The annoucers tonight spent a good amount of time talking about how play like tonight is "how you get into the playoffs" and about how great it must be for management to see this when they showed such patience with the current lineup and about how "some" have been questioning coach Andy Murray's tenure with the team and how it's great to see his team respond.
Slow down.
The Blues just beat the 10th place team in the West (Vancouver) and the 15th place team in the West (Edmonton). I'm as excited as any Blues fan, but seriously, let's not declare the inconsistent efforts to be a thing of the past just yet.
That said, Wah-fucking-hoo! It sure was nice to see the Blues score goal after goal (after goal) against the Oilers, especially after I had to watch in person as the Oilers whipped the shit out of our boys on home ice 10 days ago. It was especially satisfying to watch their fans sitting in quiet frustration as the Blues celebrated after each score and to hear them booing their team off the ice.
Comes around, goes around, ya'heard?
Some random notes for your discussion:
- We've spoken before about Alexander Steen and the flashes of skill we see from him. When he gets a little space to wind it up, the guy has a lazer of a shot and he knows how to put it under the bar. You can see why he was drafted in the first round when he unleashes that thing. It also now makes sense why he's seeing time on the power play. On the point, he has the room to operate and set that thing up. A goal and three assists tonight? That dude nose how to score. (You're welcome.)
- Yet another example tonight of a guy (Ethan Moreau) overreacting to a perfectly legal hit by going after a guy and trying to start a fight. Yes, I know the Blues do it to, I just don't understand it. Why not just line the guy up later and give it right back? I liked seeing T.J. Oshie, victim of the attack, telling one of his teammates to not go after the guy. He knew they got the power play called and knew it was simple baiting.
- Chris Mason: another one amazing save/one soft goal given up night. I'll leave it at that tonight, but seriously, it's an issue when the Blues are scoring their normal two or three goals and not putting up seven.
- People are starting to get on Erik Johnson for his play and I can see some of that, he is not a sacred cow, of course, but I'm willing to let a lot of that go. Persoanlly, I like seeing him being creative and going where he needs to go to make plays. He gets back to cover for the most part, but the big benefit is that unpredictability offers offensive chances - it throws off the opposition when they don't know what he's going to do.
- Thank you, Ladislav Smid. Thank you very much.
- Nice to see the TechnoViking looking confident again. Welcome to Flashback City, Population: Us. Let's hope the IceBerg can keep it going and earn back some more of that playing time. I liked his line tonight with David Perron and B.J. Crombeen, as it gives them some playmaking, some shooting and some grit out there at the same time. Can we see that together a little longer, Coach? Please?
- Speaking of lines, also a fan of Paul Kariya playing with T.J. Oshie and David Backes as they did to start the game. Kariya and Frosted Tips have a similar passing ability and their chemistry is apparent. Coach? Hmm? Please?
- I've been a big fan of Silent Jay McClement for some time now and watching him score is always a bonus. He strikes me as the kind of guy who can hang around St. Louis his whole career, play a solid, neutralizing game for year after year and never really get a ton of attention. Then, when his career is all about over, everyone is gonna go, "Damn, that guy was really good, wasn't he?"
The Blues are back at it on Wednesday against Calgary, a team that (as I like to say), has like three good players. They're seveth in the Western Conference, but have struggled lately, going 4-5-1 in their last 10. Can the Save And Murray Tour continue to succeed?
Finally, a celebration for a nice night from Patrik Berglund: