GDT Game 5: 5/23/16 | 7:00PM CST | v Sharks | NBCSN/Y98

[fargoblues]

Hate to say it but 91 should not play Wednesday unless he's 100x better than today. something's wrong. Period.

[dmiles2186]

The Blues effort under 5 minutes to go was pretty pathetic. Credit the Sharks for defensively shutting things down, but the Blues did not create many chances during a time in which Jones was really fighting it in net.

As has been said already, the swing from 1 goal up with 2 mins to go into the second, to 1 goal down 15 seconds into the 3rd was a nightmare. Could be the swing that haunts this team all offseason if they don't respond in Game 6.

Also, this team is awful on home ice this postseason.

[WaukeeBlues]

I'm oddly optimistic after tonight and I don't know why. Maybe just because we've been so good on the road so I'm envisioning bringing it back for a game 7 at home where we're 2-0 in Game 7's this playoff series so there's that.

IF we lose this series its because we took way too damn many penalties and Tarasenko disappeared, along with all of our offense for 7 periods of play.

Can't go scoreless for two games straight and expect to win 4 of 7. I'm afraid this team has dug too big a hole for themselves to climb out of. Having said that though, it's just 2 games.

[Kerfuffle]

Who would have thought Brouwer would be the stud in the playoffs and Tank would disappear is the 3rd round? Certainly not me. These playoffs are very unpredictable this year. Close game tonight but i thought Shattys 2 penalties really hurt.

[JCShutout]

To have the lead that late in the 2nd and then lose it like that. That's rough.

[Kerfuffle]

Hate to say it but 91 should not play Wednesday unless he's 100x better than today. something's wrong. Period.

He was great until his son was born - so I'm wondering if his mind is on that right now. He doesn't look hurt but we don't know

[WaukeeBlues]

Who would have thought Brouwer would be the stud in the playoffs and Tank would disappear is the 3rd round? Certainly not me. These playoffs are very unpredictable this year. Close game tonight but i thought Shattys 2 penalties really hurt.

Repeated trips to the penalty box, not just Shatty. You CANNOT give this Sharks team that many opportunities on the power play this series and expect to win. Blues have done an admirable job of killing in this series but finally came to a head.

Tarasenko has just disappeared. He has no confidence, he's unsure of himself, hell he didn't even have his stick on the ice for the pass that he got on the power play and looked surprised that he got it leading directly to a turnover. When he's on it he commands the ice and can't get enough of the puck on his stick. I don't know who took his jersey and suited up to play as him but that's not Tank out there.

[Portland Blues]

To have the lead that late in the 2nd and then lose it like that. That's rough.

Never really seemed in it after that. I do hope we go back to Elliott for Game 6. He got us here and tonight it never felt like Allen got the game-stealing save or two for us.

[beat2life]

Wheredidsenkgo

[Portland Blues]

#jakeandthefatmanfail

[Portland Blues]

Seriously though, the 2016 Blues have shown a huge improvement over the past few playoff Blues but it still seems like we just can't string together all the bounces. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a great Game 6 performance followed by another head scratcher in Game 7.

Sucks that we're seeing one of the other seemingly cursed teams shaking off the curse against us.

[theohall]

Who would have thought Brouwer would be the stud in the playoffs and Tank would disappear is the 3rd round? Certainly not me. These playoffs are very unpredictable this year. Close game tonight but i thought Shattys 2 penalties really hurt.

The BS with this is the initial hit on Shattenkirk was blatant interference. Then the Sharks guy lays on the ice like he'd been shot and the arm goes up. After that, any 'questionable' hit the Sharks players laid on the ice looking for the damn call. Lame crap from the Sharks trying to draw calls.

[theohall]

As to what's happened to Tarasenko in this series, the Sharks are beating the crap out of him. Every time he touches the puck he gets hit. When he has the puck, 2 Sharks converge on him and one of them, if not both, make the effort to ensure he gets hit.

Not to mention Tank getting repeatedly high sticked with no penalty being called and they are clear high sticks.

3 goals should be enough to win a game, but Bouwmeester's inability to clear a puck without icing it with ZERO pressure on him led to the loss.

[glen a richter]

So since this season is basically over, should we start making our wish lists for the offseason?

A depth defenseman who can sub in for Edmundson in order to keep Shatty on the right side.

Trade Bouwmeester for a draft pick(s), slot Lindbohm in for him and elevate Schmaltz to the #7/first call up.

Give an extended look to McKenzie Maceachern and Adam Musil during camp, consider giving either 3rd line minutes and sliding Berglund to the 4th line in an effort to complete the revamping of the 4th line into something that isn't so atrocious or useless.

Re-sign Backes, if he's still affordable after this playoff run, with the money not spent by trading Bouwmeester. He'll be needed to guide Maceachern and/or Musil.

Trade Binnington or Copley for a pick or depth defenseman and bring Husso over to start seasoning in Chicago.

Get some depth guys to play in Chicago so they're not as awful as they were this season. It'll be important for the development of our young studs to not be playing on such a pathetic team.

[Kerfuffle]

So since this season is basically over, should we start making our wish lists for the offseason?

Don't give up - it's definitely not over. Whatever problem the Blues had in games 2 and 3 in this series, they corrected those and played very well in games 4 and 5. Yes game 5 was a loss but was due to bad penalties (Shatty killed you guys twice there in my opinion), and not because they reverted back to what we saw in games 2 and 3. So as long as the Blues play game 6 and 7 like they did 4 and 5 you still have a very good chance here.

[Krigloch the Furious]

So Tarasenko has been clobbered constantly. Why can't the Blues do that to Pavelski?
Easily the most frustrating Blues team I've ever seen. All year has been nuts.

Sent from my R2 unit

[Kerfuffle]

So Tarasenko has been clobbered constantly. Why can't the Blues do that to Pavelski?
Easily the most frustrating Blues team I've ever seen. All year has been nuts.

Frustrating yes - but I can see reasons why the other remaining teams have frustrations too. Pittsburgh has spotty goaltending and defensive breakdowns then have offensive surges. Tampa gets leads then loses them. San Jose plays in spurts - good then bad. But there's only 4 teams left so obviously these 4 are doing something right cause the other 26 teams are at home (or golfing )

[ecbm]

Yes game 5 was a loss but was due to bad penalties (Shatty killed you guys twice there in my opinion), and not because they reverted back to what we saw in games 2 and 3.

Those are my thoughts as well. This was a one-goal game. The series is very much not over.

As long as they bring everything they've got on Wednesday I can't be too disappointed.

So Tarasenko has been clobbered constantly. Why can't the Blues do that to Pavelski?
Easily the most frustrating Blues team I've ever seen. All year has been nuts.

They're trying to do it to Pavelski. He's playing through it. Hitchcock is right. All really good players get this sort of attention in the playoffs. The best ones get through it. I imagine the combination of low confidence and distraction/fatigue from a new kid aren't helping. I hope someone's reminding him that he's still capable of taking a game by the throat and controlling it. That's the other upside for the Blues-this has been a much more competitive series than the media would have you believe despite much of the Blues core pretty much not showing up: Backes, Schwartz, Steen, Tarasenko, Stastny and the entire defense corps have scored 2 goals combined. Question is, can they snap out of it?

[goon attack]

When your first child is born everything else seems irrelevant.... end of story. Plus he's probably exhausted

It all adds up to no Tarasenko the way we know him.

Others need to step up

[StL Dan]

Polak was pizzin' me off...the repeated b.s. on Jaskin was ridiculous. His actions can be added to those vines (or whatever they were) earlier in this thread.