After Wednesday’s practice, the St. Louis Blues sat and stretched in a circle around center ice, except for Pavel Buchnevich. The forward stood by the boards with coach Jim Montgomery. They talked and talked for a couple of minutes. Then Buchnevich skated toward the circle to stretch, and they continued to talk.
Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words — but can the thousand words they said be worth some offense?
Two games in, and Buchi has one shot. He’s minus-3 for the series. And the Blues enter Thursday’s Game 3 down 2-0 — to the team with the most points in the regular season.
In the two games vs. Winnipeg, the Blues have one five-on-five goal, netted by an unlikely scorer in third-line center Oskar Sundqvist.
The Blues collective would say the “onus is on us,” but if we’re doing this here, it’s particularly on the top line of Buchnevich, Jimmy Snuggerud and center Robert Thomas.
Yes, Thomas is playing hurt. Yes, Snuggerud is young. Still, the Blues need more from these boys. Perhaps the best way to activate the Blues’ top line is not to match it against the Jets’ top line.
Now that St. Louis is home, Montgomery has the strategic advantage of the last line change throughout the game. Putting Brayden Schenn’s line (with Jake Neighbours and Jordan Kyrou) on the Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Alex Iafallo line could provide more physicality (notably from Schenn and Neighbours) and give the Thomas line some new looks.
After practice at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, I asked Montgomery about getting Buchnevich to be more effective offensively.
“I think Buchi has been good for us, but I understand the question, and I think he needs to, very similar to the team, possess pucks more when he’s in the offensive zone,” Montgomery said. “The puck’s on his stick, usually good things happen. And it hasn’t been there enough.”
Buchnevich, who turned 30 at the start of this series, scored in five of the final six games of the regular season. And in the final 13 games, he had 14 points (seven goals, seven assists). Oh, and Thomas was the hottest player in hockey after the 4 Nations Face-Off break (as his team was the hottest team). And Snuggerud, 20, skipped class to show up for the Blues’ final games and this series. He really has played some good hustle hockey — and he netted the power-play goal in the 2-1 Game 2 loss — but his line has yet to explode against the Jets.
“I thought the first game, maybe a little bit of nerves,” Montgomery said of Snuggerud, fresh off his college hockey season with Minnesota. “The playoffs is a whole other level he’s never seen in his life. And then, he quickly adjusts. He’s a really smart, competitive player, and you can tell that he adjusted to the speed of Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 2.”
As for Buchnevich’s lack of shots, Montgomery pointed out that it’s not simply about shots but grade-A scoring chances. Getting those chances means getting the Blues in the blue paint. Net-front, net-front, net-front.
“We have to get out from the corners,” Buchnevich said Wednesday. “We have to spread them and get some good shots with the bodies in front (of the net). Sometimes, the D gets the puck and the forwards are still in the corner. Basically they box out before the shot is coming and (goalie Connor) Hellebuyck see most of the shots. It’s hard to score like that. ...
“We have to spread the zone and get more possession time. We chip the puck and we have two against four, two against five ... it’s hard to win the puck. We have to make one against one or two against two and it will make offense easy for us. We’re going to work tomorrow to try and do it.”
They couldn’t work too much at it on Wednesday because Thomas didn’t practice. Montgomery said Thomas is “a player” for Game 3. But the sensational passer sat out to rest what appears to be a leg injury.
During Game No. 82, he was smacked in the leg by a stick and left the ice before the game ended. According to Post-Dispatch reporter Tom Timmermann, who was at Winnipeg, Thomas walked gingerly in the dressing room.
So we don’t know, if you will, what percentage Thomas is playing at, nor do we know the same for defenseman Colton Parayko. But it’s likely not 100. Also, the Blues are without breakout player Dylan Holloway, who is injured. Since his absence began in April, the second line has struggled at times. And missing Holloway has trickled into other elements of the team.
All this said, all it takes is one good game to change the season’s trajectory. A win in Game 3 on Thursday and St. Louis is right back in this series. A loss Thursday and, well, the series and season are pretty much doomed.
So yeah, big game Thursday. We’ll see if the Blues’ top line can play like one.
