Blues Can’t Pass Predators, Brodeur Still A Contender

The St. Louis Blues (16-8-2) lost to the Nashville Predators (17-6-2) 4-3 tonight in Nashville. Both teams entered the the game coming off a loss with the Predators being a little more rested than the Blues who played the night before. Tonight’s game was also the debut of the future hall of fame goaltender Martin Brodeur as a Blue as well as his first NHL game with a team other than the New Jersey Devils.

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Tonight’s loss kept the Blues from passing the Predators in the standings which would have put the Blues in the lead of the Central Division. The Predators are now a game ahead of the Blues in the standings with the Chicago Blackhawks being a point behind. Fortunately Chicago had the night off which allows the Blues to hold the second place position.

GAME RECAP

The game started with even play from both sides. By the three minute mark the Blues had taken over the play. At 5:46 Vladimir Tarasenko carried the puck into the Predators’ zone, passed to Alexander Steen, then got it back to score and give the Blues a 1-0 lead. After 12 minutes the Predators found their stride and tied up the shots. At 14:10 Filip Forsberg caught a rebound to tie the game at 1. At 16:53 Mike Ribeiro was called for hooking to give the Blues their first power play. The Blues controlled the power play but couldn’t score. With 52 seconds left Eric Nystrom found open ice and scored to give the Predators a 2-1 lead that they carried into the second.

At 1:25 in the second, after some passing Ribeiro scored to extend the Predators’ lead to 3-1. Right off the faceoff at 3:51, Tarasenko found an opening from a distance to score and make the score 3-2. Paul Stastny and Carl Gunnarsson received assists. At 7:09 the Predators put too many men on the ice to give the Blues a second power play shot. The Blues made a few plays but came out without a goal. After 10 minutes, the Blues regained their momentum and carried it into the late minutes of the period. With 32 seconds left in the period Patrik Berglund was called for holding to put the Blues on a penalty kill for the first time of the night. The penalty carried over to the third period.

The Blues killed the remainder of the penalty and handled a few additional minutes of defensive zone pressure. After five and a half minutes Mattias Ekholm cleared the puck over the glass for a delay of game. The Blues put up a strong offensive but failed to score on the power play. At 9:30 Colin Wilson scored on a break increasing the Predators’ lead 4-2. At 12:32 Jaden Schwartz scored on a shot in the left circle to make the score 4-3. Kevin Shattenkirk earned the assist. At 13:14 Petteri Lindbohm was called for holding which put the Blues on a penalty kill for the second time. The Blues killed the penalty. With less than a minute left Martin Brodeur left the net to give the Blues a 6 on 5 advantage. Despite the extra man the Blues couldn’t get a tying goal and ended up losing 4-3.

HOW THEY PLAYED

Things still weren’t working for the Blues tonight. A lot of the old problems from earlier in the season are cropping up again; namely their inability to score on the power play, reliance on the Tarasenko, Lehtera Schwartz line for goals and lack of defense.

Last night against Chicago the Blues failed to score over about 6 power play opportunities. Tonight they missed on three. The Predators have spent the least amount of time shorthanded of all teams this season so far. Less time shorthanded means less experience killing penalties. Considering the Blues earned fewer penalties than the Predators, the odds were in their favor and tonight was the night they should have broken their dry spell. The Blues put on a strong offensive in their first power play but their efforts still aren’t earning them goals.

When T.J. Oshie returned a few weeks back and we saw him as well as members of the 4th line start scoring things began looking up for the Blues. Before that it was Vladimir Tarasenko, Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz winning all of the games. When this line scored, the Blues would win. When they didn’t, the team wouldn’t. All three of tonight’s points came from this line with most, as usual, coming from Tarasenko. The Blues are in need of support from their other lines and cannot continue to rely on Tarasenko. Vladi has been a highlight player since the start of the season. This prestige comes with a cost, evident in some of the chops he took after a couple of plays in Chicago last night. If he gets injured and the other players can’t pick up the slack, the Team will fall down the standings fast.

Dec 4, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Martin Brodeur (30) prior to the game against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Martin Brodeur showed that he is still a force to be had in this league. It was fun watching his goal-tending style and skill. Brodeur doesn’t just play well in the net but on the ice as well and is especially effective with his stick. While he gave up four goals in his debut as a Blue his performance can’t be put to blame. Brodeur had very little defensive support especially with East/West passing in front of the crease that exposed his open side for a few of the goals. The Blues gave up too many odd man rushes without gaining any of their own. Maybe these are problems that will be fixed with the return of Jay Bouwmeester and some lecturing.

Regardless, while I hope for a speedy recovery for Brian Elliot, I won’t have a problem watching Brodeur don the Blue Note for the time being. Perhaps tonight’s loss will give the team the push they need for fear of letting down Brodeur or will at least inspire them to play in a way so that he will remember their names.

What were your thoughts on the game? Leave your comments below.