Blues Win Shootout Over Capitals
by Brad Lee on Feb 13, 2010 10:30 PM CST
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PrintWill the real Chris Mason please stand up? He might have Saturday night at home in a thrilling 4-3 shootout win over the Washington Capitals.
Mason stopped 31 of 34 shots in regulation and overtime and all four attempts in the shootout. The skills competition could have gone 10 rounds and I'm not sure if the Capitals could have scored on him. This was the Chris Mason that carried the Blues to the playoffs last season.
"Great game by the guys. The only thing we did was we probably took a few too many penalties. It's tough putting a team like that on the power play, but five on five, the guys did a tremendous job," Mason told Fox Sports Midwest's Jim "The Cat" Hayes on the Blues postgame show. "(The key to the shootout) is just patience. I'm starting to feel more comfortable. We've had a few lately. Just patience and not committing too early, especially with guys like that. They're full of deception and such high skill. I was just fortunate to hold my ground tonight.
"We've been so up and down lately. We lost there in Colorado and it seemed like we were far from it. Couple big wins here for us, especially on home ice and we're right back in it."
What Mason is talking about is the standings. After the two points from the win, the Blues have 65 on the season, just three points out of eighth place. Amazing. This team was dead, out of it, giving up on Monday in Colorado. And now they enter the ill-timed Olympic break playing their best hockey of the season.
T.J. Oshie had a goal and assist. Patrik Berglund played a strong, dangerous game offensively scoring the first goal of the game for the Blues. His play earned him the first shot in the shootout. Even Eric Brewer showed some feistiness late in regulation. And at the end of the game, you could see the excitement and jubilation of the players as they stormed the ice after the win. Exciting stuff, people. Exciting stuff. The Blues just sold a bunch of tickets tonight with that effort.
No matter what, it's all about the goaltending. Mason had the shutout Friday night against Toronto and then turned around 24 hours later and shut down the highest scoring team in the NHL when the game was on the line.Easily his best efforts of the season.
Hello turning point. Where the fuck have you been?
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the hit by Jannsen
is available on YouTube here
.... formerly "Tim" of StLouisGameTime.com
by CrossCheckRaise on Feb 13, 2010 10:38 PM CST reply actions
crap. Janssen....
can’t spell tonight, apparently
.... formerly "Tim" of StLouisGameTime.com
by CrossCheckRaise on Feb 13, 2010 10:39 PM CST up reply actions
Anyone want to start a pool on the length of Cam's upcoming suspension?
What the fuck was he thinking? He was eyeing Bradley well after he got rid of the puck, went high, and even left his feet on the hit. It wouldn’t annoy me as much, and I’d just chalk it up to Cam being Cam, if I didn’t know this was going to become more fodder for the “hockey is too violent” folks.
Either way, my guess is 5 games, but you never know with Colin Campbell’s Wheel of Justice.
Chicagoan in the Lou.
by Mike Martin on Feb 14, 2010 12:19 AM CST up reply actions
you never know with Colin Campbell’s Wheel of Justice
Truth. I’m guessing…1 game minimum, 2 games max? That hockey “is too violent” or not is an entirely different discussion to be had. Bradley, without a doubt, was a sitting duck for Janssen during that sequence last night. Especially with the speed Janssen had coming in to deliver the hit, briefly camouflaged positionally, from behind the ref. Should Bradley have kept his head up considering his vulnerable position along the boards? Sure, but that’s besides the point.
Just following through and finishing a check? Not even close. Definitely a late hit … very late. Can’t argue with that, especially when one watches the developing play unfold via the second angle (from the video provided by CCR above) beginning around the 1:48 mark. Bradley already had dished the puck to his linemate and Laing had already gotten the shot off. That play was long finished before Janssen swooped in for the kill.
At first I thought Janssen was leading in with the elbow, but I stand corrected after reviewing — it appeared that way, but it wasn’t until after the contact with Bradley did his elbow and arm follow through with momentum. No qualms about that. However, he did go high and to the head (specifically square on the jaw.) Cam being Cam, I suppose … par for the course for a guy who hits late (e.g. hit on Kaberle.)
Put the lateness aside, Janssen’s check was either a badly executed and an off target hit or there was a sprinkling of intent to injure. Can’t confirm the latter as no one is in his head, but to presume the former is a little bit of a stretch given what little history I’m aware of with Janssen’s past run-ins.
"Where can you go from there? Where? ... Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?"
by Christoph J on Feb 14, 2010 11:14 AM CST up reply actions
The only bad thing about that game
Is that now everyone gets to sit for two weeks. That’s the kind of game to build on and the guys can’t even practice now for awhile. Oh well nothing we can do about it hopefully Payne can keep the fire burning over the break somehow as we are looking stronger and stronger. We are either 3 or 4 points out of the playoffs (can’t be bothered to do all the math with tonights games right now) and the push is on.
Till March
LETS GO USA!
then back to
LETS GO BLUES!
No one knows why, but second only to eating the brains of the living, the dead love affordable pre-fab furniture.
D'oh
Sorry Brad I skimmed in my rush to post after watching the game on DVR and therefore missed that it is indeed 3 points out. I do read everything you write just not in the correct order
No one knows why, but second only to eating the brains of the living, the dead love affordable pre-fab furniture.
At the moment its a mad scramble for 7th and 8th...
between 8 teams: Nashville, Detroit, Calgary, Dallas, Anaheim, Minnesota, Columbus and St. Louis. Maybe its just the rosy afterglow of a win, but none of those teams are legitimately better than us.
by PersonalJustice on Feb 13, 2010 10:53 PM CST up reply actions
I was thinking tonight about
how last year the Blues sneaked into sixth on the last day of the season. Same kind of thing could happen with so many teams bunched up.
www.stlouisgametime.com
Women's Ice Hockey in Olympics
Canada beats Slovakia 18-0 … egads …
.... formerly "Tim" of StLouisGameTime.com
by CrossCheckRaise on Feb 13, 2010 10:47 PM CST reply actions
Damn
Gotta love some of those early round matchups. You’d think after getting up by 10 you’d stop shotting at the net and just play catch for the rest of the game.
No one knows why, but second only to eating the brains of the living, the dead love affordable pre-fab furniture.
You can't stop though
Because the separation score can affect tie breakers. So just pedal to the metal always
They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
At least we know
Slovakian women suck.
Let's go Blues!!!
by Milo. on Feb 13, 2010 11:08 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Just realized this win probably only guarantees one thing.
Blues will have to be mailing out playoff ticket invoices in March.
Or sooner.
www.stlouisgametime.com
in other action
Doug Weight scored his first goal of the year tonight. Sheesh, even Jamal Mayers has 2 goals already this year….
.... formerly "Tim" of StLouisGameTime.com
by CrossCheckRaise on Feb 13, 2010 11:29 PM CST reply actions
Looks like I missed a hell of a game...
I was busy watching the Badgers dominate Minnesota St.
Did we play as well as the boxscore indicates?
I'm tempted to say better than it indicated...
The occasional illegality aside, the Blues hit very well. They passed the puck well, didn’t turn it over as much, and didn’t get trapped in their own zone for extended periods. On the whole, they had the better of the scoring chances. Only negative really was face-offs, but they improved as the game went along.
by PersonalJustice on Feb 14, 2010 12:08 AM CST up reply actions
Blues played very well, Capitals D was sloppy at best, and Mason stole the show. It was a good game.
They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
Thats par for the course.
The Caps Defense is pretty bad but defense on the east side is laughable all around.
He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
Great and entertaining game for sure — phenomenal stuff from both netminders. Western conference is without a doubt stronger from top to bottom. Well maybe with the exception of the Oilers. The Caps’ need for a legit 2C is becoming more and more noticeable, but yeah the need for an top 4 D is definitely still a priority.
How can I say this in less words? #needsHamhuis+Santorelli
"Where can you go from there? Where? ... Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?"
I was at work
and can’t admit I was “watching” the Blues game and the DU vs Minny on my phone. But if I had been watching those two games, and checking SLGT, I would have been laughing my ass off at you guys and wishing I could join in the fun…..;)
What a game, wow!
St. Louis Blues. St. Louis Cardinals. Denver Broncos. Univ of Denver hockey and lacrosse. Colorado Mammoth and Colorado Outlaws lacrosse.
It was a very late hit
I think Cam was upset at his 2 fight beatdown the game before.
Probably felt he had something to prove but hitting someone that late isn’t the way.
A fight with someone that wants to go would’ve been the respectable hockey way to do it.
Cam’s been keeping his self in check and only fighting when warranted (in the hockey sense of the word) but that was unacceptable I think.
A 1-3 game suspension wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Hockey players wear numbers because you can't always identify the body with dental records.
It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. Laura Ingalls Wilder
absolutely loved it all
but i want blood and heads to feed my hunger!
Pujols takes out "I" in BIG and "A" in MAC, previously considered to be an unyielding, consonant threat
How late was Cam's hit?
I was at the game, and it happened right in front of me, and I didn’t see it at all because the play was so far away from it. I don’t like those sorts of actions being associated with the Blues. That’s Flyer’s territory. I dunno if Cam was pissed about getting beat the night before, but hitting so late and then beating up a guy who was down (even tho he was trying to get up) indicates the boy has issues.
Other than that, it was the best game I’ve seen all year. The boys played hard for all 60 minutes (yay), McClement and Polak owned Ovie (yay), and Mason stopped Ovechkin, Semin, and Backstrom in the shootout. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Now we sit for 2 weeks. Sigh
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But that's the way to bet. - Damon Runyon
How late was Cam’s hit?
Roughly 1.5 to 2 seconds late … give or take. Late enough to be late. No different than Brashear’s late hit on Blair Betts during Game 6 vs. the Rangers in the first round of last spring’s SCF playoffs.
I don’t like those sorts of actions being associated with the Blues. That’s Flyer’s territory.
The Blues have a long way to go before they even reach Flyers’ territory. A long way to go … they’d have to deliberately send out guys to injure players of the opposing team on an occasion or two to be fairly mentioned in the same breath as the Flyers. But yeah, with that said, it’s unfortunate that Janssen’s latest antics are a stain to the Blues’ reputation. I can see how, if you’re a fan or someone who doesn’t watch Blues play often enough, a single cheap shot by a guy with a history of cheap shots can suddenly lead to ‘the Blues are all a bunch of thugs’ train of thought which is far from the truth.
I can’t say I watch the Blues a whole lot, but I do follow them just enough to know they are a hard working, hard hitting, aggressive and relentless forechecking team. Throw in players like Oshie, Backes, Mason and you’ve got an exciting good hard-nosed squad to watch. I’ll lobby any day to have Backes and Oshie on the Caps, no question.
If the Blues were in the Eastern conference, they’d be a force to reckon with — they’d definitely make the playoffs if they were in said conference, barring major disasters of course.
"Where can you go from there? Where? ... Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?"
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