Blues look to get hot vs Nashville

Well now that we finally put one in the win column after losing 4, the Blues will look to start a new streak to get back atop the central division. Some good news is Elliot will be stating tonight after missing a long period of time on the IR. With this comes some contraversy between the pipes in St.louis. How lucky are they though? 3 solid NHL starting goaltenders, not much to complain about. One of them will have to go in this process though. Doug Armstrong is stating that he will have a decision in the next week or so. My thoughts are that Elliott might be the one who has to go love him but Jake Allen is going to be the #1 guy in St.Louis. he is the future. Plus he is in the last year of his contract and will be looking for a raise next season. Doug Armstrong will be the one making the call though, and he makes very good decisions and has had time to plan prior to Elliot coming off IR.



Back to tonights contest, the Predators are 2 points ahead of the Blues in the standings but also have a game in hand. So the Blues really need to put another streak together in a bad way. Its never to early to be thinking of home ice advantage come playoff time.


The keys to tonights contest is a 60 minute effort, we have been lacking in that department for the past few contests. Puck drop to final buzzer its got to be 4 lines go. It's been a  tough few weeks without Jaden Schwartz on the STL line. Hopefully he is almost ready to get back and get them going again. His energy and go go go play has been missed heavily. Look for Ken Hitchcock to rely heavily on the Backes line to take care of Filip Forsberg and company and keep there chances to a minimum.

We really need to take advantage of every little opportunity against Seth Jones and Shea Weber we need to make every check against those 2 as Nashville gives those two big minutes every night and rightfully so, they are amazing talents. Lots of shots and traffic on Pekka Rinne becuase he will stop the puck if he sees it. If any opportunity arises to bury a chance it must go in no questions asked because Rinne doesnt give up many chances. Powerplay needs to score 2 tonight to win that we secure a victory for the Blues tonight.

Blues also need to keep the shots on Elliott to the outside so he can get a feel for the game and the timing back again. Make sure we keep the predators players away from the net in case Elliot lets a few rebounds out, which happens in most goalies first game back. But expect Elliot to be himself again after the first period.


Lineup tonight

Alexander Steen - David Backes - T.J. Oshie

Dmitrij Jaskin - Jori Lehtera - Vladimir Tarasenko

Joakim Lindstrom - Paul Stastny - Ryan Reaves

Steve Ott - Patrik Berglund - Maxim Lapierre

Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo

Barret Jackman - Kevin Shattenkirk

Chris Butler - Ian Cole

Brian Elliott

Jake Allen

Scratched: Martin Brodeur

Injured: Chris Porter (leg), Jaden Schwartz (foot), Carl Gunnarsson (concussion)

from NHL.com

Tongihts prediciton:

It will be a strong fight for both teams and the Blues will come out on top thanks to the strong defence it will be a 3-2 win in regulation. We will not give the Predators a single point.

Breakout star: 

Steve Ott, Expect Ott to play big minutes tonight and lay a pounding on the Nashville defence and set up one of the goals for the Blues.

By Tyler

Slumping Blues Host Avs

Ryan O'Reilly and Zach Redmond celebrate a goal en route to a 5-0 win.

Sorry it's been a while since our last post. Holiday season has been a busy one this year.


Tonight's matchup will be between the Central Division rivals for the fourth time this season. Last game was an absolute blowout for the Avs, who can't come into this game expecting similar results. The Blues are among the leaders in the NHL for a reason, and they're going to use last game as fuel for their vengeful fires.

Colorado sent down Dennis Everberg and Calvin Pickard to Lake Erie, to give roster spots to Reto Berra and Nick Holden, the two guys who were given premature contract extensions without a second thought. Berra is probably on the last of his 9 lives at this point. Pickard has been a rookie sensation for Colorado, and Everberg has looked like a decent 3rd liner up to this point. Not much offensively, but he isn't a defensive liability, and works hard every time he's on the ice.

Lines for tonight might look something like this:

                                                         Talbot - Duchene - MacKinnon
                                                            Tanguay - Mitchell - Iginla
                                                           Landeskog - O'Reilly - Briere
                                                             McLeod - Cliche - Holden
                   
                                                                    Hejda - Johnson
                                                                     Guenin - Barrie
                                                                   Stuart - Redmond

That fourth line makes me cringe to look at. The "Monster Line" (All AHL callups) were instantly more impactful than any combo that includes McLeod and Cliche. In this day and age, teams need to get scoring from everywhere, not just the top 2 lines and Johnson/Barrie. MacKinnon just broke a 16 game goal drought when he absolutely sniped on Corey Crawford.

Duchene has been snake bitten recently, and he's been seen taking out aggression on the bench, as well as on Patty Kane's cup. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Kane sealed the deal on an empty net breakaway, and Duchene gave him a swift chop to the nards in an attempt to lift his stick. Chaos ensued.

The team is hovering right around the wildcard spot, so tonight is huge for them. It seems like the boys have regained some of that last year swagger when they were on a 6 game tear, up until the Chicago game. If we want any chance at winning tonight, we're going to need to pepper the ancient Marty Brodeur with shots and jump on the rebounds. St. Louis plays a frustratingly effective neutral zone trap, so quick, short, one-touch passes may be the only way through them.

Tonight should be interesting to see, and it should help illustrate where the Avs truly belong in this logjam of a Western Conference.

By: Brian

Blues look to sweep home and home

The drive for 6 in a row is a go, in the third and final meeting of the year against the Los Angeles Kings. Thanks to Mr. Vladimir Tarasenko and associates the Blues are up in the home and home this week. The full season series is 1-1, so it's winner take all tonight in LaLa land. Throughout this series the home team has come out on top in both games, but the first one was 1-0 shootout win for the Kings. Whereas the Blues won 5-2 on Tuesday. Condolences to Tj Oshie, on the passing in the family, and having to miss Tuesdays game. Having him back is another push in the Blues favour tonight. Tough hearing about Jaden Schwartz right foot problem, but the Blues have recalled Dmitri Jaskin from the farm. Jaskin looked really good in his previous NHL games. He will be fine hopping in on the wing with Statsny and Berglund. Jaskin has 1 goal in 6 NHL games this year. I am feeling a point from him this evening.

Keys to game this evening.

Tonights big keys to victory for the St.Louis Blues will be a full 60 minute effort, cant have any lapses of play, no shifts off. Come out flying right from the opening draw get the puck deep and get to work on the Kings defence. Hit Drew Doughty and company all night, don't let them breathe tonight, they need a win just as bad as we do. Pucks to net along with bodies, the blues need to look to Backes for this one, the captain is always at the net and he gets rewarded for it. Someone needs to be there at all times tonight because if Quick can see the puck he will stop it. Players need to be in his kitchen at all times, make it hard for him. Martin Brodeur will be getting the start tonight against the Kings, just to give Jake Allen a break.

Points of tonight.

The Blues have a shot at taking the number one spot in the central tonight in game 32, with a win tonight they will hop the Blackhawks for number one in the division. With a goal tonight Vladimir Tarasenko will tie his career high in goals at 21 in exactly HALF the games it took him last year. The kid is on fire and so is the rest of the STL line. They are killing it this year. Here is Tarasenkos Hat trick from Tuesday night. Enjoy.

Lines Tonight

Steen-Backes-Oshie

Ott-Lehtera-Tarasenko

Berglund-Statsny-Jaskin

Porter-Lapierre-Reaves

Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo

Jackman-Shattenkirk

Butler-Lindbohm

Martin Brodeur

Prediction for this evening will be the 6th win in a row tonight for the blues. It will be a gritty 3-2 win with Tj Oshie potting 2 tonight.

By: Tyler

Kings And Blues

Here is game # 31 on the docket for the St.Louis Blues and its against a major enemy in Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues are going for 5 in a row which is a huge streak for them this year and I am sure they are up for the task this evening. Typically its a goaltending battle when they face the Kings, and don't expect anything different tonight. The Kings right now have the season series at 1-0 with a 1-0 shootout win on October 16th. That will change this evening as the Blues look to extend that win streak to 5 games.

Keys to Victory

My biggest key to a Blues victory is a 60 minute effort, we have gotten better at that, but we cant have any luls tonight. The Kings are too strong on the goal scoring aspect to let them even have a sniff. In saying that we need to keep our checking game up especially on their defense when we dump it in. Other  than that just the usual keep our feet moving and take edvantage of any powerplay opportunities and STAY DISCIPLINE.

Lineup Tonight.

Steen-Backes-Oshie

Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko

Berglund-Statsny-Ott

Porter-Lapierre-Reaves

Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo

Jackman-Shattenkirk

Butler-Lindbohm

Jake Allen - Goal

Side Note

I have been pretty impressed with the way Petteri Lindbohm has stepped into the lineup, he has done a few impressive things here and there and just been very consistent throughout his opportunity with the big club.

My Prediction

2-1 win for the Blues Tonight. David Backes with the GWG.

By. Tyler

Avs Desperately Avoid 5 Game Skid, Restore Faith

This fight here is when the game between the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets really began.

To get to this point, the Jets scored a kinda fluky, kinda Jonny-on-the-spot Ladd goal to take the lead. Quick to respond was a flying Jan Hejda up the wing with a brilliant pass to a wide open Matt Duchene for a tap in roofer.

Yes, you read that correctly. Jan Hejda with speed.

Then the two captains squared off in what may have been the best fight of the year, probably for both teams. Ladd and Landeskog exchanged flurries of blows until Landeskog eventually took Ladd down to the ice. 

Shortly thereafter, the Jets scored a powerplay goal when Jan Hejda (again) with the diving effort, slowed the puck just enough for Postma to have the perfect one timer to take the lead 2-1 Jets. 

Enter the third, and disaster strikes the heart of Avs fans as a turnover from the foreign rookie line sets up Mark Scheifele for an absolute snipe past Pickard to go up 3-1.

With the clock winding down, Matt Duchene fed an incredible 30 foot pass to Tanguay, and let him do his magic. Tanguay walks in, set a perfect pass as usual to Iginla who ripped a wrister past Pavelec to make it interesting at 3-2. Then with 3 minutes to go, Landeskog tosses a nice shot on net, and O'Reilly earns his paycheque driving the net for the rebound to bring it into overtime. OT was back and forth like mad, both teams having some outstanding looks but unable to take the win.

Then the shootout came.

I'm not even going to describe the absolute filth both Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene rained down upon Pavelec to seal the deal for the Avs. Calvin Pickard looked great in shootout to earn the much deserved W for the boys.

Calvin Pickard was outstanding for the team once again. The kid never gives up on the play, and he has outstanding net presence facing every single shot head on. In my opinion, I say he gives Varly a run for the co-lead in net. Roy says he needs to play a lot to get better. He has payed his dues in the AHL, and he's playing lights out right now. I mean, 25/30 starts each for Varly and Pickard could spark the miracle that the Avs need if they want to push for a wildcard spot. Both would be rested and ready to shine every time they play. That's just me though, I think it'd be interesting to see.

The top lines really stepped up when called upon, but we still need to find the groove to become a 60-minute team. Silly lapses in puck handling and poor defensive presence cost us 2 goals, but they wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the asshat refs again. Two completely soft penalties led to their 2 PP goals. We need better ref. standards.

Tonight the Avs take on the Blues, in yet another pivotal 3 point Central Division game. If we want to get a streak going, it'll take a full team effort.

By: Brian

Blues vs Islanders

You know what they say 2's a Fluke 3's a Streak

Well here it is game # 29 on the season, and the chance to put together 3 wins in a row. Jay Bouwmeester, David Backes, and Alexander Steen are suiting up tonight after short absences. Which is a huge bonus,  with the Nashville Predators still having a game at hand and being tied in the standings with the Blues.

So the Blues are facing off against the New York Islanders for the second time in less than a week. Last one on Saturday was a little close for comfort I'd say but never the less a gritty road win for the boys after being down 3 after the first. Showed the true never back down attitude of the team.

Keys to the Game.

Well the biggest key tonight is puck possession we need to control the puck in all parts of the ice, good passes, good dumps and strong forecheck to keep the puck are big components tonight.We cannot give the Islanders chances because with John Tavares and company they will make you pay. With that being said, we have to assert our dominance over the opposition so finishing every check is a MUST tonight from start to finish. We have to take advantage of our opportunities whenever we get a chance.  Jake Allen will start in goal tonight expect a big bounce back for him tonight.

Lineup Tonight.

Steen-Backes-Oshie

Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko

Berglund-Statsny-Lindstrom

Ott-Lapierre-Reaves

Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo

Lindbohm-Shattenkirk

Jackman-Cole

Allen

Brodeur

Prediction

The prediction for this evening will be a strong outing by the Blues lineup altogether with the power play doing most of the work again. 4-1 win with Tj Oshie stepping up with 2 bingos on the power play tonight.

By. Tyler

Avalanche Look to Avoid Melting in Wild Wild West

                           

     Tonight's matchup is an important one for the boys in burgundy and blue, as they take on division rivals in the Nashville Predators.

If the Avs want to keep any hope alive for a wildcard spot, this looks to be a must-win for them. They're currently sitting near the bottom of the standings with a puny 24 points in hand. Getting our ass handed to us by Winnipeg didn't make matters any easier.

To be fair, last game was just about as entertaining and fiery an Avs game gets without entering the Red Wings rivalry era. To make matters worse, Varlamov tweaked his groin YET AGAIN.

Calvin Pickard to the rescue.

With an injury riddled lineup, this game has disaster written all over it. Then again, this could be the makings of something great. Could go either way.

The Avs have shown positive trends, despite losing so many 1-goal games. Their Corsi rating has improved to hovering around 50% (Minus the Islanders anomaly), which is actually pretty good. Not to mention the improved defensive presence for the most part around the net and on the PK. Roy's man-to-man system will pay dividends for when Stuart returns, or hopefully Duncan Siemens gets a call.

Tonight's lineup is odd looking. Dressing 19 men, there looks to be a 3 line rotation with Carey and Holden acting as floaters.

                    O'Reilly - Duchene - Tanguay
              Landeskog - Mackinnon - Iginla
                   McCleod - Talbot - Briere
                           Carey - Holden

                              Hejda - Johnson
                            Guenin - Barrie
                           Stollery - Redmond

                             Pickard - Berra

*Don't expect these lines to stick

Depending on how well this game goes for Pickard, that might slightly dictate what management does moving forward. When Berra let that flub of a goal in against the Jets, it spoke volumes about the season up until this point, especially for his performances. He can't be trusted between the pipes, and you can see it in the way the team plays around him. When Pickard is in net, you can tell the guys have faith in him. If some of our guys are as close to returning as they say, making a move soon for a solid top 2 defender may be imminent. There's still close to 50 games left to be played, and a hell of a lot of ground to make up. Tonight is a true test of their mettle.

Prediction: Avs treat us with a 4-2 win. Keep an eye out for the MacKinnon/Jones matchup.

By: Brian

Blues Vs Florida

Well heres game 28 of the season which brings us to Martin Brodeur's first home start of his St.Louis blues era. The blues are tied for 2nd in the central with 36 pts, but the Nashville predators have only played 26 games to our 28 after tonight. After last game its time for the Blues to start stringing together a couple wins coming into mid december.





With the blues home record at 8-5-1 there is no reason to not be fired up for this one especially coming off a big come from behind win against the New york Islanders. So if we keep the fire in the belly in Brodeurs debut to the home crowd, it looks like all the pieces are falling together to get the streak started. Im assuming Hitch will be keeping the same lineup as saturday seeing as they played really well except the first period (we won't talk about that).


Line up card:
with Jay Bouwmeester out of the lineup Petteri Lindbohm will be playing tonight it looks like.
Carl Gunnarson will be questionable tonight havent seen who is replacement will be.

Tarasenko   Lehtera     Schwartz

Berglund Backes Oshie

Lindstrom Statsny Paarjarvi

Ott     Lapierre   Reaves

Butler        Pietrangelo

Shattenkirk    Jackman

Lindbohm  Gunnarson ( ?)

Martin Brodeur

Jake Allen

What we want to see.

If the Blues keep it simple tonight, keep their feet moving,and win all the little battles, they will be able to take advantage of a young Florida Panthers team with no problem. If they play a chip and chase game the Panthers will get frustrated and take a couple penalties and the hot blues powerplay goes on the attack again it will be a long night for Mr Luongo.

Prediction: The blues are on a heater I am predicting a 5-1 win tonight.

Who is hot tonight? Paul Statsny with another 2 pts tonight goal and a helper on the PP tonight.

By: Tyler

Strong 2nd and 3rd keep Blues from dropping 3 in a row

                                         

     6                                                                                                                                        4

After Jake Allen let in 3 goals in the first period Ken Hitchcock called upon Martin Brodeur to shake things up for the St.Louis Blues on Saturday. Low and behold the Blues came out firing in the 2nd period, less than 3 minutes in Paul Statsny pots a somewhat lucky goal past Halak to get the blues on the board. Patrick Berglund followed that up with one of his own less than 3 minutes after that to make it 3-2. It was all blues after that with Kevin Shattenkirk potting his own power play goal to tie at 3 before a soft call on Statsny put the Islanders on the power play with a minute and a half to go in the 2nd. Where the Islanders on the powerplay John Tavares got lucky with a bouncing puck getting by Brodeur to get the Islanders up 4-3 going into the 3rd. That did not last long with the hot Blues powerplay going on the attack a 1:20 into the 3rd and TJ Oshie potted a nice wrist shot from the top of the circle to tie it up 4-4 and it was all St.Louis from there on out, on a constant attack. Then at 13:26 Statsny potted his second to take the lead for good. With 2 1/2 minutes to go Tarasenko sealed the deal from Lehtera and Schwartz.




It was good to see the Blues come together after a slow start, would have been easy to just give up and wait till the next game. I am very impressed with Paul Statsny, he is really coming into his own after a struggle at the start. If he can keep it going and get back to the form he was in while playing for Colorado, its going to be a tough time for the rest of the NHL.


Game Star: Paul Statsny, for putting in 2 big goals, one which was the game winner.

Up next:
Florida Panthers, if the blues keep up what they started in the NYI 2nd and 3rd will be sure to come out on top.



By Tyler

Colorado Avalanche Look to Bounce Back Vs. Winnipeg

By: Brian

Game 27 is upon us, and as far as the standings are concerned, this is a must-win for both clubs. 

Colorado is coming off a heartbreaking 4-3 OT loss to the upstart Calgary Flames. Highlight reel goals from Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay couldn't overcome poor defensive decisions and lackluster goaltending at crucial times. 

Varly came back from a groin injury after missing 20 days, so he can't be to blame for all of the goals. But, he did flub the puck into open ice in OT for Monahan to score one of the easiest goals of his career.

In order to find success tonight, the boys are going to need to use the same speed as last night, and drill through the Jets' defenses. The bottom six did a great job with physicality, and Mike Sgarbossa is fitting in nicely as a fourth line center. Cliche may be good at PK, but that's literally his only use aside from being a pylon at practices.

Top 6 are going to need to be careful in the offensive zone tonight. Winnipeg likes to play dirty against the Avs, and Byfuglien is a goddamn wrecking ball out there. Crisp, clean passes are a MUST tonight, same for quick outlet passes from our D.

Don't expect the lines to shuffle around too too much tonight. O'Reilly and Briere did some swapping last game. Keep an eye on where Landeskog ends up too. 90-9-92 has been seen before, and it is lethal when they're together.

If we play the way we did last night, the Avs should be able to pick up the 2 points. We need to stop losing 1 goal games, especially in games worth 3 points. 

I predict Avs win this one 5-2. MacKinnon and Barrie are due for a few points each.

St.Louis Vs Nashville

                  VS








Well you know what they say, good teams don't lose two in a row. With the first start of Marty Brodeur for the St Louis Blues you know the boys are going tonight. Its a big 3 point game in standings they need the win, plus I hate other central teams. With both teams coming off recent losses and tied for points in the standings you know Hitch is gonna have the boys fired up.


Projected lines for the blues tonight

Schwartz, Lehtera,Tarasenko

Steen,Statsny,Oshie

Backes,Berglund,Ott

Porter,Lapierre,Reaves

Jackman,Pietrangelo

Gunnarson,Shattenkirk

Butler,Cole

Marty In the pipes boys

Allen

Well im projecting a big win for the boys at 4-1 Tarasenko potting 2 and a helper.

7 Hole Hockey

Welcome to 7 Hole Hockey,


The best hole you can score on is the 7 hole, for those of you hockey fans that have no idea what were talking about that is the little spot between the blocker and the goalies chest. Here at 7 hole hockey blogging its just two buddies putting together our love of hockey with our own opinions. Here you'll mostly get reports on the Colorado Avalanche and the St.Louis Blues, well because who doesn't love talking about their favourite team. Will also add the other stuff around hockey and sports all around. Here at 7 hole hockey you got Tyler(Blues fan) and Brian(Avs fan) here just having a good time providing some info and insight on what we know and what we want.