Bring on the Sharks! But Who Will Hold the Net?

The Blues finished the season with a victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. The Pacific division shuffled around and with a Vancouver win, the Blues were seeded second in the Western Conference. This means they will face the Sharks in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to begin Wednesday.

The NHL network will reveal the schedule live at noon today.

The Blues were 4-0 against the Sharks this season and have dominated them in recent years. But this is the post season and the Blues have not been at the top of their game of late while the Sharks have been on fire.

The Pacific division came down to the wire. The Coyotes won on the last game of the season (defeating the Blues a night before) to clinch the division and making the final game between the Kings and Sharks a battle for seventh and eighth place.

The Blues' final opponent, Dallas, was in first place in that division five games ago. Now their season is over, sitting in ninth place.

The Sharks had to battle to get into the playoffs and the Blues stumbled on their way in. A few days off should give them time to regroup, rest, and get back to the style that made them an elite team this year.

The time off will also give Hitchcock a chance to think about the roster. The forth line could be made of any number of players. The goaltending situation is a good thing, but no easy task to pick a starter for game one.

Could the NHL leader in GA and Save %  be sitting the first game of the playoffs? It certainly appears so. Elliott did not get much support in his 4-1 loss against Phoenix, and his entire miraculous, best season by a goalie from start to finish that I have ever seen by a Blues goalie may be unfairly summed up by that loss. 


On the other hand, Halak does have more playoff experience which includes that amazing run with Montreal two years ago. Of course, when he did that, he was a back-up goalie that out-shined the starter (sound familiar?)

Playoff Bound!

The Blues become the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot with their 100th point on the season.

With a 3-1 win at Tampa Bay Saturday night the Blues reached 100 points, and more importantly, clinched a playoff berth. They became the first team to reach those two milestones in the NHL. The New York Rangers are the next closest team with 95 points.

The game-winning goal came from Jaden Schwartz in his first NHL game. He became the 13th player in franchise history to score in his debut.

Schwartz got acclimated to the "loose Blues" in the warm up skate when the team had him lead them onto the ice, but they all stopped at the bench. Schwartz proceeded to the ice and did two laps alone while the rest of the guys got a good laugh from the tunnel.

Berglund opened the scoring with a short-handed goal in the first made possible by a fantastic set-up from Alex Pietrangelo. Perron added the third goal on a partial break. Halak made 22 saves.

Andy McDonald did not play and is "week to week" as Hitchcock puts it. David Backes left the game early with a foot injury, not great news.

Even with all the injuries, the Blues continue to win. They are surging and doing it on the road. All this is a great testament to the system that Hitchcock has sold to the team.

Rust Proof

Halak shines in shutout as the Blues show little let down after the longest all-star break in the NHL.

The Blues looked like the same great defensive team that went into the break as they beat Los Angeles 1-0 Friday night. Jamie Langenbrunner scored the lone goal on a great feed from Matt D'Agostini.

That was all the Blues would need as Jaroslav Halak stopped all 22 shots he faced. It was his fifth shutout of the season. Both he and Elliot have five on the season, giving the team ten, tops in the NHL.

That marks the first time that the Blues have had two goalies with at least ten shutouts since Jaques Plante and Glenn Hall did it in 1968-69. They made it to the Stanley Cup Finals that season.

The Blues were weary that the long layoff would cause them to come out a bit rusty, but after firing 12 shots and racking up 15 hits in the first, all worry was gone.

"We started out pretty good actually, but I don't know how that was because I felt terrible," said Matt D'Agostini. "I couldn't skate."

Dags looked good in the second. On a great individual effort, he chipped a puck by a King defender and set up Langenbrunner for the lone score .

The Blues were able to let that goal stand as the winner because of the outstanding play of Halak. He made three world-class left pad saves in the second half of the game. Halak should get the start tonight when the Note face off in Nashville against the Predators.

Highlights:

One and Done, Again

The Blues play "the way hockey was meant to be played," and for the second game in a row shutout an opponent and score late to win.

In dramatic fashion, the Blues got a late goal from Alex Pietrangelo to beat the Oilers 1-0 Thursday. He scored with just 5:14 remaining on a great wrap-around to finally beat Oiler goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. The Blues had the first 18 shots on goal and out shot Edmonton 38-15.


Facing those 15 shots was Jaro Halak, whose second shutout in a row improved his record to 10-0-3 in his last 13 games.

The Blues' record has improved to a league-best 20-3-3 at home and gives them 62 points, the second most in the Conference behind Detroit (63). The Central Division contains the Western Conference's three best teams (DET, STL, CHI).

The Scotty is becoming a nightmare for opponents and now they are starting to take notice:

"They came out with tremendous pressure and intensity, Edmonton Defensman Andy Sutton said. "That's the way hockey was meant to be played."

Highlights:

Shooting Stars

The Blues moved into a tie for first in the NHL with Monday's win over Dallas.

The Blues beat the Stars 1-0 Monday night at the Scotty. The win gave them 60 points, and put them in a tie with the Rangers and Blackhawks for first place in the entire NHL. It has been a dozen years since the Blues have been at that spot this late in the season.

Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season. He is 9-0-3 in his last 12 starts.

At the start of the third, T.J. Oshie was placed on a line with David Backes and Perron. The move paid off late in the game, Oshie scored a highlight goal on a great feed from Perron.

That was all the tight-checking Blues would need. They are defining their game as a team that plays a tight checking, defensive game, but has the skill to score when need be.

The young stars are beginning to shine, and the sky is the limit for this first place team.


Highlights:

Halak's Homecoming is Special

Jaroslav Halak went into Montreal Tuesday for another high pressure game, but this time he was playing against the Habs. His reception was a warm one nonetheless.

After all of the media attention, Halak put on a clinic and lead the Blues to a 3-0 shutout victory, not to mention a first place position in the Central Division.

Halak made 19 saves, not overwhelming, but that did included some highlights. None was better than the one he made against Tomas Plekanec just 3:13 into the game. Plekanec was stopped by Halak's quick right leg on a short handed breakaway.

"I tried to put my pad on the ice and thank God I stopped it," Halak told the Post-Dispatch. "It calmed me down."

But that was not the special moment. After sealing the shutout and getting congratulations from his teammates, Halak made his way off the ice while a capacity crowd stood cheering. His teammates would not let him down the tunnel.

"They told me to come out and enjoy the moment, and it was great," Halak said.

Highlights:


Who Gets the Start?

The rule to start the next game after a shutout was waved for Brian Elliott so that Halak could start the special game in Montreal. Elliott was to get the start against the Canucks Thursday night, but who starts now? I say Elliott, and when he gets a shutout then we start Halak after that, owing him his start from Montreal. They can just keep trading shutouts for all Blues fans care!

Blues Begin 2012 with a Win

The Blues halted their longest winless streak at three games by defeating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 at home last night.

Christ Stewart is quietly heating up and scored the first goal of the game. Jamie Langenbrunner added a goal in the first on a tip in from Barret Jackman's shot from the point. Phoenix scored late on a power play making the score 2-1 at the end of one. Speaking of things heating up as of late, T.J. Oshie scored on the power play in the Second on a nice neutral zone transition. Berglund added an empty netter to close out the game's scoring.

Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves and was the games number one star. David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo both had 2 assists. Jackman had a notably strong game on defense, which is significant since the Blues are shorthanded in that department due to injuries and suspensions.

The Note improved to 15-3-2 at home, and have nabbed 32 of a possible 40 points. The Blues have become one of the league's best home teams, which should come in handy during January when they play 9 of 11 at Scottrade. In February and March the team goes on the road for 19 of 30. They were in playoff contention last year until an awful January. This team looks to have a great January and rack up the points at home.

Highlights:

Blues Beat Stars, Lose Late to Wings

The Blues played back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday with mixed results. They did score two power play goals in each game.

Monday, they beat the Stars at home 5-3. Jaro Halak got the start and the win, not having to do much to outplay  Dallas netminder Richard Bachman who was chased from the game after letting in a couple of easy goals.

Some significant tallies were scored by the Blues. Chris Stewart scored twice, which hopefully will spark his sniping ability. Adam Cracknell, who was called up to St. Louis on Christmas Eve, scored the second tally saying, "I'll take that Christmas present any day." Evgeny Grachev scored his first ever NHL goal and added a great celebration. Jason Arnott scored his 3rd power play goal of the season, which leads the team.

Highlights:


The next evening, the Blues dominated the Wings for the first two frames and lead 2-1 late. But Detroit struck fast in the third to steal the game. Pavol Datsyuk scored on a world-class deflection for the go-ahead goal.

The Blues were swarming the Wings through the first two and only goalie Jimmy Howard kept it from being a 4 or 5 goal deficient for the home team. Maybe he should back-up Brian Elliott in the all-star game. Elliot got the nod for the Blues, played a strong game, but took home the loss.

With the two points Detroit leaped over St. Louis to 4th place in the West. The Blues sit in 5th. The top 3 point-getters in the West are from the Central Division (Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis).

The Blues will get a quick shot at revenge as they are right back at Joe Louis Arena Saturday night.

Highlights:

Elliott is Number One, Not Just on His Back and Sleeves

Brian Elliott leads the NHL in GAA, Save%, and Shutouts. He has allowed more than two goals only once this season. He would most likely lead the NHL in wins if he would get more starts.

This weekend Elliott watched back-to-back games from the bench. That's right, on an occasion which is almost always split between starter/backup goalies, the hottest goalie in the league watched from the bench.

Hitchcock says he wanted to see how Halak performed in back-to-back situations. Now we know the answer: decent, and nowhere near as well as Elliott has played this season.

It is no question that Halak's game has turned around since Hitchcock took over. Of course, it was not that hard to turn around such a poor start to the season, and such an inconsistent last season.

Do not get me wrong, Halak has been great since Hitch took the helm, but Elliott has been beyond great. He gives the Blues a chance to win every single night he is in the net. Halak is notorious for giving up that "backbreaking" goal at the wrong time. Elliott makes that "backbreaking" save at the right time. Simply put: Elliott has been more consistent and better than Halak, before and after the coaching change. The best argument is this: Halak is 6-7-4 and Elliott 13-2. That is all there is to say, the Blues win when Elliott is in.

Having two quality goalies is great and should not be overlooked. At the very least, ride the Elliott horse while you can. Either he stays hot for a while then fizzles, and you can start your big contract goalie, or he stays this hot all season, and St. Louis is a Stanley Cup contender come April. He's been that good.