GDT #61: Blues @ Oilers, 25 Feb 2011, 8:00pm

[gaijin]

Yahoo Sports preview: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/preview;_yl ... 2011022506

St. Louis’ attempt to move into playoff position has not been easy. A visit to Edmonton also might prove difficult for the struggling Blues.

Continuing their trip through western Canada, the Blues look to avoid a fourth consecutive loss Friday night against the Oilers.

St. Louis (27-24-9) opened its three-game trip with a 3-2 loss at Vancouver on Thursday. It was the second straight one-goal defeat for the Blues, who are in 13th place and seven points out of the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot with 22 games remaining.

“It didn’t seem like we were a team playing for our season,” Blues forward Andy McDonald said. “We haven’t been able to get that life, get that emotion and get that fire. Obviously that’s not going to be acceptable if you want to get in the postseason.”

Continuing that climb up the standings likely won’t be easy as the Blues take the ice for the sixth time in eight days against a confident club.

Though the Oilers’ 48 points are the fewest in the NHL, they’ve won four of five overall. They also have taken four of six at home over St. Louis, including 2-1 in overtime on Dec. 4.

“(Edmonton is) a team that’s playing well,” said Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who has two goals in his last three games. “We have to be ready for that one.”

McDonald, who had an assist in a 5-3 home win over the Oilers on Feb. 4, added an assist Thursday to extend his points streak to six games. He has four goals and five assists during that span.

Though victories have been hard to come by of late, the Blues have scored at least one power-play goal in seven straight games. St. Louis, which went 1 for 4 on the power play at Vancouver, is 10 for 26 with the man advantage over that seven-game stretch.

Edmonton (20-33-8) has manged to score in any situation for the most part the last five contests. Though the Oilers’ 156 goals rank among the lowest in the NHL, they’ve totaled 18 during their last four victories.

After their three-game winning streak ended with a 4-1 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday, Edmonton rebounded with a 5-1 win at Colorado a night later.

“We’ve had plenty of those (one-sided games) so we’ll take the ones that go our way,” said forward Shawn Horcoff, who had an assist against the Avalanche.

Rookies Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle each had a goal with an assist. Hall has four goals his last three games and Eberle three his last five.

Hall also has a goal in each of Edmonton’s two previous meetings with St. Louis. Eberle, meanwhile, had two assists at St. Louis earlier this month.

Though Edmonton’s Devan Dubnyk is 0-3-0 with a 4.76 goals-against average against the Blues, he could start again after stopping 38 shots versus Colorado for his second straight win.

St. Louis could be without defenseman Nikita Nikitin after he suffered a lower body injury in the first period Thursday.

But the Blues are Le tired.

[fargoblues]

Yahoo Sports preview: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/preview;_yl ... 2011022506

After their three-game winning streak ended with a 4-1 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday, Edmonton rebounded with a 5-1 win at Colorado a night later.


Though Edmonton’s Devan Dubnyk is 0-3-0 with a 4.76 goals-against average against the Blues, he could start again after stopping 38 shots versus Colorado for his second straight win.

St. Louis could be without defenseman Nikita Nikitin after he suffered a lower body injury in the first period Thursday.

But the Blues are Le tired.

2

5, or 7 if Conklin starts again.

[glen a richter]

The Conklin is le suck.

[DaDitka]

Conklin was in net last night?

I didn't notice and neither did the (frank)ing puck.


There went any trade value he had. Maybe we can still get a silly prop for Louie in return for him. Another inflatable whale or a plastic megaphone or something?

At this point even used Zamboni parts may be asking too much in return for him.

[fargoblues]

Conklin was in net last night?

I didn't notice and neither did the (frank)ing puck.


There went any trade value he had. Maybe we can still get a silly prop for Louie in return for him. Another inflatable whale or a plastic megaphone or something?

At this point even used Zamboni parts may be asking too much in return for him.

I think the airfare receipt from the his outbound flight would be plenty of compensation.

[WaukeeBlues]

Six games in eight days. Man oh man

Blues 1
Oil 4

[ibldbl]

Blues 3
Oilers 2

Something good has to happen, even though they are tired.

[glen a richter]

Something good will happen tonight. It won't involve this team winning a game though. It could involve a couple of pieces of deadwood getting on a different flight out of town...

[Nyghtewynd]

There has to be something better on TV tonight than this.

[Krigloch the Furious]

Gold Rush Alaska is on...

[philco_3]

The Blues playoff hopes are le fucked

Oilers 8
Blues 1

[cardsfan04]

bleh, thought game was at 9 and scheduled my poker session around that (and I don't watch TV while playing), so missed Stewart's dominance thus far.

3 2G games in his first 5 as a Blue. That's pretty sick. Wouldn't be surprised if that's some sort of record.

[Krigloch the Furious]

What the hell happened to Pie?

[philco_3]

bleh, thought game was at 9 and scheduled my poker session around that (and I don't watch TV while playing), so missed Stewart's dominance thus far.

3 2G games in his first 5 as a Blue. That's pretty sick. Wouldn't be surprised if that's some sort of record.

I did too. I thought they scored 2 goals with in the first 1 minute of the game. lol

[dmiles2186]

OHMYGODCAMGETSAPOINT

[cardsfan04]

Better hold onto Janssen. He's a playmaker now.

[Winning Unlimited]

[STLADOGG]

Whoever compared Bergy to the Sedins...nice...the telecast showed it if you didn't see.

[ohio BLUES]

Oilers color commentator Louie DeBrusk, following Chris Stewart's second goal tonight: "Maybe Peter Stastny was right."

[theohall]

A well-earned shutout for Bishop given the way the Blues played the 3rd. Stunning they actually scored 2 goals in the 3rd on - what - 6 shots??

On to Calgary. As Kelly said at the end, it will be interesting to see what the lines are for that one. While the Blues won, it was not a strong defensive game given the number of shots Bishop faced. Wouldn't be surprised if Edmonton dominated offensive zone ice time as well.

Dubnyk gave up some horrendous rebounds and the Blues buried them.