lives. Washington is tops in the East.
The good thing is the Blues seem to play to their competition. Now they just need to keep doing just that.
Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started off right.
Berglund normally would not have even seen the ice in overtime, let alone that early in the extra frame. However, that shows the adaptability of Ken Hitchcock to realize when a player is on a hot streak and using it. (STLBlues)
Hear from the key players, Berglund, Hutton and Hitchcock following last night’s performance. All three played a big part in getting the victory against the Ducks (the team’s first in Anaheim since 2009) (Blues)
The Blues defensive pairs have never been a huge issue since the entire unit was not playing that great. However, they seem to have found some couplings that work. Despite abandoning the left-right combos, Alex Pietrangelo seems quite comfortable playing on the left. (Post-Dispatch)
The NHL players are not the only ones that are finding their potential. The Blues prospect pool is full of guys chomping at the bit. Whether it is the AHL or the lower levels, we have reason to be excited about the future of some of the Blues’ players. (St. Louis Gametime)
Next: Trade Prospects: Tyler Bozak
The Blues almost have to go on a win streak right now. Minnesota has won 17 of 20 now and just defeated Chicago to take over first place in the division. (ESPN)
Everyone seems to be streaking right now. The Blues’ Thursday opponent, the Capitals have their own streak going. (NHL)