GDT #60: 2/20/17 | 7:00 PM CST | vs Panthers|FSMW/NHLN/KMOX

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:42 am

Chat with us here: BEST DAMN BLUES CHATZY EVER 2016-2017

Mike Yeo has liked the way the St. Louis Blues have responded after a win since he took over as the team's coach on Feb. 1.

Now he gets to see how they respond after a loss.

For only the second time in nine games under Yeo, the Blues are coming off a loss as they host the Florida Panthers on Monday night in their final game before the league-mandated break in their schedule.

A 3-2 loss to the Sabres in Buffalo on Saturday snapped the team's season-high six-game winning streak.

"We just have to get another streak started on Monday," defenseman Joel Edmundson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Blues' only previous loss since Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock came on Feb. 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Same attitude that we've had when we've won games; we come back to the rink and figure out what we need tomorrow and get ready for our next challenge," Yeo said.

The Blues should get a boost on Monday night with the return of center Paul Stastny to the lineup. He has missed the last four games because of a lower-body injury. Prior to being injured on Feb. 9, Stastny had scored eight goals and added eight assists in his previous 15 games.

To begin a new winning streak, the Blues will have to put an end to a four-game winning streak for the Panthers, who earned a 3-2 victory over the Kings in Los Angeles on Saturday. All four wins have come on the Panthers' current road trip, which ends in St. Louis.

The Panthers have won seven of their last eight games as they battle for a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.

For the first time in franchise history, the Panthers won games in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles on the same trip. Saturday's win was their first in Los Angeles since 2002.

"It's been a really big road trip for us so far," Jussi Jokinen told NHL.com. "Obviously, we have all the players back now and we have a healthy team, so we're playing with lots of confidence. The bottom line is I think we see the playoff picture."

Goalie Roberto Luongo, however, is aware of the challenges ahead for the Panthers as they try to secure a playoff spot. Florida reached the playoffs last year for the first time in four seasons, but then was eliminated in the first round.

"We're getting results and we're seeing that we're a pretty good team when we're playing," Luongo told the Miami Herald. "We just want to keep 'er going right now. We have a lot of work to do. ... We know we're in a battle right now and every game is going to be key, going to feel like a do-or-die game for our club.

"But it should be a fun couple of months here; we should enjoy the ride and take it one game at a time."

Blues • The Blues will host Florida in their final game before a five-day break. Following Monday’s game, the club won’t be back on the ice until facing Chicago on Sunday. ... The Blues are coming off a 3-2 loss to Buffalo, snapping their winning streak at six games. The club has not lost back-to-back games since Jan. 26 (Minnesota) and Jan. 31 (Winnipeg) ... Paul Stastny is expected to make his return to the Blues’ lineup after missing four games with a lower-body injury.

Panthers • Florida enters Monday’s game in third place in the Atlantic Division, with 64 points. The Panthers have won four consecutive games, which is the longest current winning streak in the NHL. They have outscored the four opponents, all from the Western Conference, by a combined 20-12. ... Jaromir Jagr scored his 1,900th NHL point last Wednesday, against San Jose, on his 45th birthday. He’s had a goal and an assist in the club’s two games since then, leaving him four points shy of tying the most points scored in the NHL by a player older than 40.

Injuries • Blues: C Paul Stastny (lower body), questionable; LW Robby Fabbri (knee), out. Panthers: None.

This day in history:
1930 Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons becomes the first goaltender to wear a mask in an NHL game.
1944: The Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs played the only "perfect game" in NHL history - a 0-0 tie between Goaltenders Mike Karakas of Chicago and Paul Bibeault of Toronto with no penalties called by referee Bill Chadwick.
1974 Esposito again reaches 50 goals on his birthday becoming the first player in NHL history with four straight 50-goal seasons by scoring three times for his 22nd NHL hat trick in Boston's 5-5 tie against the Minnesota North Stars
1974 Gordie Howe comes out of retirement for $1M from Houston Aeros, WHA
1982 NY Islanders wins then NHL record 15th straight game
1981 Peter Stastny and Anton Stastny both score hat tricks in Nordiques 9-3 victory over Canucks. Peter also added 3 assists for a 6-point game while Anton had 2 assists, for a 5 point game.
1982 The New York Islanders break the NHL record for consecutive victories by defeating the Colorado Rockies 3-2 for 15th consecutive win.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:55 am

Yes, the Panthers have no injuries which is why the firing of Gerard Gallant was BS by their management back in November. They opened the season with significant injuries and he still had the team 2 games over .500 (11-9-1). 8 games ago (before the 7-1-0 streak) Tom Rowe had the team dealing with the same injuries 1 game under .500 (9-10-9). The Panthers get healthy and "magically" win 7 of their last 8. Management just didn't want Gallant for some reason. Their lucky to be in the Atlantic where they have a realistic shot at 3rd place.

One interesting side note - the Chicago Blackhawks have only scored 3 more goals than the Blues in the same number of games. Gives me hope if this team can keep playing the way it did during the winning streak. The concern about the streak - they weren't playing any "high end" teams accept the Canadiens (no, I don't count the friggin' Senators) and that team was in another ridiculous slump which led to the firing of their head coach. We'll see how they handle the surging Panthers.

WaukeeBlues · Post by **WaukeeBlues** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:27 pm

theohall wrote:Yes, the Panthers have no injuries which is why the firing of Gerard Gallant was BS by their management back in November. They opened the season with significant injuries and he still had the team 2 games over .500 (11-9-1). 8 games ago (before the 7-1-0 streak) Tom Rowe had the team dealing with the same injuries 1 game under .500 (9-10-9). The Panthers get healthy and "magically" win 7 of their last 8. Management just didn't want Gallant for some reason. Their lucky to be in the Atlantic where they have a realistic shot at 3rd place.

One interesting side note - the Chicago Blackhawks have only scored 3 more goals than the Blues in the same number of games. Gives me hope if this team can keep playing the way it did during the winning streak. The concern about the streak - they weren't playing any "high end" teams accept the Canadiens (no, I don't count the friggin' Senators) and that team was in another ridiculous slump which led to the firing of their head coach. We'll see how they handle the surging Panthers.

Hopefully Armstrong will be watching closely too. Agreed on this game being a big test.

glen a richter · Post by **glen a richter** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:37 pm

Future Vegas Knights head coach Gerard Gallant. The Panthers are my EC team since their inception and I still can't believe they fired Gallant.

Tonight? Close one. 4-3 either way.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 3:27 pm

Alexander Steen - Paul Stastny - Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz - Patrik Berglund - Magnus Paajarvi
Ivan Barbashev - Jori Lehtera - David Perron
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Ryan Reaves

Defense
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson - Colton Parayko
Robert Bortuzzo - Kevin Shattenkirk

Goalie
Jake Allen

Tonight marks the Blues' final game before the bye week. After today, the Blues will be off until Feb. 26, when they will visit the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blues have won seven of their last eight meetings with the Panthers, including three of the last four at Scottrade Center. The Blues, who are 11-4-1 all-time at home against the Panthers, are riding an epic penalty killing streak in this series. Dating back to March 2003, the Blues have killed 33 consecutive Panther power-play chances, and what's more, they have dispatched 66 of 70 since the Florida franchise was born. Tonight is the first of just four more Eastern Conference dates remaining on the Blues schedule, including this series' finale, on April 6 in Florida.

What to Watch

The Blues may get Paul Stastny back tonight. Stastny has missed the past four games with a lower-body injury. The St. Louis native came out of the All-Star break on fire, posting seven points (three goals, four assists) in six games prior to suffering his setback. Several Blues will hit milestones tonight, including Alexander Steen, who will dress in his 800th career game. Steen will become just the fourth active Swedish international to reach that plateau. Also hitting milestones will be Patrik Berglund, who will tie Bobby Plager (615) for seventh on the club's all-time games played list, and Kevin Shattenkirk, who will tie Roman Polak (424) on the games played register among defensemen.

Milestones

David Perron - 2 shy of 400 games as a Blue / 4 shy of 100 goals as a Blue
Paul Stastny - 2 shy of 100 PIM as a Blue
Kyle Brodziak - 1 shy of 400 career PIM
Carl Gunnarsson - 8 shy of 100 career assists
Kevin Shattenkirk - 8 shy of 300 career PIM / 1 shy of 200 assists as a Blue
Jori Lehtera - 4 shy of 100 career points
Alexander Steen - 1 shy of 800 career games / 6 shy of 400 points as a Blue
Jay Bouwmeester - 2 shy of 300 games as a Blue
Ryan Reaves - 4 shy of 400 games as a Blue
Jaden Schwartz - 6 shy of 200 career points / 5 shy of 300 career games

Quick Hits

Vladimir Tarasenko leads all Western Conference skaters with 15 goals against the East this season
Among players that have taken 1,000 draws, Paul Stastny ranks seventh with a 55.6 percent faceoff win percentage
Since Mike Yeo took over, the Blues have jumped from ninth to sixth in the Western Conference standings
With three shutouts this month, the Blues have triple the amount of clean sheets that Florida has posted all season
There are eight players on the Blues roster that weren't even born when Florida forward Jaromir Jagr made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 1990 (Barbashev, Paajarvi, Schwartz, Jaskin, Tarasenko, Yakupov, Edmundson, Parayko)

There are 12 Florida Panthers active tonight (17 Panthers who've played this season) who weren't born when Jagr debuted in the NHL

WaukeeBlues · Post by **WaukeeBlues** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 3:50 pm

This will be a high scoring close one methinks.

5-4 Panters

Robb_K · Post by **Robb_K** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:28 pm

Shattenkirk didn't help his stock with THAT play.

Robb_K · Post by **Robb_K** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:33 pm

The Blues' defence is playing awfully lax. That was almost a 2nd giveaway on a platter.

Robb_K · Post by **Robb_K** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:18 pm

Shattenkirk is playing like he's already found out he'll be traded to The Panthers.

Robb_K · Post by **Robb_K** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:03 pm

Parayko made a nice shot and Brodziak wrists in the rebound from close in!!! Blues tie it up!!!

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:42 pm

That 3rd period line constant line juggling by Yeo was a friggin' joke. I get wanting to have multiple guys who can take faceoffs, but at the cost of having any kind of consistency in your lines??? Steen wound up with darn near 20 minutes of ice time while the 4th line, the one that actually scored, wound up with less than 9 minutes...

Upshall 8:24
Reaves 8:54
Brodziak 10:16 thanks to the PK.

So I guess getting rewarded for scoring doesn't actually apply for this staff.

Balance the ice time more, instead of relying on a select few. Relying on a select few wears them down. It's the same crap Hitchcock pulled whenever the Blues were trailing. What's screwed up - the whole 4th line got a minus because Shattenkirk turned the puck over which had nothing to do with the forwards.

Toasted Oates · Post by **Toasted Oates** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:12 pm

He's giving Tarasenko more ice time than Hitchcock ever did, though, which you have to appreciate. The best player's gotta play. But, yeah, the extreme line juggling was pointless and reeks of over coaching (see Hitchcock, Ken).

The Blues never win when the 4th line is their best line and it's happened all too often this year.

The Shattenkirk/Bortuzzo pairing was an abomination.

Wasted solid goaltending effort.

The Blackhawks will put a hurtin' on this team after the "bye week."

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:03 pm

Letting Tarasenko get the extra ice time - as it should be.

Toasted Oates wrote:The Blues never win when the 4th line is their best line and it's happened all too often this year.

That being said, if the 4th line is the one performing, you don't play them less over Lehtera (14:13) and Paajarvi (12:03). Right now, Lehtera should be the one only getting ~8 minutes per night.

Toasted Oates wrote:The Shattenkirk/Bortuzzo pairing was an abomination.

Shattenkirk/Bortuzzo - neither can cover the left side of the ice at all. Why in the hell did he put those two together when this is already known??

Toasted Oates · Post by **Toasted Oates** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:34 am

theohall wrote: That being said, if the 4th line is the one performing, you don't play them less over Lehtera (14:13) and Paajarvi (12:03). Right now, Lehtera should be the one only getting ~8 minutes per night.

You're not wrong at all and that's a flaw this roster had going into the season. Even with his injury and less ice, Brodziak has outplayed Lehtera. God, if they could just find a way to unload Lehtera off this team.....

Now having slept on this loss, I'm more sympathetic to the team and their wacky schedule the last 6 days (DET-STL-BUF-STL). And the Panthers are a streaking team.

WaukeeBlues · Post by **WaukeeBlues** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:34 am

I hope this loss brings Armstrong down to earth a bit, to the extent he was drinking any kool-aid with the recent winning streak to begin with.

Hate to say it but these back to back losses might be "good" for the Blues. Makes it less likely Armstrong does something stupid at the deadline.

Though you never know.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:23 pm

Toasted Oates wrote:Now having slept on this loss, I'm more sympathetic to the team and their wacky schedule the last 6 days (DET-STL-BUF-STL). And the Panthers are a streaking team.

No sympathy at all. This has been the Blues problem all season - beating teams who are playing well. They seemingly can't and a large part of this issue is coaching and an unwillingness to get the most out of the entire team, instead of trying to milk the select few completely dry. Looking at the Wild, it's clear Yeo has no clue how to get the most out of his players.

cardsfan04 · Post by **cardsfan04** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:24 pm

I understand the criticisms of Yeo from his Wild tenure. But, it's not at all uncommon for a coach to have better results in his second coaching stint. So, I think it's a little early to judge Yeo as Blues head coach, especially since the team is 6-3 under him or whatever it is. Some of that is the honeymoon period for sure. But, I still think it's premature to write him off here.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:18 pm

Well, Yeo is already showing the inconsistencies which lost the players in Minnesota.

He takes over and starts with "players need to play through it" to gel as lines - or something like that. It's working - against teams who are struggling.

Then comes last night and incessant line juggling in a tight game. Why? The team was playing well enough against a strong opponent without screwing with the lines. There were 6 different line combinations involving Steen in the 3rd period alone. What message is that sending to the players and what is the coach's real message? They get to play through it or he's going to mix crap up whenever he feels like it?? That type of inconsistency, especially during a tight game, from the head coach is bad.

I'd like to see what the Blues record is against good teams the rest of the season, not the 5 average to sub-par teams they beat in 5 of those 6 wins. I'm betting it will still be around .500 which is nothing different from what was happening with Hitchcock. Unfortunately, we likely won't. The Blues only have 6 of 22 games remaining against teams with records better than them as of right now. This could change to 8 depending on what happens during the bye week with FLA and NSH.

In other words, the Blues should win 14 of their last 22 at a minimum, but that won't be preparing them for the playoffs, since they will be playing lesser teams in the majority of the games remaining. All it will do is reinforce Armstrong's decision to hire Yeo and fire Hitchcock when he did. Then, the playoffs will hit and we will likely see a 1st Rd exit vs Chicago or San Jose when Yeo, again, will not get the most out of his players.

Toasted Oates · Post by **Toasted Oates** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:59 pm

Yeah I'm not gonna burn Mike Yeo in effigy yet. No question, Theo's logic is sensible considering the way it ended in Minnesota and how the Wild are playing now (although Boudreau has lost his share of locker rooms). We'll see how he coaches this team in a playoff series and what kind of roster Doug gives him for next year.

The 4 games in 6 nights with the travel is a reasonable excuse for tired legs, IMO, especially considering this team isn't all that talented in the forward dept. Despite that, these games are right there for the taking. We couldn't say that before the all star break.

theohall · Post by **theohall** » Tue Feb 21, 2017 6:26 pm

The best example of how Yeo will not get the most from his players...

Mikael Granlund - with 24 games remaining this season, he's on pace to be the 20-25 goal scorer, 70-80 point guy he was drafted and expected to become. (17G, 36A so far and more goals and assists than he had in any season under Yeo).

The past 3 seasons he's done the following:
13-14 8 G 33 A 41 Pts
14-15 8 G 31 A 39 Pts
15-16 13 G 31 A 44 Pts (55 Games under Yeo 5G, 23A - on pace for another 8 G 30 A season)

Granlund stagnated and didn't develop at all under Yeo. Boudreau shows up and suddenly he's playing like the player they expected when he was drafted. And this isn't just a coach bump. He is consistently playing better this season to the point he is their #2 forward in ice time.

While the Blues are 7-3 under Yeo, the scoring problem that existed before Hitchcock was fired was still painfully evident during this 10 game span. The Blues scored 2 goals or less in 6 of those 10 games. They went 3-3 in those games thanks to level of opposition, better defensive play and outstanding goaltending. (the 3 wins, last place Red Wings, super young Maple Leafs, and struggling Flyers) 2 goals or less per game in more than half of your games = losing in the playoffs.

Does anyone actually believe Yeo is going to get the scoring from this team necessary to win in the playoffs? He couldn't do it in Minnesota and being a "motivational" coach only goes so far.

The Blues need scoring and they need it from someone who Yeo doesn't have to coach up.

Let's Go Blues