Quote:
Originally Posted by Bearcat
I would seriously hope not... any Cup contending team isn't going to be rattled to that extent and just fall apart. And if they did, they're ****ing soft and weren't going anywhere anyway.
A team like Vegas last season outskated them and jumped on every mistake, putting more and more pressure on them... it's what they do.
The Blues were outskated by a fair amount last night, which doesn't really lend itself to the Avalanche changing up their strategy and putting every stupid shot on net because they never have a second in their own zone, leading to bad shots and stupidity (as they did against Vegas).
A Blues win would have had to light a fire under their ass to put a ton more pressure on the puck, to force the Avalanche to fall apart... Bennington isn't going to do that by himself.
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Yeah, the forecheck has to be world's better for STL to stay in this.
Once the Avalanche hit the neutral zone, you can't skate with them. You can't just 'be physical' when they're advancing because you can't hit what you can't catch.
Like you said, you've gotta get them in their own zone, shrink the room they have to operate and then stay physical on the puck. You're NOT gonna hang with these guys if they break out and they have too many D-men who can hit an outlet pass to let them have it clean (even that POS bust Erik Johnson).
The Blues are going to have to get away from their 11-7 forward/Defense alignment. You just can't send 11 forwards out there and expect them to be able to maintain the level of forecheck St. Louis will have to have.
But again - any game St. Louis wins will be mostly 'stolen'. The Avalanche are just better. This year and next are perfect storms for them. It's their time.