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GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:02 am
by dmiles2186
BLUES (5-1-0) at BLUE JACKETS (2-4-1)

TV: FS-Midwest, FS-Ohio

Season series : The Central Division rivals will meet four times this season. The Blues took two of three in both Scottrade Center and Nationwide Arena, but the Jackets won the last meeting 5-2, handing the Blues only their fifth home loss of the season and throwing a wrench in their division-clinching plans at the time.

Big story: After a grueling six games in nine days, the Blues welcomed a three-day breather. If anything, the object now is not to lose the momentum they gained by winning five of those games. The Jackets start a six-game homestand, their longest of the season, and will try to use home ice to find a scoring formula that hasn't added up after the trade that sent Rick Nash to the Rangers. More important, they need to find the defensive groove they expect will carry them past more skilled teams.

Team Scope:

Blues : The Blues are off to their best start since opening the 1997-98 season at 7-1-0, and it comes primarily from having so many scoring options. Rookie sensation Vladimir Tarasenko shares the team lead in goals with Chris Stewart at four, but seven other Blues have lit the lamp at least twice. The team's depth has proven an asset to coach Ken Hitchcock, enabling him to use the third and fourth lines more and distribute ice time more evenly.

"I think our depth is obviously going to play a factor this year," Stewart told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"We have that ability to play four lines that can play hard and I think that has showed. It's huge for us."

It certainly did on Sunday, when they came back from two goals down against the Wild and won on Vladimir Sobotka's overtime tally. That came after winning another one-goal game in Dallas the night before. Overall, four of the Blues' six games have been decided by a single score and they've won three.

Blue Jackets: It's not necessarily the lack of scoring that has coach Todd Richards on edge these days. After coming back from a 2-0 deficit Tuesday night only to lose 3-2 to the Wild, Richards had some choice words for the team's overall effort.

"We played 30 minutes of hockey," Richards said. "We played the first 10 minutes and then we played the last 20. We tie it up and you want the point or the two points, but when you sit back and think about the game and how it went, how we played … in the end we got exactly what we deserved because we weren't good enough for 60 minutes."

After discounting fatigue as a factor, Richards lit into any perceived lack of confidence.

"You get confidence by doing things the right way, over and over and over," he said. "I can't give the guys confidence. I can help in certain areas, but it's got to come from the guys. It's got to come from within."

Who's hot: Stewart's four goals so far have come a lot faster than they did last season, when it took him 23 games to score as many. Kevin Shattenkirk's eight points match Tarasenko's, but they're all assists, and that's good for a tie for third in the NHL with Joe Pavelski of San Jose. … Jack Johnson's power-play goal on Tuesday ended an 0-for-22 slump for the Jackets.

Injury report: No doubt the Blues' early success and superior depth have contributed to their current clean bill of health. … The Blue Jackets sustained some casualties on Thursday as defensemen Adrian Aucoin (lower body) and Nikita Nikitin (head) left with injuries. Of these, Nikitin's appears to be more severe. Forward Matt Calvert (lower body) went on IR and Cam Atkinson will miss 2-3 more weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:33 am
by abc789987
Seems like forever since our last game! Let's keep it rolling. Blues win 4-1.

:goblues:

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:19 am
by Kreegz2
I feel an extremely poor effort coming soon that leaves us scratching our heads and pissed off for the first time this season, but I don't think it will be tonight. There is no reason that we should not beat the Blue Jackets after three days of rest.

Blues win 4-0. Mcdonald x2, Backes, Steen.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:23 am
by STLADOGG
Kreegz2 wrote:I feel an extremely poor effort coming soon that leaves us scratching our heads and pissed off for the first time this season, but I don't think it will be tonight. There is no reason that we should not beat the Blue Jackets after three days of rest.

Blues win 4-0. Mcdonald x2, Backes, Steen.
Detroit for sure.
Blues win 2-1 SO

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:04 am
by fargoblues
Note 4
Beej's 2

No N64, no victory for the BJs.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:26 am
by thedoc
Kreegz2 wrote:I feel an extremely poor effort coming soon that leaves us scratching our heads and pissed off for the first time this season, but I don't think it will be tonight. There is no reason that we should not beat the Blue Jackets after three days of rest.

Blues win 4-0. Mcdonald x2, Backes, Steen.
Thats what we had last game. I am hoping some rest will get them back going

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:16 am
by dmiles2186
Kerbs on the Twitter Machine:
Redden out tonight w/Flu. Cole in. Langenbrunner and Nichol in tonight. Schwartz and D'Agostini expected in tomorrow in Det.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:19 pm
by ZigZagBluesFan
Mods, the title of this thread is very misleading.

I was disappointed to find out that the Blues promotions team is not, in fact, going the extra mile after the long lockout.

Blues 5
Team Shit Sandwich 1

Wait, just saw Kerbs tweet that Langs is in.

Blues 1
Team Shit Sandwich 3 (ENG)

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:21 pm
by sseagle
Mmmm shit sandwich...

LETS (Franking) PLAY PUCK ALREADY!

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:48 pm
by glen a richter
I'm afraid this will be the head scratcher of a game.

Blues 2
BJ's 4

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:14 pm
by APOD
I think we got this, its tomorrow I'm a little worried about.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:08 pm
by philco_3
Notes 5, Ugly ass logo in Ohio 2

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:13 pm
by dmiles2186
'Senko got numero cinco.

This turrible word play is brought to you by Happy Pony.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:31 pm
by gaijin
Did they say Elliott's wife is a former Air Force Intelligence Officer?

Represent. :letsgoblues:

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:59 pm
by Kreegz2
gaijin wrote:Did they say Elliott's wife is a former Air Force Intelligence Officer?

Represent. :letsgoblues:
You chair force intel POGs don't have shit on a Marine grunt. :P

Pretty good game so far. Just have to keep our foot on the pedal and we should come away with 2 points.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:19 pm
by gaijin
Kreegz2 wrote:
gaijin wrote:Did they say Elliott's wife is a former Air Force Intelligence Officer?

Represent. :letsgoblues:
You chair force intel POGs don't have shit on a Marine grunt. :P

Pretty good game so far. Just have to keep our foot on the pedal and we should come away with 2 points.
I'm watching you right now. By the way, you're facing the wrong way. :wink:

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:46 pm
by CincyBlue
Just left the arena. Bumped into quite a few Blues fans tonight. Now the drive home in the snow.

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:14 pm
by APOD
Way to many wide shots on open nets. We should have had 5-7 more goals.

And as the sponsor of McDonald.........sorry lol I'm sure he is getting heckled in the locker room lol

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:20 pm
by abc789987
abc789987 wrote:Seems like forever since our last game! Let's keep it rolling. Blues win 4-1.

:goblues:
I think this is my first time getting the score right!

Re: GDT #7: 1/31/13 > Blues @ BJ's > 6:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:27 pm
by dmiles2186
I'm going to steal what Hitch said tonight...the first 3 goals probably came a tad too easy for the Blues. We were all grumpy in Flaschat, but stepping back from the game now that it's in the W column, it's pretty incredible that most of us thought the Blues sucked balls for the last 40 minute and still won by 3 goals.

Elliott showed up to play as usual.

Weird being outshot for the first time all season by the Blue Jackets, of all teams.

I think the BJ's have a good foundation to build off of. When it was just Rick Nash and his Band of Merry Men, they weren't all that imposing. But with Dubinsky, Anisimov, Bobrovski, Brassard, Johnson, etc. al, they've got a good start. Remind me of the Blues a few years ago, no 'face of the franchise' type player yet, but plenty of guys who could develop into good, if not above average players. But more importantly, if they can add some depth to that, they might be an enjoyable team to watch in the future.