Swedish Sweep

Two games against Detroit, two victories. Can’t really ask for a better start to the season. Lots to take away from this game so let’s dive into it as the Blues produced another great comeback win for the second day in a row, beating Detroit 5-3. What follows is the Good, the Bad and the Meh from today’s game.

The Good:

• Power-play unit looks absolutely lethal. A lot of credit here goes to Paul Kariya, but wow what a talented group that is. I think this unit is as good as any out there with the man advantage.
• Paul Kariya. As mentioned, the addition of him back on the power-play makes for some very exciting hockey. Here’s to hoping he can stay healthy this year as he already looks fantastic on the ice.
• Erik Johnson. Contributed to the offense and looked pretty solid on defense. I only expect him to continue to improve and look more comfortable out on the ice.
• The defense towards the end of the game. They moved well and killed time effectively, however the same can not be said at the start.
• Keith Tkachuk. To think, there were people I know in the St. Louis fan base that wanted to get rid of Walt. Yes, they are retarded and Walt’s performance today further illustrates that. Few can stand in front of the net and cause havoc like Keith can. I’m just thankful he is on our side.

The “Meh”:

• Ty Conklin. He made some great saves but it is hard to overlook the early going with Detroit lighting the lamp early in the game. Those goals can be killers, and while he improved and some of the blame is shared by the defense, he needs to play as well as he did in the third at the start of the game.
• The defensive effort. While they looked good at the end neutralizing Datsyuk and company, the start was rough. While it is amazing to see another comeback win, one has to wonder how often they can get away with playing from behind against quality opponents.
• Jackman. When he is motivated, he plays pretty damn well and is a tough force to get around. However, a few times today and yesterday (and well, his whole career) he seems to take a play off and loaf on the ice. This can lead to open opponents, or goal scoring chances such as the ones we saw today. I can’t really say he was bad as he really did make some great checks/stops against the top line for Detroit, but I’m pushing for more consistency.

The Bad:

• With two wins in a foreign country against a rival like Detroit, it is hard for me to write anything negative. Four points to start the year is obviously the best case scenario.
• Still waiting for our first fight. Though this isn’t quite a “bad” thing, it is one I hope to see when the Blues return home.
• The early going. It might be nerves, it might be rust, but the Blues were extremely slow out of the gate today. At one stage, the Red Wings had 14 shots to the Blues… 1. While they came away with a great win, I’d like to see a much improved effort in the first period so that heroics aren’t required night in and night out.

So there you have it. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions (positive or negative) since it has only been two games. We couldn’t have asked for a better result, and it is pretty great seeing Detroit fall not once but twice in back-to-back afternoons against our Blues.