Back to Back games Blues stopped hitting in 3rd and Ice Tilts

[rezero]

No idea why the Blues changed their game in the third period both game. We stopped hitting and the game opened up and Jets took over. Both games in the first period Blues looked great.

Game 1….

Period 1: Hits Blues 32, Shot Differential Blues +1
Period 2: Hits Blues 13, Shot differential Jets +3
Period 3: Hits Blues 8, Shot differential Jets +7

Game 2…

Period 1: Blues 16 hits, +1 Shot differential
Period 2: Blues 10 hits, +0 Shot differential
Period 3: Blues 3 hits, -1 shot differential

[bluecard04]

Totally agree. They had no legs in the 3rd and tried to stick handle every puck but Jets kept skating.

[swatski]

There is a reason for this. The Jets are the better team and are forcing the Blues to work harder which tires them out.

[rezero]

There is a reason for this. The Jets are the better team and are forcing the Blues to work harder which tires them out.

The Walker, Torpochenko, Faska line only played 2:25 in the third period and did not have a single hit in the period. I am not sure I am buying the “tired” line.

[WilliamWestcliffe]

There is a reason for this. The Jets are the better team and are forcing the Blues to work harder which tires them out.

The Walker, Torpochenko, Faska line only played 2:25 in the third period and did not have a single hit in the period. I am not sure I am buying the “tired” line.

100%. This is becoming a real bad excuse.

If anyone believes they got exhausted, they need to explain how every single player magically got too exhausted to hit starting in the 3rd period.

They didn’t fade off. They abruptly quit, at the exact same time, as a collective team, playing a specific way…as if instructed, as if scared.

[2forDiving]

I don’t think they are hitting in the 3rd period because they haven’t had the puck in either of the 3rd periods so far. It’s runaround in their own end, dump it out occasionally then runaround in their own end some more. Shift after shift.

[TBone]

They're punishing us on the boards all over the ice and as the game goes on we eventually stop. I also see it affecting players by either shying away from contact or errant passing. And I don't know how they're going to change this trajectory (other than sheer will) given the Jets are generally 2 inches taller and 10+ pounds heavier per man across their roster.

I don't think it's been a conscious decision to deemphasize size along the forward lines like there was with defensemen after 2019, but the result is the same: size provides an edge and can negate smaller speed and skill in post-season hockey.

How Army addresses it (if he even sees it himself) should be a point of emphasis over the off-season.

[Hooking]

This team, for whatever reason, plays better without Parayko in the lineup.

[Unfathomable]

I don't think hitting more is the problem if anything we are hitting to much and it's disrupting our game. Schenn would rather hit then play the puck 90 percent of the time as example....