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GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:15 am
by dmiles2186
Chris Porter will score 5.
BLUE JACKETS (5-10-2) at BLUES (9-6-2)

TV: FS-O, FS-MW

Last 10: Columbus 3-6-1; St. Louis 3-5-2

Season series: This is the second of four meetings this season between the Central Division rivals. The Blues won in Columbus, 4-1, on Jan. 31 and went 4-2-0 against the Blue Jackets last season.

Big story: After losing five straight to start the month, the Blues are hoping to return to the torrid pace they started the season with. The Blue Jackets have also struggled for much of this month and have gone 1-3-0 so far on their current season-long six-game road trip.

Team Scope:

Blue Jackets: After losing their first three games on their trip, the Jackets looked to rebound on Thursday against the division rival Red Wings. The losers of six of their previous seven games, Columbus fell behind early, with Damien Brunner opening the scoring just 18 seconds into the contest. Valtteri Filppula doubled the Detroit lead just 2:22 later, putting the Blue Jackets in a bind.

But Columbus fought back and Derek Dorsett was able to tie the game 5:03 into the third period. The game appeared destined for extra time until Vinny Prospal notched his team-leading sixth goal of the season with just 25 seconds remaining in overtime. Taking a pass in front of the net from James Wisniewski, Prospal spun around before putting a backhand past Wings netminder Jimmy Howard.

But the big win came at a cost, as Artem Anisimov left the game on a stretcher after being left motionless on the ice following a collision with Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey. He was taken to the hospital as a precaution and was released Friday and allowed to travel back to Columbus.

Blues: After going 6-1-0 in January, the Blues suddenly fell back to earth in February, starting the month with five straight losses. But a 3-0-0 road trip gave the impression that St. Louis was suddenly turning the corner and returning to its early-season form. Following a 2-1 loss to a San Jose team that had previously lost seven in a row, the Blues came to Colorado to face off against the Avalanche.

With starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak back from injury and making his first start in almost three week, St. Louis dominated the game early, outshooting Colorado 9-2 in the opening period. But the game remained scoreless until overtime, when David Jones snapped a shot past Halak with just 16.4 seconds remaining to give Colorado the win.

"We had all kinds of chances, didn't finish around the net," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We left the game out there and then made a mistake on the backcheck [in overtime]. That was the end of the game."

Who's hot: After going pointless for nine games, Dorsett has three points in his last two games for Columbus. Prospal has four goals in his last seven contests and Wisniewski has three points in his current three-game point streak. … For the Blues, Patrik Berglund has four goals in his last five games while Chris Stewart has eight points in his last seven games.

Injury report: In addition to Anisimov, the Blue Jackets are missing forward Brandon Dubinsky (sprained knee) and defenseman Ryan Murray (shoulder surgery). … Blues forward Jamie Langenbrunner is out for the remainder of the season following hip surgery and rookie Vladimir Tarasenko is out following a blow to the head sustained on a hit by Colorado's Mark Olver.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:09 am
by glen a richter
BJ's 2
Blues 0

35 shots all directly into the chest

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:59 am
by sseagle
glen a richter wrote:BJ's 2
Blues 0

35 shots all directly into the chest
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:30 pm
by glen a richter
sseagle wrote:
glen a richter wrote:BJ's 2
Blues 0

35 shots all directly into the chest
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID
I said shots to the chest, not shots to the back and face.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 1:15 pm
by theohall
"We left the game out there and then made a mistake on the backcheck [in overtime]. That was the end of the game."
I wonder who made a mistake on the backcheck? Maybe the only forward who cruised instead of skated to the defensive end of the ice?
Who's hot: ... Chris Stewart has eight points in his last seven games.
Time to get this team rolling again.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 3:53 pm
by ViPeRx007
glen a richter wrote:BJ's 2
Blues 0

35 shots all directly into the chest
Mr. Pessimistic over here.

I say they win. 5-2.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:36 pm
by STLADOGG
Gotta work during the game...
With that said.
Blues 7
BJs 0

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:41 pm
by Nyghtewynd
Same ol' same ol'. Bunches of shots right into the goaltender, yet another too many men penalties, and we're tied after two.

I don't want to hear Hitch complaining about anything. This is a lethargic, poorly-coached team. And it is HIS lethargic, poorly-coached team.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:27 pm
by Nyghtewynd
Halak with the catch at the wall to save the game. Sick, sick save.

Winning is good, but I don't think any outside observer would have watched this game and called it a good performance. Same ol.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:50 pm
by glen a richter
Could have definitely been worse. Probably should have been worse. Those two crossbars by Wizniewski were right on the money and that crappy call on Jackman at the end... I was convinced Columbus would capitalize and we'd be looking at OT.

Happy about the 2 points but not impressed by the win. Halak was great when he had to be but there were plenty of missed opportunities and the too many men, that shit really pisses me off.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:54 pm
by STLADOGG
Halak is a beast again. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:35 am
by Oaklandblue
I'm starting to see why the BJ's fired Hitch.

I have to say that his D strategies have seriously cut down the number of shots on goal. But that seems to be all that he has. We bring up the Dallas Stars as his benchmark, but that team was loaded with talent and that talent, along with teaching players like Brett Hull how to play D, is what carried that team.

Anyone that wants to, at this point, throw the Jack trophy in the mix as an argument to keep him better remember that that was LAST year and does absolutely nothing for us this year. This team plays sloppy and it's obvious that, like what happened in Columbus, everyone stopped 'hearing' his message.

I know I've ben fairly critical about Backes, but there's only so much he can do. If he could, I bet he'd bench half the time out of principle alone.

Now, I'm sure people at this point would consider Lindy Ruff if there was a chance that Hitch would get ditched, but who I'd rather see as a head coach for us would be Mark Messier. What this team truly needs is leadership and ownership and Mark has always had that way of making any player on any team he plays for believe in it, including Tie Domi, and if he could get Domi to fly right, that alone speaks volumes. Hey, they don't call him The Messiah for nothing, right? :)

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:50 am
by STLADOGG
The Blues are 4th in the West....such a weird year so far.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:32 am
by cardsfan04
Oaklandblue wrote:I'm starting to see why the BJ's fired Hitch.

I have to say that his D strategies have seriously cut down the number of shots on goal. But that seems to be all that he has. We bring up the Dallas Stars as his benchmark, but that team was loaded with talent and that talent, along with teaching players like Brett Hull how to play D, is what carried that team.

Anyone that wants to, at this point, throw the Jack trophy in the mix as an argument to keep him better remember that that was LAST year and does absolutely nothing for us this year. This team plays sloppy and it's obvious that, like what happened in Columbus, everyone stopped 'hearing' his message.

I know I've ben fairly critical about Backes, but there's only so much he can do. If he could, I bet he'd bench half the time out of principle alone.

Now, I'm sure people at this point would consider Lindy Ruff if there was a chance that Hitch would get ditched, but who I'd rather see as a head coach for us would be Mark Messier. What this team truly needs is leadership and ownership and Mark has always had that way of making any player on any team he plays for believe in it, including Tie Domi, and if he could get Domi to fly right, that alone speaks volumes. Hey, they don't call him The Messiah for nothing, right? :)
We're 4th in the West despite our number 1 goalie going down for 2 weeks and our number 2 playing pretty poorly. I'm not saying we're playing great. We're not. There's plenty of room for improvement. But, are we really talking about firing our coach when we're 4th in the West? Really? Who could we possibly have more faith in than Hitch right now?

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:33 am
by glen a richter
Messier as coach? Pass. 1, he has EXTREMELY limited coaching experience, 2 he wants to be a GM and 3 if he were to get any sort of coaching position with any team there's no question it would be with the Rangers after they fire Torts.

If Hitch were to be fired today and Lindy Ruff were to be passed over, I would want to get permission from Calgary to interview Dave Lowry. Now he'd be a helluva coach for any team.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:16 pm
by cprice12
glen a richter wrote:Could have definitely been worse. Probably should have been worse. Those two crossbars by Wizniewski were right on the money and that crappy call on Jackman at the end... I was convinced Columbus would capitalize and we'd be looking at OT.

Happy about the 2 points but not impressed by the win. Halak was great when he had to be but there were plenty of missed opportunities and the too many men, that shit really pisses me off.
To be fair, we hit a couple posts as well.
We were the better team in that game, albeit, not by much.
I'm not about complaining about a win. Yes, they could have played better, but 2 pts. is 2 pts. And Columbus always seems to get amped up to play us.

In the two prior losses, they could have easily won them, and they badly outplayed Colorado, just couldn't score.

They are playing much better than they were during that 5 game winless stretch. If they get a bounce or two, they would have a 6 game winning streak going here. Not that they have been playing amazing or anything, but like I said, much better than the winless streak a couple weeks ago. Just need some goals to start going in and the power play to get back on track.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:49 am
by Oaklandblue
cardsfan04 wrote: We're 4th in the West despite our number 1 goalie going down for 2 weeks and our number 2 playing pretty poorly. I'm not saying we're playing great. We're not. There's plenty of room for improvement. But, are we really talking about firing our coach when we're 4th in the West? Really? Who could we possibly have more faith in than Hitch right now?
We're not 4th in the West due to winning, we're 4th in the West due to other teams losing, there's a big difference.

The difference between a playoff spot at this time and being below 8th play is THREE points. Three. We can not continue to hope the other teams around us suck so we maintain a position in the race, we need to actually play right and win.

@Glen: I seriously doubt Calgary would even allow us to look at Lowry but if they did, seriously, we should steal him and show Hitch the door.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:44 am
by cardsfan04
Oaklandblue wrote:
cardsfan04 wrote: We're 4th in the West despite our number 1 goalie going down for 2 weeks and our number 2 playing pretty poorly. I'm not saying we're playing great. We're not. There's plenty of room for improvement. But, are we really talking about firing our coach when we're 4th in the West? Really? Who could we possibly have more faith in than Hitch right now?
We're not 4th in the West due to winning, we're 4th in the West due to other teams losing, there's a big difference.

The difference between a playoff spot at this time and being below 8th play is THREE points. Three. We can not continue to hope the other teams around us suck so we maintain a position in the race, we need to actually play right and win.

@Glen: I seriously doubt Calgary would even allow us to look at Lowry but if they did, seriously, we should steal him and show Hitch the door.
We aren't 4th in the West due to losing either. Team needs to improve, but there's absolutely no reason for a coaching change right now.

Re: GDT #17: 2/23/13 > Blues vs BJ's > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 3:15 pm
by DaDitka
We were the better team....but we wouldn't have been better then many teams.

I know they got going a little in the third, but our first line just isn't working......and don't give me the whole 'they play the other teams top line crap' they aren't playing well defensively either. They aren't supporting each other, when they do they are standing on top of each other, and they are never on the same page on rushes either.

In all honesty the only line that had multiple sustained possesses in the offensive end was the 36-21-17. Though 9 hand a couple real nice shifts as well.

I'm not necessarily down on 57,42, or 74.....I'm down one how they are playing together.

Backes always seems to play well we Andy Mac. IMO they are both struggling a little right now and it may make since to throw those two together for a little while and maybe light a spark.