GDT #55: 2/12/15 | 6:30PM CST | @ Lightning | FSMW/KMOX

[theohall]

It is so awesome to be completely wrong!!

[cardsfan04]

That Backes goal was sick. Never seen that from that distance before.

[theohall]

cprice - all those stats you posted about Elliott having the #1 GAA in the NHL since joining the Blues - be proud of Sun Sports - they reported on the same thing after tonight's game. Good work for an opposing team's after-game crew. Also mentioning not bad for a player drafted 2nd to last in the NHL draft.

[drwoland]

5-4 Blues, agree it'll be a tough slog.

For a while there in the 3rd it looked like the Lightning was gonna score a 4th and put the blues entirely on the ropes, clinging to a one goal lead, trying to prove me right. Fortunately Kucherov hit the post and our own Russian hustled to that empty net goal. Good to see him out in those critical minutes AND hustling to get that clincher.

Sad I didn't get to tune in until it was already 5-3, looks like that was a fun game to watch.

Jaskin is really shaping up quite nicely. Shout out to the Blues finally having some luck with drafting foreigners, especially my fellow Russians

[cprice12]

cprice - all those stats you posted about Elliott having the #1 GAA in the NHL since joining the Blues - be proud of Sun Sports - they reported on the same thing after tonight's game. Good work for an opposing team's after-game crew. Also mentioning not bad for a player drafted 2nd to last in the NHL draft.

I would have liked to have watched that, because Elliott doesn't get enough credit for the work he has done here.

[cprice12]

GAME HIGHLIGHTS
[nhlvideo]/videocenter/embed?playlist=2014020813-X-h[/nhlvideo]

[ViPeRx007]

This game was on NHL Network? Uhh, why was I watching on 120p internet feeds?!

[glen a richter]

Like I said, scoring 5 on Bishop would definitely happen!

[dmiles2186]

*Ahem* Roman Turek

Glenn Hall
Jacques Plante
Mike Liut
Curtis Joseph
Grant Fuhr

They're not all bad.

And say what you will about Turek, but he was in net the only time in the last 28 years that the Blues have made the Conference Finals.

This is my exact argument yet every time I mention it, I get ripped a new one. Was he supposed to have a 0.00 gaa in order to be considered worthy?

Hey, I'm with you. It seems at times that Blues fans demand a 0.00 gaa and a hat trick from the goalie in order to give them any credit.

[cprice12]

Like I said, scoring 5 on Bishop would definitely happen!

It was the most goals he has allowed all year. His previous high was 4, which he has allowed a few times this year.

[cprice12]

*Ahem* Roman Turek

Glenn Hall
Jacques Plante
Mike Liut
Curtis Joseph
Grant Fuhr

They're not all bad.

And say what you will about Turek, but he was in net the only time in the last 28 years that the Blues have made the Conference Finals.

This is my exact argument yet every time I mention it, I get ripped a new one. Was he supposed to have a 0.00 gaa in order to be considered worthy?

Hey, I'm with you. It seems at times that Blues fans demand a 0.00 gaa and a hat trick from the goalie in order to give them any credit.

I was excited when we got Turek...kind of on the same level as when we got Halak. We had snagged a great goalie because of a surplus of talent on his previous team. (like Tampa Bay can say about Bishop)
Turek played great for stretches, and was indeed in net when we reached the Conference Finals for the first time in forever. But he was also a large part of why we lost that series. He allowed some real shitty goals, and Roy stood on his head. We outplayed the Avalanche in that series, but lost in 6 because of goaltending. (broken record)

Turek could be great at times, and he could look shitty at times. Kind of like Halak. Turek also had conditioning issues, was lazy with his off ice workouts and eating habits...or so I've heard.
Turek had a couple good years in Calgary after leaving here...and if I am not mistaken, had a great hear in his contract year there...signed a large contract with them and was shitty after that.

I think we've had some great goaltenders come through here. We just haven't gotten the bounces in the playoffs...OR...we gave up on them too soon.
I'm still pissed about us trading Joseph. He should have been a career Blue. But Grant Fuhr was pretty damn good for a few years as his replacement.

[theohall]

Like I said, scoring 5 on Bishop would definitely happen!

It was the most goals he has allowed all year. His previous high was 4, which he has allowed a few times this year.

That high of 4 was on the road. He had been stellar at home prior to last night.

[ecbm]

cprice - all those stats you posted about Elliott having the #1 GAA in the NHL since joining the Blues - be proud of Sun Sports - they reported on the same thing after tonight's game. Good work for an opposing team's after-game crew. Also mentioning not bad for a player drafted 2nd to last in the NHL draft.

I would have liked to have watched that, because Elliott doesn't get enough credit for the work he has done here.

GAA is a team stat-you chided me recently for evaluating goalies based on sv% which, while still flawed, is much more based on what a goalie does regardless of the team around him.

I wonder where Halak ranks on that list. The Blues are a nice team to play behind the last few years-always top 3 in fewest shots allowed.

Good to see Elliott get some love but to be honest I wasn't too impressed with the 2nd and 3rd goals against last night. Neither were particularly tough shots (whereas Bishop was up against breakaways, partial-breakaways, odd man rushes, D who can't intercept 100-foot passes and turnovers in his own end from the starting gun) and if Kucherov's goes an inch the other direction we could be having a very different conversation right now.

[ComradeT]

Blues get an A+ for scoring 6 against Bishop on the road.

This forum gets an F- for lack of faith in our team.

LETS GO BLUES!!!

[cprice12]

cprice - all those stats you posted about Elliott having the #1 GAA in the NHL since joining the Blues - be proud of Sun Sports - they reported on the same thing after tonight's game. Good work for an opposing team's after-game crew. Also mentioning not bad for a player drafted 2nd to last in the NHL draft.

I would have liked to have watched that, because Elliott doesn't get enough credit for the work he has done here.

GAA is a team stat-you chided me recently for evaluating goalies based on sv% which, while still flawed, is much more based on what a goalie does regardless of the team around him.

I wonder where Halak ranks on that list. The Blues are a nice team to play behind the last few years-always top 3 in fewest shots allowed.

Save % is as much of a team stat as GAA is.
The quality of shots against can directly (positively and negatively) impact a save %.
I admit, I'll use save % and GAA when comparing goalies...only because they are responsible for part of that stat...and it's really the only way to compare goalies if you can't watch them often to judge them based on actual play. But it's not an end all item of a discussion...just a tidbit of info really.

New Jersey had a great, great defense for years. Does that lessen what Brodeur did during his career? I don't think it does. Why should it lessen Elliott's play here? (I'm not comparing Elliott to Brodeur...I'm just comparing the good results from goaltending that happens to be behind a good defense)

Good to see Elliott get some love but to be honest I wasn't too impressed with the 2nd and 3rd goals against last night. Neither were particularly tough shots (whereas Bishop was up against breakaways, partial-breakaways, odd man rushes, D who can't intercept 100-foot passes and turnovers in his own end from the starting gun) and if Kucherov's goes an inch the other direction we could be having a very different conversation right now.

I don't tend to base how good a goalie is based a couple goals, one game or even a handful of games. My comments about Elliott have mainly been about his entire body of work with the Blues since he has been here.
And if I'm not mistaken, the Blues hit two posts in the game...so you could say the same about the Blues possibly scoring a couple more goals if a puck is an inch in the other direction on those shots.

With that said...
- On Johnson's goal, there wasn't much Elliott could do on that. Great pass across the slot and he had a wide open net.
- Connely's goal was between the blocker and body from in pretty close. It was a good shot. Is it a "bad goal"? I wouldn't go so far as to call it a bad goal. You never like to see a goal go through you if you are a goalie....and of the three, that was the one Elliott would probably tell you he should have had. It was a well placed shot from in pretty close. Between the blocker and body is a hole players shoot for just like the 5-hole between the legs. If he makes that save, it's a great save so...
- The Stamkos goal was a very nice redirect off the post and in. I guess it may have looked like a weaker goal since it was along the ice, but that's just a nice tip if you ask me. Could he have had it? Sure. But you can only cover so much of the net, and on a deflection in close, you just have to hope it hits you...and if an in tight deflection goes off the post and in? I think a goalie would be lucky to have stopped it.
Elliott has had better games...but overall he still played very well last night.

And as long as I am talking about goals allowed, let's talk about the goals scored on Bishop. It's easy to spin it and say a goal is soft, even when it's not really...
- Oshie's goal on the 2 on 1. It's a tough shot for Bishop to stop, but he does look slow to react to the play...he's back in his crease, not challenging at all and he went down early...which gave Oshie a lot to shoot at. Bishop could have stepped out to challenge and cut down the angle a tad.
- Jaskin's breakaway goal... it was a good shot by Jaskin...and it's tough to blame a goalie on a breakaway if the shooter puts it where he wants, but I think if Elliott is blamed for allowing Connely's goal under his arm, then it's only fair to apply the same logic on this goal. The puck goes through Bishop.
- Steen's goal after Backes stole the puck from Stamkos. Again, if Elliott is blamed for allowing a softie on Stamkos' deflection, then the same can be said of Bishop with this goal. I don't think either goalies are to blame on either of those goals, but I'm just sayin'.
- Backes' goal after the between the legs pass from Oshie. This was a sweet goal if you ask me...but I can see where some may feel it was one Bishop could have/should have stopped. It beat him short side (which is were goalies aren't supposed to be beat if they have proper positioning) and Bishop went down a tad early and it goes off of his shoulder/arm and in. Plus he was caught on his knees for too long, then tried to get up while Backes as shooting then dropped right back down again. If you just watch Bishop on that goal and ignore everything else, he looks awkward.
- Stastny's goal off a rebound. Just like the Johnson goal on Elliott. Nothing Bishop could have done here...aside from not giving up a rebound, which is asking a lot of a slapshot from in close.


The Blues defense has been very good. But let's be honest, our D hasn't been quite as good in our own end this year as it has been in the past. It's still very good, but it has some semi-noticeable holes compared to a couple years ago. Our goaltending has a lot to do with how our defense is perceived. I don't think it's the other way around...at least not to the degree some think. When Elliott was out and Allen was struggling, our team D didn't look good at all. And that was with a healthy Shattenkirk in the lineup.

[cprice12]

Blues get an A+ for scoring 6 against Bishop on the road.

This forum gets an F- for lack of faith in our team.

LETS GO BLUES!!!

We scored 5 on Bishop. But I like the way you think.

[STLADOGG]

Anyone else notice that annoying drunk bitch screaming with like 5 minutes left last night?

[gaijin]

*Ahem* Roman Turek

Glenn Hall
Jacques Plante
Mike Liut
Curtis Joseph
Grant Fuhr

They're not all bad.

And say what you will about Turek, but he was in net the only time in the last 28 years that the Blues have made the Conference Finals.

This is my exact argument yet every time I mention it, I get ripped a new one. Was he supposed to have a 0.00 gaa in order to be considered worthy?

Hey, I'm with you. It seems at times that Blues fans demand a 0.00 gaa and a hat trick from the goalie in order to give them any credit.

I was excited when we got Turek...kind of on the same level as when we got Halak. We had snagged a great goalie because of a surplus of talent on his previous team. (like Tampa Bay can say about Bishop)
Turek played great for stretches, and was indeed in net when we reached the Conference Finals for the first time in forever. But he was also a large part of why we lost that series. He allowed some real shitty goals, and Roy stood on his head. We outplayed the Avalanche in that series, but lost in 6 because of goaltending. (broken record)

Turek could be great at times, and he could look shitty at times. Kind of like Halak. Turek also had conditioning issues, was lazy with his off ice workouts and eating habits...or so I've heard.
Turek had a couple good years in Calgary after leaving here...and if I am not mistaken, had a great hear in his contract year there...signed a large contract with them and was shitty after that.

I think we've had some great goaltenders come through here. We just haven't gotten the bounces in the playoffs...OR...we gave up on them too soon.
I'm still pissed about us trading Joseph. He should have been a career Blue. But Grant Fuhr was pretty damn good for a few years as his replacement.

Curt is spot-on concerning Turek. No one expected him to post a 0.00 every game, but he had a habit of collapsing under pressure. He would have a fantastic regular season, then give up the absolute worst goals in the playoffs. See the series against the Sharks in 2000- center ice goal from Nolan. After a few seasons of the same thing, I would say both the fans and management had had enough, and wanted to go a different direction. Unfortunately, that direction was Brent Johnson...

[youtube][/youtube]

[not_a_wings_fan]

Anyone else notice that annoying drunk bitch screaming with like 5 minutes left last night?

Maybe this is a personal issue between you and your wife/girfriend, man. You should prolly call an attorney/break up rather than posting about her on here.

[dmiles2186]

Anyone else notice that annoying drunk bitch screaming with like 5 minutes left last night?

Yep, but at least the positive thing is it was just the 5 mins and not the entire game. Because my god, if I had to listen to her AND John Kelly babble on?