MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- As the St. Louis Blues prepare to try and defend their turf, starting with Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (8:30 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN2, SN, TVAS, CBC, ESPN 101.1-FM), there’s one obvious area they must improve on.
No, it’s not the power play, which is 3-for-7 (but 0 for the last 3), and it’s not the penalty kill, which is 5-for-6 and the lone goal allowed was off one of their own sticks (Ryan Suter).
The Blues have one goal at 5-on-5, and it was scored by Oskar Sundqvist in Game 1 by being in the right area of the ice taking advantage of a loose puck, and they’ve been outscored 5-1. This series won’t last long on that trend.
“We've got to get to their blue paint better, we've got to sustain more O-zone time,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “Those are two things that we definitely have to do better and then besides that, we need to play faster, not only offensively but defensively.”
And why has that been an issue?
“Sometimes you’ve got to credit the opposition, and sometimes we need to reinforce it,” Montgomery said. “I think we've talked a lot about defending our net, but I don't think we talked enough as a coaching staff, myself in particular, about being heavy at their net front.”
The players know it. It’s just a question of getting it done. But is it as easy as that? Hardly.
When the Jets line up big, hard, heavy, physical D-men like Logan Stanley (6-foot-7, 231 pounds), Luke Schenn (6-2, 225) and Dylan Samberg (6-4, 216), it can be a tall task trying to get in front of Connor Hellebuyck and make the goalie’s life miserable.
“You’ve got to have the will and the compete to work around your check and to get around the dirty areas,” Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. “They’ve got some good D-men that are strong and try to hold you to the outside. It’s no excuse. You’ve got to find a way to get there, bang in some greasy ones and help your team.
“I think obviously it starts with more possession in the O-zone, hanging onto pucks longer. Obviously directing more shots in that direction and getting more traffic there obviously. They’ve got a really good goalie and you can’t make it easy on him. You’ve got to get to the net and make it harder for him to see pucks and create chaos around him. I think if we can do a better job of that … I thought it got better from Game 1 to Game 2 and hopefully taking another step heading into Game 3.”
They could use that sort of play from Neighbours, Brayden Schenn, who’s been hitting everything in sight with 14 hits (nine in Game 1, including eight in the first period), Pavel Buchnevich, Zack Bolduc, and anyone else willing and able to get there.
“I think it’s just keep our game simple,” Bolduc said. “It’s bringing pucks to the net, bring some traffic. We haven’t done a good job of being at the net and trying to be a screen to those shots, so I think that’s one thing we’ve got to get better at.”
But in saying that, it’s a balance of not allowing the traffic at their net front either. But it’s obvious that the Blues need to generate more on the offensive side at 5-on-5 and according to Pavel Buchnevich, it’s not always about playing a certain way.
“It’s not about physical,” Buchnevich said. “We have to get out from the corners. We have to spread them and get some good shots with the bodies in front. Sometimes ‘D’ get the puck and the forwards are still in the corner. Basically they box out before the shot is coming and Hellebuyck see most of the shots. It’s hard to score like that.”
We’ll see if the necessary adjustments are made on Thursday with the Blues trailing the best-of-7 series 2-0.