It’s now been more than three years since the Blues and coach Craig Berube got an offside challenge wrong, following a successful challenge during Thursday’s 2-1 shootout loss in Dallas.
Berube challenged Mason Marchment’s goal in the first period on Thursday following a clunky zone entry by Evgenii Dadonov in which his pass intended for Matt Duchene was deflected by Colton Parayko. The deflection threw off the timing of the play, and Dadonov put himself offside before the puck crossed the blue line.
The entry happened 33.8 seconds before the goal, so Berube and video coaches Darryl Seward and Elliott Mondou had plenty of time to review it before Marchment actually scored.
“We had a real good view of it right away,†Berube said after practice on Friday. “Our guys called down, we knew it was offside before it went in. They ended up, obviously, putting it in, but we knew it was offside, so it was really clear.â€
People are also reading…
Berube’s last unsuccessful offside challenge came on Aug. 6, 2020, in the Edmonton bubble against Vegas. He has successfully challenged seven in a row, and the NHL’s Situation Room has overturned two in that span for the Blues. In total, the last nine offside reviews for ºüÀêÊÓƵ have taken an opponent’s goal off the board.
“If I feel like it’s offside, I’m going to call it,†Berube said. “But am I always sure? No. I’m not sure on goalie interference, either. Depending on the situation, you’ve got to look at the score, you’ve got to look at the time. There’s situations that arise that if it’s too close, it’s a little on the line, you might not want to call it in a certain situation.â€
A wrong challenge results in a minor penalty for delay of game that would put the other team on the power play.
Since taking over as Blues head coach in 2018, Berube has only had one offside challenge fail in the regular season: Dec. 18, 2018 against Edmonton. There was also an unsuccessful challenge in Game 3 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against Boston.
Taking a glance
As practice ended at Centene Community Ice Center on Friday, Berube left the ice before stopping to take a look at some of the Blues who were working on their shootouts.
On Thursday night in Dallas, Brayden Schenn scored in the first round, Pavel Buchnevich was stopped in the second round and Jordan Kyrou didn’t get a shot on goal in the third round.
“We want to keep working on it,†Berube said. “There are certain things you can do, and we try to track all that stuff. You look at other players in the league and what they try to do, and the guys that are very successful. We feel like we have some guys that can do the same thing.
“It’s just trying to help them maybe come up with a little different move or something that might work against goalies. There’s trends out there that you follow and that’s all we’re trying to do.â€
Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the Blues are now 12-16 in shootouts, including a 3-3 mark last season.
Vrána in OT?
Eight different Blues forwards played in overtime on Thursday in Dallas — including Oskar Sundqvist on the penalty kill — but Jakub Vrána was not one of them. Vrána played only 11:23 on Thursday night and had a primary assist on Tyler Tucker’s goal.
How much is he a consideration for ice time in overtime?
“He’s obviously a consideration,†Berube said. “I went with what I went with last night. He’s got great speed and a shot. But also (3 on 3) really, it’s about puck possession and patience and discipline when we you don’t have the puck. It’s patience and discipline when you have it.
“Not forcing shots that aren’t really high-end, Grade-A chances, and biding your time and getting fresh guys out there. It’s a real selfless situation, to be honest with you, you’re setting the next guy up to be able to have success.â€
After arriving from Detroit at the trade deadline last season, Vrána played in all four overtimes with the Blues, averaging 1.75 shifts and one minute of ice time.
Unlikely scorer
Tucker was the Blues’ first goal-scorer of the season, an odd candidate given his role as a third-pair, shutdown, penalty-killing defenseman.
“I thought he played well,†defenseman Justin Faulk said. “He’s a simple player. Obviously, the goal is a bonus. No offense, but I don’t think anyone is expecting him to do that a bunch of times every night. Just a simple game defending. He’s in guys’ way, being physical. He’s a big body, he’s a tough kid just making it difficult on the other team, and I thought he did that.â€
It was Tucker’s second career goal, and came in his first time playing in an Opening Night lineup. He played alongside Marco Scandella, logging 13:01 of ice time, including one minute shorthanded.
“I thought Tuck played a strong game, besides the goal,†Berube said. “He was solid, he was physical. Good gaps, I thought he moved the puck quick and made the plays he’s supposed to make.â€