By Andrew Allsman| Posted: March 26, 2013| Contact |
As the Blues look to continue improving, they are looking to
one area in particular. The Blues have been involved in a lot of close games of
late, and are addressing what they need to do to get on the right side of those
one-goal games . The Blues lost two of three on their most recent road trip,
but both losses could have easily ended up in the Blues’ win column. The Note
fell to Vancouver 3-2 and to Calgary by the same score. The score was not only
the same, but the script was also identical as well. The Blues can’t seem to
play a complete game of hockey and the stretches of the game that they take off
are leading to losses.
The Blues had more than 30 shots in each of those two losses
and limited their opponents to fewer than 20 shots as well. The difference was
conversion. The Blues had many situations where they had opportunities to up their
score, but instead they either misfired or the opponent’s goalie made a great
stop. The Blues will have to start converting on their opportunities as they
will become fewer and farther between as the playoff push begins. First, the
Blues must figure out how to consistently defeat the opponent’s goaltender.
“At the end of the day you have to outwork the goalie, said
Hitchcock. “Nothing more infuriates the coach than when the (opponent) goalie
is the first star. We’ve made the goalie the first star two of the last three
games. You can’t just live on scoring opportunities; there is a job to finish
there.”
The biggest problem of late has not been a lack of first
opportunities, but rather a lack of second and third chance opportunities. Too
many times, the Blues only get one shot off on their zone entry, only to see
opponents take control of the puck and take it the other way. The Blues are
also doing a good job of controlling the puck and the tempo, but are not
getting solid scoring chance to show for it. The days of being blown out appear
to be over for the Blues, but now the Blues must figure out how to win close
games.
“I don’t think we had enough second and third opportunities
in our two (road) losses,” Hitchcock admitted. “We played awful well, but there
is playing awful well and then there is finishing the job.
“We’ve had a lot of games like that and the teams that are
really doing well right now are the teams on the right side of those one goal
games. We’ve seemed to be on the wrong side.”
Part of the Blues’ problem is their poor power play effort.
The Blues started the season with the league’s hottest power play, but now have
seen their power play conversion rate fall to 22.6 percent, which is still
fifth best in the league, but far below their earlier league-leading 30.6
percent. The Blues’ power play fueled the Blues hot start to the season, but
when it cooled off, so did the team.
“I would say a sense of urgency (has been our biggest
problem on the power play),” said Hitchcock. “One of the things we had when we
were first in the league was we fed off of each other; one group took onus when
another group was struggling. We had to mix and match (due to injuries).”
“There are periods of time on the power play where we let
the opposition off the hook. We don’t keep the puck on or we don’t have quick
enough puck support on board battles. Little things that go on that make you
look like a one-and-done.”
Perhaps part of the Blues’ power play struggle stems from a
lack of shots. Despite having the league’s fifth-best power play, the Blues are
averaging just barely over one shot per opportunity. Anyone will tell you that
to have success on the power play you have to have an abundance of shots being
funneled toward the net. The power play is keeping the Blues from winning their
one-goal games right now, and it is separating them from the group of teams
that are having success.
“If you look at the teams that are winning on an ongoing
basis right now, it’s all in their special teams,” said Hitchcock. “Their
penalty kill is keeping it out of the net, and their power play is scoring.
That’s the small difference in our games right now.”
The Blues look to re-discover their winning ways quickly as
the season winds down. Many more close games are likely and Hitchcock hopes
that his team learns quickly what it takes to win competitive games.