May 8, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov (26) celebrates his game winning goal against the St. Louis Blues during overtime in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Kings defeated the Blues 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Blues once led their first round playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings by 2 games to none. Losing 3-2 to the Kings in overtime Wednesday night at Scottrade Center cost the Blues the game, the series lead (they’re now down 3 games to 2) and home ice advantage. Slava Voynov scored 8 minutes into the extra frame and St. Louis now faces elimination in Game 6 in LA.

The Blues had an opportunity to put the Kings up against a wall Wednesday night. With a win the Blues would have re-taken the series lead and maintained their home-ice edge, knowing that even an LA win in Game 6 would mean coming back to St. Louis to finish things. Including playoff games, the Blues had won eight straight in the friendly confines and only allowed 8 goals in that span- one per game, a stingy GAA by any measure.

Things have been different since losing Game 4 earlier this week. The Blues have now given up SEVEN goals in two games, and it beginning to look a lot like February. That’s how far back you”d have to go to see the Blues lose more than 3 games in a row. They came up short Wednesday despite out-shooting LA 36-25.

May 8, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) makes a save against the St. Louis Blues during overtime in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Kings defeated the Blues 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Jonathan Quick was once again near the top of his game as the Blues swarmed the LA net and out-shot the Kings 12-8 in the 1st period. Unable to solve Quick (and of course, firing a few shots high and wide) the Blues missed their chance at taking the game’s first lead, though that hasn’t meant a lot in this series so far.

The Kings struck first, just 14 seconds into period 2, stunning the Scottrade crowd. The Blues were careless and had iced the puck right off the initial face-off, which brought the puck down into their end. Until Game 4, St. Louis had been dominating the dots, actually leading the entire league in face-off win percentage, but these last two game saw LA turn the tide and it cost the Blues. Patrik Berglund got tossed from the circle and LA won the second draw, fired a puck on net and Brian Elliott couldn’t hang on to the rebound. Jeff Carter banged it in for his second goal of the series. Alex Steen was able to tie the game 1-1 later in the 2nd, which instantly brought the crowd back to life and gave St. Louis reason to believe they were still in the game.

That feeling was short-lived. Special teams weren’t prominent in Game 5 with only three penalties called all night, but a Tripping call against Barret Jackman inside the final minute of the 2nd period put the Blues down a man entering the 3rd. The Kings took advantage and Carter scored again inside the first minute of the period to put the Kings back on top, 2-1. The rest of the game felt desperate for St. Louis. They continued firing shots on Quick but looked to be on their heels as LA dug in and basically beat the Blues at their own game, being stingy in their own zone and preventing the Blues from getting the puck in very deep.

With time ticking away and only 44 seconds left Alex Pietrangelo fired a shot that found its way through traffic (Jaden Schwartz was camped in front of Quick) and into the net to tie the game 2-2. The Scottrade Center crowd erupted. The Blues had life and the game went into overtime.

It really felt like the momentum had shifted entirely back to the St. Louis side of the ice. Going into the extra frame I was certain the Blues would score and win Game 5. The line of Schwartz, David Backes, and Steen had been playing like gangbusters all night. The Blues were fired up, the fans were in a frenzy. It wasn’t to be, however, as 8 minutes in Voynov led an odd-man rush into the St. Louis zone and ripped off a shot that got through Elliott’s pads for the game-winner.

May 8, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center Jaden Schwartz (9) is tripped up by Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin (6) during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

What a let-down. The first thought was that Ells most certainly should’ve stopped the puck. He looked out of position for the first time in 2 weeks. Upon further review you can see Schwartz, working hard to backcheck into the play, get his stick on Voynov’s hands just as the shot was made altering the direction of the puck. Ells was ready for a high shot but it got cut off and stayed low. Such is the way of overtime and the playoffs.

Schwartz, Steen, Vladimir Sobotka, and the CPR line all played out of their minds Wednesday night. Inexplicably, we didn’t see the CPR line much at all in the 3rd period despite them giving the Blues some of the best shifts of the game, especially down below the red line in the offensive zone. Equally as mind boggling was the fact that throughout the game AND into overtime we saw Andy McDonald and Chris Stewart on the ice, shift after shift, though they did absolutely nothing and haven’t really at all in this first round series.

May 8, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center David Backes (42) falls into Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

I’m not usually a fan of dramatic changes to the lineup, but I’d really like to see Coach Hitchcock make some major changes for Game 6. I’d be glad to see Kris Russell in for Roman Polak. I would much rather see a big kid like Dimitrij Jaskin skating instead of McDonald. Mac looks too small and too lost out there against the Kings and is hurting the team. Stewart, well, he’s been invisible but at least he has the size to match up with LA.

Game 6 is tonight in Los Angeles. The Blues need a win to stay alive and bring the series back home to St. Louis for the finale Monday night. Elliott shouldn’t be effected by the overtime loss, he’s been stellar and will continue to play well. It’s Quick the Blues need to worry about, and they’ll need to fire on all cylinders to have any chance of winning. Hitchcock said after Wednesday’s game that it was about the best the Blues have played. Their best didn’t look good enough to beat the Kings. St. Louis has failed to find that extra gear required to succeed in the post-season. They better find it tonight.

GO BLUES! Long Live the Note!

May 6th, 2013

Staples Center

Los Angeles, California

9:00 p.m. CST

TV: FOX Sports Midwest

Blues lead Kings in series 2-1

ST. LOUIS BLUES

(2-1-0, in Series)

The St. Louis Blues enter game four tonight with a two-to-one series lead over the L.A. Kings and will look to take a strangle hold on the series with a victory tonight. They are coming off of a 1-0 loss against the Kings in game three in which they failed to put the puck in the back of the net for the first time in the series. The story of the series for the Blues is their inability to finish on their prime scoring chances. They continue to miss wide open nets, ring pucks off the posts, and all together fail to put the puck in the back of the net. Tonight, they need to focus on putting the puck on net more. There are far to many missed opportunities for St. Louis and the players need to start bearing down the Kings in the offensive zone.

Vladimir Tarasenko will return to the line up tonight as Adam Cracknell will sit for the Blues. Tarasenko will join Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves on the fourth line to start the game but will likely move up in the game if other players are ineffective in the game.

Key players

Alex Steen – 3 Games Played – 1 PPG – 1 SHG – 9 Shots

Alex Steen was the Blues hero in game one of the series, scoring both goals in a 2-1 overtime victory. His first goal came on the powerplay, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead. After the Kings tied it at the end of regulation, and Kevin Shattenkirk took a four minute high sticking penalty, it was Alex Steen stealing the puck from Jonathan Quick from behind the net and scoring shorthanded to give the Blues the win.

David Backes – 3 Games Played – 0 Goals – 14 Hits

Backes has been a force physically this series, and has had many scoring chances but has yet to record a point thus far in the first three games. He’s been centering the top line for St. Louis, in between veteran forward Alex Steen and rookie Jaden Schwartz. He continues to drive the forecheck and open up spaces for his line mates but only Steen has been able to put points on the board. Watch for Backes to continue to be a force in the series and for the Blues to continue to do well in the series, Backes needs to start scoring.

Brian Elliott – 3 Games Played – 0.93 GAA – .962 SV%

Brian Elliott – PHOTO BY SCOTT NEER

Elliott has continued to dominate between the pipes for the Blues. April was by far Elliott’s best month with an 11-2-0 record and has continued it with a 2-1-0 record in the playoffs. Elliott has given the Blues a chance to win every night and has to continue his superb play if the Blues want a chance to win this series. He has been the best Blues player on the ice and will have to be for a Blues win tonight.

LOS ANGLES KINGS

(1-2-0, in Series)

Key players

Dustin Brown – 3 Games Played – 1 Goal – 20 Hits

There is a very good reason that Brown leads the Stanley Cup playoffs in hits. He punishes anyone who is anywhere close to him with the puck. He’s blasted many Blues players through these three games and has proven he plays on the edge as he has already given a knee-on-knee hit to Jaden Schwartz. He’s has to be hit back and the Blues have to keep their heads up when he’s on the ice.

Justin Williams – 3 Games Played – 1 Goal – 15  Shots

Williams has been the Kings best forward when it comes to scoring chances this series. One of the few forwards who drives hard to Elliott and continuously throws shots on the net. The Blues must get their sticks on pucks around Williams otherwise he has the shot to beat the Blues defense.

Jonathan Quick – 3 Games Played – 1.25 GAA – .956 SV%

Quick has been a force thus far in the series, shutting the Blues down for most of every game. He has made a few mistakes in the series and has proven to be a very beatable goalie with the amount of rebounds he kicks out. The Blues must pounce on those rebounds and hit the net in order to beat Quick. If not, Quick will continue to look like a god and frustrate a lot of Blues fans.

Bottom line

Bottom line, the Blues have to keep their forecheck up and hem the Kings down in the defensive zone. They have to start pouncing on loose pucks and putting the puck on net as they have far to many shots going wide of the net. If they can do this, they have a good chance of taking the game in Los Angeles.

The Kings have to start pushing back harder and transitioning the puck out quicker if they want to continue to shut down the Blues offense. Their not putting enough shots on Elliott and the shots they are getting are from the outside. They have to start getting to the dirty areas of the ice if they want to put the puck past Elliott and have a chance to even the series up.

Injuries

- #33 Willie Mitchell (D), IR w/ Lower-body injury (Knee), had arthroscopic surgery to scope knee. Mitchell will NOT return this season.

- #2 Matt Greene ‘A’ (D), Day-to-Day w/ Undisclosed but NOT related to recent Back Issue, questionable for Game 4 against St. Louis.

- #15 Jamie Langenbrunner (RW/LW), On IR w/ Hip surgery, out indefinitely and will miss the remainder of the season.

- #12 Scott Nichol (C), Day-to-Day w/ Lower-Body injury, out indefinitely, remains questionable for the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Los Angeles.

It’s a big night for the Blues, who can take a strangle hold with a win tonight!

LETS GO BLUES!

- Randall Ritchey

@Ritchey_BB

randallritchey@gmail.com