Hello Blues fans! The team has another shot at eliminating the Minnesota Wild today. They will have to do it while the Xcel Energy Center is bearing down on them.
The St. Louis Blues get shot number two at eliminating the Minnesota Wild today. They do it with an afternoon puck drop in St. Paul.
As you can tell from the title, we are all hoping they do not come home. We all love our hockey team and want to see them again soon. Nobody wants the Blues to come home for another game in this series though.
The Blues have been a mixed bag on the road this year. Normally a very good road team, St. Louis had more mixed success this season.
St. Louis went 22-17-2 on road ice in 2016-17. They are 3-2 against Minnesota in the Xcel Energy Center, but that includes playoffs so they were 1-2 there during the regular season.
Thank goodness, this is not the regular season. The Blues have not necessarily looked that great on the road during this year’s playoffs, but they have won and that is the most important thing.
If St. Louis can avoid a Game 1 or Game 4 performance, they will be fine. It would be nice to not lean on Jake Allen so much, but with those extra days off, fatigue should not be an issue – at least not physical fatigue.
The Blues do need to keep the shot totals either down or quality chances away. St. Louis has allowed 145 shots against in four games.
We saw in Game 3, though, that totals don’t mean anything. The Blues gave up 35 shots against in that game, but you never got that foreboding feeling that Minnesota was about to pounce.
On the flip side, 28 shots against in Game 4 were of much higher quality. You worried that many more might go in.
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So, it is all about where they come on the ice. Rebound control from Allen and his defenders will also be key today.
The Wild did a much better job of camping out in front of the net in Game 4. The Blues must not allow that and sweep away any loose pucks that Allen cannot wrangle.
Offense is going to be the biggest key for either side. The team that scored first has won all four games. The Blues cannot think they can have another Game 4 type first period and win.
Allen might stand on his head, but the forwards need to do their job and give him a cushion for once.
It has been said plenty of times, but the Blues simply cannot play like they know they have a tomorrow. It is impossible to keep that thought completely away, but there must be more desperation.
Minnesota knows they must win or it is golf time. The Blues need more of that in their game.
St. Louis has proven they can beat the Wild even when the Blues are not at their best. The Wild are a great team, but we also still have not seen St. Louis’ best.
Hopefully we see that best today. Don’t come home Blues. Not in a negative voice, like don’t come home if you lose, but we don’t want to see another game at Scottrade if it is not against Nashville.
Here are your St. Louis Blues Morning Links to get your day started off right.
The old saying goes: If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying. That applies to hockey too. The Blues are not a great faceoff team, but the Wild are getting away with a little too much in the circle. St. Louis knows it too and just know they need to cheat a little more themselves. (STLToday)
Nothing official has been handed down regarding the lineup today. However, if you read between the lines, one can expect Paul Stastny to return since he spent practice time with the top line. (Post-Dispatch)
Today’s game is on NBC. For those of you that do not need to see the game live and could accept a 40 second delay, I suggest listening to the audio feed. It takes some doing, but you can pause your TV and sync it up with KMOX’s audio and not have to throw things at the television. (KMOX)
Despite their rise to power late in the season, the Chicago Wolves needed some late heroics to avoid going down 0-2 in their series. They got just that. (Wolves)
Depending on who you listen to, there will either be some good players to choose from in the expansion draft or some so-so ones. Count the Golden Knights’ coach as one who thinks it will be a solid squad to start their new campaign. (NHL)
Despite the fact they will remain in the greater New York area, the Islanders are quickly becoming the Arizona Coyotes of the east. The question remains as to whether they will ever find a permanent home. (ESPN)
Have a great day Blues fans!