St. Louis Blues April 14, 2019: Thoughts From The Common Fan

The St. Louis Blues shocked a lot of people when they took both games in Winnipeg. Now, it is up to the players to keep that all going.

The day has arrived at last. No, I am not talking about the new Star Wars trailer, though that was a good day. The St. Louis Blues are finally playing a home game in the NHL playoffs.

The Blues took two games from the Winnipeg Jets, a fact that none of us really expected and some almost fear. The reason we fear it is history.

On the one hand, it seems unlikely the Blues would drop four out of five games, so we should be confident. On the other hand, all it takes is dropping Game 3 and the sweat beads start forming on all our brows.

The main thing will be for the team to not pick any of that energy up. That is the one thing I fear about them playing at home is the energy being too much for them.

We have seen how it can happen in Winnipeg. Time after time, we heard from the announcers how loud it was and how great the atmosphere. As soon as the Blues would tie or take a lead, you could hear a pin drop.

I do not think Enterprise Center will have that happen, but you never can tell. Blues fans are an odd mix of positivity and half a century of disappointment that is starting to boil.

The Injury Watch Begins

The one thing that stinks about the playoffs, as much as we all love them, is the injuries. So far, we don’t have anything major with the Blues, but we are getting close.

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Ryan O’Reilly was the guy we were all worried about the most during Game 2. They were not disgusting cheap shots, but Winnipeg took some dirty hits on O’Reilly near the boards. Even if injury was not the intent, any time a player goes into the wall, something bad can happen.

After the first hit, especially, there was a worry about a concussion. O’Reilly looked a little dazed and kept trying to shake off the cobwebs. In the old days, nobody would think anything of it. Now, you worry that he could have something wrong and miss significant time.

Thankfully, nothing has been said about O’Reilly, so we might have lucked out.

Also in the category of player to watch is the captain, Alex Pietrangelo. Petro made a huge block at the end of Game 2, but he hobbled off the ice afterward.

It was the kind of thing you need in the playoffs and appreciated by Craig Berube. “We’re doing a good job defensively with a lot of big blocked shots — and a lot of the little things you have to do,” said Berube in the Post Dispatch.

Still, even if Pietgrangelo can go, you wonder about his leg. Any tweak to that injury at the wrong time can put him behind the eight ball.

Or, maybe we will never even know about it. One season, Alexander Steen had a fracture and we never knew about it until after the season.

Hopefully that will be the case. The Blues have plenty of depth, but work their best when everyone is in their correct spot. Changing lines at this point could upset the cart.

Home Cooking

As a fan, it can be nervous having the games at home. The Blues were pretty bad on home ice to begin the season, but they have turned things around near the end of the year.

Regardless of all that, it has to be nice to be home for the players. Not only will you be on home ice, but sleeping in your own bed and with your family and having meals at home. Nobody is crying for pro athletes eating on the road. They still get five-star food, I’m sure, but it’s never quite the same.

Focusing on the home ice aspect, the Blues are hoping the change will help them be even better. The Blues can dictate things since they get the final line change.

“I think the matchups can hopefully help us find rhythm a bit quicker,” said center Ryan O’Reilly in the Post-Dispatch, “but when you look at the depth of our team, I feel like anyone can play with anyone. Don’t think there’s ever a time where we need a change or anything like that because everyone’s sound defensively, everyone can play with anyone. It’s really nice to have that, but in the same sentence, when we can get our matchups, it can help our rhythm and go from there.”

The one thing I still hope is that the Blues and their coaching staff still look to their own game and style. Sometimes, you can get so caught up in trying to match what the other team is doing and it takes you out of your own element.

It is great to have the defensive matchup you want against the Jets every time. Just do not worry about that alone.

Powerless Play

It seems all my topic ideas came from the Post-Dispatch today. Ah well, kudos to the crew over there for all the work they do. I still miss JR, but can’t justify an Athletic subscription at this point.

Anyway, the power play – it sucks. It truly does. I could break out all the flowery adjectives in an effort to describe the Blues special teams unit, but sucks just about covers it.

St. Louis has had seven power plays in two games. They have zero goals. I do not know this for a fact, but I am pretty sure they might not have 10 total shots. If they do, it would not be much over.

What makes this worse is the Jets have made St. Louis pay for their penalties. Out of only four power plays, the Jets have two goals. 50% is great, but even better when compared to 0% of your opponent.

Despite our consternation, the coach remains positive.

"“Well, we could have had two goals on the power play tonight,” interim coach Craig Berube said following Friday’s 4-3 win in Winnipeg. “Petro (Alex Pietrangelo) hit the post. That quick 5-on-3, I thought (the puck) just bounced on (Ryan) O’Reilly a little bit. We had some chances that didn’t go in.” – Berube in Jim Thomas’ Post-Dispatch article"

At this point, maybe we would keep our nerves calmer if we gave up on this improving. It has been a problem throughout the year, with the team scoring just enough goals to keep their percentage high, but never truly looking like a good unit.

Is it fair to expect them to turn it around so randomly? Probably not.

Even so, we have seen the power play kill the Blues in the past and it was only a couple years ago. They just have to find a way to make Winnipeg pay beyond just losing a man for two minutes.

Hopefully the home crowd will help turn that around.