OTF Classic

Heading into tonight's game in St. Louis, you couldn't quibble with the Predators 2-0 start, except perhaps to say that both victories were games that a top team is expected to win, as both Colorado and Dallas had played the previous night and had to fly into Nashville on little rest. Against the Blues, the same argument could be made. Despite being a popular pick to return to the playoffs, St. Louis came in three defensemen short (Jay McKee, Erik Johnson and Eric Brewer) and goaltender Manny Legace was playing on a wonky knee. The Recap Early on, a rather pedestrian-looking 3-on-2 for St. Louis gave Brad Boyes a wide open opportunity coming down the slot. It looked to me like Greg de Vries failed to stay home on his man and take that crossing pass away. Chris Mason challenged, but Boyes flipped it in easily for a 1-0 lead. Darcy Hordichuk threw down with D.J. King shortly thereafter, battling hard to a draw with his much larger opponent. Nashville seemed intent on laying...

Last Friday I touched on the leaders in the NHL Central Division, Nashville and Detroit, but now let's catch up with the rest of the pack. Again, we're looking at trend lines reflecting Actual (red) vs. Expected (blue) Goals on the offensive and defensive side. In general I've tried to keep the preceding graphs relatively free of "visual commentary", but since each of these teams have changed their head coaches already this year, I've put indicators in reflecting those milestones. So let's meet our contestants... ST. LOUIS BLUES : The Blues have been on fire since Andy Murray took the helm, going 12-4-4 in eighteen games. Looking at the Expected Goals For trendline doesn't seem to indicate any huge change in offensive approach, but the steady increase in Actual Goals For seems to say that something is indeed in the works in terms of shot execution. We'll know the answer to that shortly after the All-Star break, in terms of whether that hot streak o...