Good morning St. Louis Blues fans. For those of you like me, in your mid 40s or younger, today may be a historical day for you, attending your very first Stanley Cup Final game. May it be all you hope for and more. Please remember to be respectful to the few Bruins faithful in the building, treat them like we treated the Jets traveling fans and how you would want to be treated in Boston for Game 5.
A lot of my thoughts and analysis on Game 2 can be found
here but I’d like to go over a few more things. As I mentioned in the prior post, I don’t buy the Grizzy narrative fully and Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy had a quote that I think reinforces my thought. Cassidy said “but losing the 16 minutes of Grzelcyk’s time, good puck mover, guy that can break down a forecheck when he’s on” doesn’t fit reality as that would imply that Grizzy was going to play over 20 minutes something he has done in 2 of 19 playoff games. He hasn’t played more than 16:10 in the last 4 playoff games and remember he played almost 4:30 in Game 2 and didn’t leave until effectively the end of the 1st period. Again, he likely lost 9-10 minutes not 16 but of course that doesn’t fit the narrative Cassidy would want to and should tell.
Speaking of Cassidy, I think he did a good job of what it means in 2019 to play big and heavy when he said “what they did was I thought they were on top of us, tighter than they did the first game. They didn’t allow us to get the space. As a result, we didn’t seem to win as many races as we did Game 1 to pucks”. I don’t think big and heavy necessarily means actual size and number of hits but rather eliminating time and space, think heavy pressure rather than heavy weight.
Cassidy also added a very pertinent point when he said that “they won a lot of races, got more pucks and had it more than we did. I don’t think that was necessarily the case in Game 1. We won a lot of races, had it more and we were able to make plays. You spend a lot of energy defending and that’s what we did tonight, we spent a lot of energy defending and it caught up to us in the end”. Defending requires a lot more work and energy.
Blues coach Craig Berube talked about puck management and a strong forecheck being the keys to their success when he said “the first period in the first game we played our game for the most part, but tonight we played it for 60 minutes. I thought that puck possession in the offensive zone was huge. That was led from our forecheck. Making good plays with the puck and, you know, get it in and get it back and then possess offensive zone time.”
If you noticed a lot of bouncing pucks and were wondering about the ice condition, you likely were justified as David Backes complained about the ice conditions after the game.
In another few examples of how this Blues team isn’t your dad’s Blues, Jordan Binnington said this about moving on after losing Game 1: “Life of a goaltender. Just keep moving forward and regroup and just try to be there and give your team a chance to win and I just keep that mindset”. When Pat Maroon was asked how it felt to be part of the Blues’ first ever Stanley Cup Final win, he responded “it’s one win. That’s it.”
A few Bruins observations from the 1st two games:
- David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand may have been three of the worst Bruins forwards in the 1st two games. If you ignore the empty net goal, Marchand is -3, no other points, and only 5 shots with a terrible play on the Tarasenko goal. Again, ignoring the ENG, Bergeron would be -3, with six shots, no points and only 38% in the dot the last game. Pastrnak has one assist with six shots and is -6 while making the giveaway that led to a Tarasenko goal.
- If Pastrnak, Bergeron and Marchand continue to be contained the rest of the series, expect the Blues to have success. Bad news is keeping this up will definitely be a challenge.
- Tuuka Rask have been very good but not infallible. Can we please stop the needless Blues penalties for contact with him? It’s not taking him off his game. He appears to have matured since his AHL and early NHL days.
- Torey Krug seems to be getting a lot of love for a guy who has no points, no pims, a couple of shots a game and threw one big hit. A hit that was AFTER the Bruins already had the lead and didn’t really change the momentum of the game. A lot of love for one hit that knocked Robert Thomas out of the series.
As to the lineup today, Cassidy is going with John Moore so that none of the Bruins defensemen have to play their off side. It will be Moore’s 6th game of the playoffs. He has no points and is -4 while averaging just under 13 minutes of ice time. Moore only played one game in the Eastern Conference Finals, playing less than 12 minutes. He sat out the entire second round after playing three games in the first round.
For the Blues, Robby Fabbri will be in again for Robert Thomas, playing in his 10th game this playoffs. Fabbri has 1 goal and is -3 while averaging 8:28 of ice time with a little over a shot a game. Fabbri played in Game 2, playing a little over 10 minutes. Before Game 2, he hadn’t played since the second round.
Zach Sanford will be replacing Oskar Sundqvist, playing in only his 4th playoff game. Sanford has no points is -1 with no shots while averaging 7:14 of ice time. Sanford hasn’t played since the first round of the playoffs.
The Blues really could benefit from David Perron improving his play. Perron is -2, with 2 pims, giveaways and no takeaways, only 2 shots and no points.
My wish is for all Blues fans to really enjoy today and immerse themselves in the experience. I know I’m going to do my best to do so.
It’s a great day for June hockey.
NHL Champions for Charity Playoff Edition
In what I hope becomes a Hockeybuzz tradition, Bruins Hockeybuzz writer
Anthony Travalgia and I placed a wager on the series. If the Blues win, Anthony has agreed to make a donation to the
Gateway Area Multiple Sclerosis Society (@mssociety on twitter) whose mission is help each person affected by MS in St. Louis address the challenges of living with MS. They help by raising funds for cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education and providing programs and services that empower people with MS and their families to move their lives forward. I picked this charity to honor Blues anthem singer, Charles Glenn. Read more about Charles’ battle with MS
here. If the Bruins win, I will donate to the
JDRF (@JDRF on twitter) whose mission is improve lives today and tomorrow by accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications.
Sharks Hockeybuzz writer
Steve Palumbo and I placed a wager on the series. Since the Blues won, Steve should be making a donation to the
Gateway Area Multiple Sclerosis Society (@mssociety on twitter) whose mission is help each person affected by MS in St. Louis address the challenges of living with MS. They help by raising funds for cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education and providing programs and services that empower people with MS and their families to move their lives forward. I selected the MS Society to honor St. Louis Blues Anthem singer Charles Glenn. Read more about Charles
here.
I hope that our wagers will inspire players and fans to pledge donations for each win their team makes in the NHL playoffs.
NHL Champions for Charity Regular Season
Given that the Predators pulled out the division title, all be it not without some controversial officiating in the last couple of games, Best Buddies Tennessee
https://www.bestbuddies.org/tennessee/ is the beneficiary. Best Buddies Tennessee is dedicated to establishing a volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development and inclusive living opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As a side note, I recently got to experience a Best Buddies even in the St. Louis area that was led by the Eureka high school football team. It was a lot of fun and brought a lot of joy to those involved.
It’s a great day for hockey.
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