GDT Game 3: 4/20/15 | 7:00PM CST | @ Wild | FSMW/CNBC/KMOX

[Robb_K]

Not a good showing, at all. The Wild adjusted to what The Blues did in Game 2, and The Blues couldn't adjust in mid-game. The Blues have to win 3 of the next 4. Their roster is capable of doing that. But, certainly not the way they are playing now.

[Portland Blues]

Has Ott played about 40 minutes?

Yes. He's apparently our secret weapon.

Be clever all you want, but he had the best scoring chance of the 3rd off a rush generated by Reaves.

I think that says more about how the rest of the slugs played tonight rather than Ott.

[Toasted Oates]

Fantasy lines for Game 4:

20-42-91
17-26-74
21-12-23
32/9-13-18 (Blow up the 4th line. They are not threatening in any way.)

22-27
19-6
5-41

34

[drwoland]

Fantasy lines for Game 4:

20-42-91
17-26-74
21-12-23
32/9-13-18 (Blow up the 4th line. They are not threatening in any way.)

22-27
19-6
5-41

34

You really want Stastny playing with Schwartz and Oshie? He is the EPITOME of the garbage level of play this team is displaying right now.

I also disagree with you assessment of the 4th line - the ONLY LINE to sustain more than 15 seconds of pressure in the Wild zone more than once in game 3.

[dmiles2186]

Has Ott played about 40 minutes?

Yes. He's apparently our secret weapon.

Be clever all you want, but he had the best scoring chance of the 3rd off a rush generated by Reaves.

And he completely botched it. On the topic of Ott, his two misconducts at the end of both losses are an embarrassment. He just looks like a pitiful, sore loser. Here's an idea: instead of "sending a message" by acting like an idiot, send a message by winning the freaking hockey game. That's what the Wild did.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Toasted Oates]

Fantasy lines for Game 4:

20-42-91
17-26-74
21-12-23
32/9-13-18 (Blow up the 4th line. They are not threatening in any way.)

22-27
19-6
5-41

34

You really want Stastny playing with Schwartz and Oshie? He is the EPITOME of the garbage level of play this team is displaying right now.

I also disagree with you assessment of the 4th line - the ONLY LINE to sustain more than 15 seconds of pressure in the Wild zone more than once in game 3.

Stastny is a ghost, no question. But that line carried the team when Steen and Tarasenko were hurt. Just throwin darts here, because that was by far the most disappointing game of the season considering the circumstances.

The 4th line fought for a chance in garbage time. Kudos. We all have a soft spot for 75 and I hate Ott less and less every day. But they have to be able to roll a 4th line that can play double digit minutes and sustain good shifts. Their 4th line against the Blues' is a terrifying matchup for the majority of the game.

Or they could just keep it the way it is and still somehow roll out a W. Who the hell knows? I was just throwing it out there.

[dmiles2186]

What an assbag. Cut this guy now. I am tired of him representing my beloved Blues organization.
https://twitter.com/russostrib/status/590351992783904768

[Oaklandblue]

Minny is a better team than our boys for one simple reason: They want to win.

I was really harsh on Jake for being green and feeling that Ells deserved the shot to start more than a rookie, but I have to hand it to Jake, the guy's been tough as nails and he deserves a great deal of respect. Jake really is the future.

Ott is an idiot, but you can tell he gives a shit and goes out to rile things up because he cares. You can say what you want, but at least he tries to do something.

I'm trying to understand just what I watched earlier. Has Hitch decided playing D is not the way to go? Someone, Brett Hull or/and Chopper need to go into that lockerroom and beat some bitches up, because there is absolutely no excuse, with the skillset and talent we got, that we should have gotten served like that. None.

[Portland Blues]

The thing that stuns me (again this year) is how we can kick so much ass during an 82 game season and then as soon as the playoffs start we play like ass. Seriously, how do we go from so good to so horrible in such a short span?

The Ducks won the West, and watching all 3 of their games this year they look just as good as they did throughout the season.

[glen a richter]

It may be a 7 game series, but this is a pretty tough spot now. A team who doesn't want to win playing against a team who does, having lost home ice with no foreseeable chance of gaining it back in game 4.

Why is it that the Blues always look like they're skating in molasses relative to the opposition, whomever the opposition may be? This team is pitifully slow, or at least that's how I see it. There's no sense of urgency, ever. If they come through and win this series, it'll be a near miracle. The only guy worth his weight, from my vantage point, is Allen. It brings me back to Curt's thread about whether or not Elliott could carry the team to a Cup and a bunch of us very very clear that it didn't mater who was in net and it came down to desire and heart, which is clearly something a lot of guys on this team don't possess. Allen can deliver a Cup--someday. That's if there are some big changes to the roster. Start with getting Gunnarsson out of there, put Bortuzzo into a more regular role. Jettison Bouwmeester during the offseason, if your intent is to go with Allen as the #1, trade Elliott while he still has market value. Stastny has been nothing short of an overpaid disappointment. If he can't get his game in gear next season, you have to consider cutting ties if you can. I wouldn't be overly against the idea of trading Backes and giving the C to Tarasenko. We can talk all we want about how valuable Backes is to the team, but the real value is in players who can lead their team to the Cup, or at the very least a 2nd round victory (or a 2nd round, as the case may be). If Backes was a proper leader, he'd be rallying the guys around the idea of not being embarrassed again in the 1st round.


Well, we'll see what game 4 brings anyway.

[abc789987]

What an assbag. Cut this guy now. I am tired of him representing my beloved Blues organization.
https://twitter.com/russostrib/status/590351992783904768

When I read this tweet it made me think he was scratching at him with bare hand, like fingernails...

Then I saw the full quote.

He’s scratching at Spurgy’s face,” Dubnyk said. “He’s on the ice with his glove in his face and I could see his fingers moving, he’s pulling at his mouth and his nose and eyes. I don’t want our guy to end up hurt with his eyes or whatever. And the ref was standing there, so I just told him to grab, to get his hand. I could see his hand scratching at his face, so I just don’t want Spurgy to get hurt and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he was trying to do.

Isn't that a face wash? That doesn't sound so terrible to me? Don't those happen quiet often?

[Krigloch the Furious]

Ott is the only guy trying

[theohall]

Fantasy lines for Game 4:

20-42-91
17-26-74
21-12-23
32/9-13-18 (Blow up the 4th line. They are not threatening in any way.)

22-27
19-6
5-41

34

I feel like a just read a Blues Facebook post.

[dmiles2186]

Star Tribune columnist obliterates Ott (and the Blues). This is my problem with Ott. He's a joke to everyone, they don't take him seriously.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/300749891.html

Wild fans will want to treat Steve Ott as a villain. He’s not. Villains are frightening. Ott is more like junk mail — annoying but meaningless, and soon to be stuffed in the proper recycling bin.

If the St. Louis Blues were intelligent, they would be feeding off the talent of Vladimir Tarasenko. Instead, they are feeding off the idiocy of Ott, a supposed enforcer who plays like a child, holding sticks and patting heads instead of just once hitting someone square.

When Ott actually had a chance to help his team with a third-period breakaway, he lost the puck, then fanned on a pass in the crease. He’s not a hockey player; he’s a rodeo clown.

Sometimes Ott mimics a tough guy late in games, when the hockey portion of the evening has ended. Monday, with his team down by three goals in the waning moments, he jumped on the smallest player in the game, Jared Spurgeon.

For Ott’s next act of bravery, he will taunt a sleeping kitten.

“That’s two games now — both wins — that he’s ended up with a 10-minute misconduct,” Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk said. “It’s at the end of the game, so we know why he’s out there and that’s what he’s looking to do.”

Dubnyk sprinted out of his crease when he saw Ott on top of Spurgeon.

“He’s scratching at Spurgy’s face,” Dubnyk said. “He’s on the ice with his glove in his face and I could see his fingers moving, he’s pulling at his mouth and his nose and eyes. I don’t want our guy to end up hurt with his eyes or whatever. And the ref was standing there, so I just told him to grab, to get his hand. I could see his hand scratching at his face, so I just don’t want Spurgy to get hurt and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he was trying to do.”

After a season of Wild fans dreading a matchup with the Blues, this series is already a competitive disappointment, and for wholly unexpected reasons. The Wild skated figure eights around St. Louis on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center, winning 3-0 to take a 2-1 advantage in the series.

The Blues are one of those hockey clubs that think hitting after the whistle is a substitute for scoring goals or stopping pucks. Other than a predictable flurry to begin Game 2, they have been unworthy of playoff hockey.

The flip side of this development is that the Wild now has no excuse not to take a 3-1 lead Wednesday. If these Wild players lose a series to a team this undisciplined, they should be banned from their lake homes and forced to wear Ott jerseys this summer.

The Blues were supposed to be a tougher opponent than last year’s Round 1 foe, Colorado, but they are proving again they don’t have the stomach for a fair fight. Since 2003, they are 3-17 on the road in the playoffs. They’d be better off sending Bernie Federko’s statue.

If the symbolic moment of Game 2 was Ott patting Jason Zucker on the head, the symbolic moment of Game 3 might have been Zucker laughing in the face of St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, or Ott missing a check on Jonas Brodin and faking a punch at Matt Dumba, who was sitting on the bench. Dumba laughed as if he was watching Will Ferrell in an elf suit.

If the Blues’ goal was to intimidate, they have failed. They will need another strategy, or gear.

Ott makes his most notable appearances right before the postgame Zamboni. He is the victory cigar you would rather not smoke.

Once the Wild had won, the Blues “enforcer” became Ott the Penalty Bot.

“Just let him be a nonfactor out there,” Wild forward Charlie Coyle said. “That’s his game. That’s what he’s here to do. We don’t focus on that. We don’t pay attention to it. He doesn’t do much out there.”

[dmiles2186]

Ott is the only guy trying

A guy between the pipes named Allen would beg to differ.

[Krigloch the Furious]

Well that goes with out saying

[abc789987]

Ott's job is to antagonise and get under the skin of the Wild players. Which he obviously is doing.

It would be a non story if the Blues didn't play like shit.... But, it's another year and looking to be another disappointment in the playoffs... I know we are not out of this yet. But in the two games we have lost we looked absolutely terrible.

(Franking) bipolar team...

[Portland Blues]

Any whining by Minnesota is negated (for me) by the fact they have Matt (Franking) Cooke on their team.

[Nyghtewynd]

Here's Steve Ott's resume. Lemme know what you think.

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/2015/4/1 ... ouis-blues

[cardsfan04]

Any whining by Minnesota is negated (for me) by the fact they have Matt (Franking) Cooke on their team.

Not to mention the cheap shots they've taken on us the past few years.