Goal Line Report
Entries with the tag: Brian+Elliott
St. Louis Blues: A Team to Watch
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/14/12 at 06:00 PM ET
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After the St. Louis Blues stumbled out of the gate, many hockey fans and media alike thought that this was going to be another one of those playoff-less season for the hockey club.
Well, a little more than halfway through the 2011-12 NHL campaign, it appears that those fortunes have changed. The Blues are currently fifth in the Western Conference with a 25-12-6 record and 56 points.
One main reason for the club’s turnaround has been the coaching of Ken Hitchcock. Since taking over the Blues for Davis Payne, Hitchcock has gone 21-11-0-5. “Hitch” has the team playing smart, responsible hockey at both ends of the ice and has his team believing that they can accomplish big things this season.
Secondly, the team has been getting outstanding goaltending from both Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak. Elliott has been a tremendous surprise for the Blues this season after signing a two-way contract prior to the season starting. Elliott has rewarded the Blues by going 15-5-1 in 22 games with a goals against average of 1.68, a .937 save percentage and 5 shutouts.
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Tags: Brian+Elliott, David+Backes, Davis+Payne, Jaroslav+Halak, Ken+Hitchcock, St.+Louis+Blues,
Ugly
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/16/11 at 08:41 AM ET
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That is the perfect word to describe last night’s 4-1 New York Rangers’ loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The team had trouble generating sustained offense, looked lost in their own zone and generally disinterested in winning the hockey game. Put those three things together and it certainly spell l-o-s-s for the Blueshirts.
While St. Louis Blues’ netminder Brian Elliott did make 25 saves in the hockey game last night, the quality scoring chances that the Rangers generated were minimal. There were too many shots from the outside, not enough shots from prime scoring areas and because of the way Elliott plays, no rebounds to pounce on.
At the other end, the Rangers allowed 36 shots against and despite allowing four goals, including a fluky one off of defenseman Dan Girardi, Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist was not terrible and made 32 saves in a losing effort.
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Tags: Brian+Elliott, Dan+Girardi, Dave+Tippett, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Phoenix+Coyotes, St.+Louis+Blues,
Bring on the Blues
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/15/11 at 04:00 PM ET
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The New York Rangers head into St. Louis tonight take on a streaking St. Louis Blues’ hockey club.
Coming off a 1-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, tonight’s tilt will be a test for the Rangers’ offense to see how they respond. After firing 34 shots on goal against the Stars, it is easy to bet that the Rangers will come out firing pucks tonight whether it is on goaltender Brian Elliott or Jaroslav Halak.
According to Rangers’ beat writer Andrew Gross of The Record, team head coach John Tortorella wants his club to be aware of how well the Blues’ play defensive hockey.
“I thought Dallas was very structured, the same thing tonight, St. Louis is going to be a very structured, defensive-oriented team, we just have to stay within ourselves and not make a big mistake where it’s in our net.”
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Tags: Brian+Elliott, Dallas+Stars, Jaroslav+Halak, New+York+Rangers, St.+Louis+Blues,
