So I'm starting to feel like Berube is a lot better tactical coach than I realized.

I mean breaking up their best line to try to jump start stuff is something you see fairly often but it takes balls to do that in the playoffs. We know Berube has balls.

But Buchnevich running the point even with an 11-7 alignment? That was creative as hell and it worked. And what REALLY impressed me was that he did the exact opposite of what I expected and it completely wrong-footed Colorado. I figured they'd go hard on the forecheck and try to keep the puck hemmed in. He went with what I figured was essentially suicide - he all but GAVE Colorado their blue line. The old school neutral zone trap was NOT something I saw coming. Yet there it was. Repeatedly. Even some left wing lock shit thrown in to boot.

I think Colorado was completely unprepared for it and you could see they were off their game because of it all night. They just couldn't figure out how to get through the middle and all that traffic.

Ultimately I bet playing with the lead as often as they did made a difference there and we'll see if the Blues can/will keep that up, but man it was DAMN smart and a wrinkle I just wouldn't have expected from someone I've never really thought of us being really creative out there.

They'll adjust and I suspect you'll see Colorado try to dump and chase a bit earlier. But here's the thing, dump and chase against St. Louis is REALLY hard with Binnington in net. The guy's just such an aggressive puck-handler that if you do that, he's going to kick the puck out. Maybe you just keep doing it and wait for him to mishandle one. And if the Blues stay with that, they'll have a pretty hard time scoring while also making it easier for Makar to get aggressive on the offensive zone.

But if the Blues can get another early lead, I bet they go right back to it because they can really keep Colorado bottled up at even strength with that approach and Binnington being aggressive with the puck.
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I certainly credit Berube for the win last night. It was clear from how much the Avs were staring at their iPads that the Blues were throwing things at them they weren't expecting.

The question is now whether Bednar is up to the task to fix it.
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Watched the first 2 periods last night - got home from Louisiana yesterday and I was falling asleep on the couch by 9 pm. It was a struggle to stay awake as late as i did. Blues were a completely different team from game 1. I was a little surprised they were as flat as they were in game one. Not moving their feet, second to every loose puck, giving them so much freedom in the neutral zone etc. etc.

Will be interesting to see the adjustments the Avs make for game three and see if the Blues are ready for those changes. This series, I could see it being similar to the SCF against Boston. Hopefully we have the same outcome this year as that year.
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It was one of the few times I've seen a talented team still look talented (they weren't playing flat or anything) but simply look confused.

The whole game the Avalanche still looked dangerous. Every now and again one of them would manage to just blow into the offensive zone and you knew they still had their legs under them.

They just couldn't figure out what to do with that trap. And Makar, for the first time I've EVER seen, looked a little confused. I think that's part of what had him less aggressive in the offensive zone.

If the upcoming game were a road game, I'd like to see the Blues come out thundering and try to attack the offensive zone to quiet the crowd. But being a home game, I think I'm pretty content with them bringing that same gameplan into game 3 and then hoping to steal a lead on the power play or something. Turn this into a grind where you can largely neutralize Colorado's talent advantage.

Then when it gets back to Colorado you consider turning up the offensive pressure early to see if you can catch the 'lanche flat-footed.
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Think Binnie is done. Sucks. But he's actually playing unbelievably inconsistently, and now he's actually trying to hurt guys. Need to sit him down and look for a new net-minder.

Shit.
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Dude needs therapy.
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Maybe. Probably. It’s a shame.
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As the father of a hockey goal tender, nobody is harder on themselves than a goal tender, but you have to keep your head about you and just keep working hard even when your team isn't doing much to do their part in keeping pucks out of the net.

There's a reason why when the clock gets to 00:00 at the end of the game they all converge on the goalie, win or lose...
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Congrats on giving the Colorado Eagles a good game.



jk, but injuries have been nuts and they at least got a few guys back before MacKinnon went out.
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I haven't watched the last couple Blues games. Been busy and just having a hard time getting excited for the Blues right now. I'll pick them back up around X-Mas, see what they're doing.

did they actually win tonight?

Never mind, no they did not. But it looks like they made it tough.
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Congrats on the win, BC.:-)
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Fuck...the...Lanche....and their bandwagon fans
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Damn. Traded Tarasenko. Guess the season is over.

And now we're losing to the freaking Yotes. Oh well, guess there's always next season . . .
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I hate it in a way, but it's the right move for all. The Blues doing what they have to do, VT doing the right thing as he gets older.
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Hell, I know. Still sucks. Really liked Vladi. Hoped he was going to help us win another Cup this season, way back at the beginning of the year.

Not helping that we're getting pantsed by AZ right now.
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