SAN JOSE, Calif. 鈥 Perhaps the checkpoints for Blues defenseman Philip Broberg will be much later during his career in St. 亚洲无码, but game No. 1 was a decent place to start for the club鈥檚 splashy offseason acquisition.
During the 3-2 win over the Kraken on Tuesday afternoon, Broberg scored his first goal as a Blue, a second-period, game-tying goal on a shot from the left circle that found its way through a Jake Neighbours partial screen at the net front. The goal was part of the Blues鈥 second-period outburst and started off Broberg鈥檚 career in St. 亚洲无码 with something he hadn鈥檛 done much in Edmonton: scoring.
The goal was Broberg鈥檚 third career regular-season NHL goal and first since April 2023. He did score twice in the playoffs last season with the Oilers.
鈥淚t felt great,鈥 Broberg said. 鈥淗ad a great screen in front of the net. It was nice to see it go in for sure.鈥
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On Tuesday night, Broberg played 20:23 across 26 shifts, with one shot on goal, four shot attempts, one hit and two blocked shots. It was just the fourth time in his 82-game NHL career Broberg eclipsed 20 minutes of ice time and the first time since March 7, 2022, which was his first season in North America.
It鈥檚 that kind of responsibility that the Blues would like Broberg to grow into through the season. In Edmonton, he was a player shuttled between the NHL and the AHL. He played his off side in the NHL and as a depth defenseman.
But in St. 亚洲无码, there will be plenty of opportunity to grow. He鈥檚 back on his strong left side opposite partner Justin Faulk and playing top-four minutes. While the second power-play unit didn鈥檛 see the ice in Seattle, the Blues have used Broberg at the point during practice.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong cautioned during training camp about evaluating Broberg and fellow offer-sheet acquisition Dylan Holloway too soon. One game would certainly qualify as that.
鈥淲hat I said to them, and mostly Broberg, in a conversation was: 鈥榃e鈥檙e in this for the marathon, not the sprint,鈥欌 Armstrong said at the start of training camp. 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 got less than 100 games, 80 games. I want him to have a good 10-year career here in St. 亚洲无码. I want him to hit the ground running, but we鈥檙e not going to judge him in October, November. This is going to be a growing process.鈥
Part of the growing process is adjusting to a new defensive partner in Faulk.
For Faulk, Broberg is a different style of partner than he鈥檚 had recently. Across the past four years, Faulk鈥檚 partner has often been Torey Krug, the undersized, punchy, offensively gifted defenseman who is out for this year after undergoing ankle surgery. Broberg, at 6-foot-4 with above-average skating ability and less eye-popping offensive numbers, is like Krug only in that they鈥檙e both left-handed.
鈥淗e can take away time and space, and the size helps,鈥 Faulk said. 鈥淗e can recover and get in the way. It makes it tougher. Guys have to respect it a little bit more, and it pushes guys away. Combine that with the skating ability and it makes it pretty tough on guys.鈥
In Faulk鈥檚 career in Carolina, he was paired with other bigger defensemen such as 6-3 Ron Hainsey, 6-3 Brett Pesce or 6-3 Jaccob Slavin.
鈥淚鈥檝e played with some guys that are long, tall and have long sticks and can defend that way,鈥 Faulk said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that鈥檚 definitely not new. His skating ability, it depends. Maybe not to have the size and the skating, but I鈥檝e had a lot of D partners in this league. It always just takes a second. To be honest, there鈥檚 pros and cons to all of them. They all say the same thing about me, I鈥檓 sure.鈥
Advanced statistics were in disagreement about Broberg鈥檚 debut in the Note.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blues were responsible for 34.15% of shot attempts and 23.31% of expected goals when Broberg was on the ice at five on five on Tuesday. Both figures were the worst among St. 亚洲无码 defensemen.
But according to All Three Zones, a microstat tracking project, Broberg graded out as the Blues鈥 best skater vs. Kraken when accounting for game events like zone exits and entries, in addition to passing data and shot creation.
鈥淚 thought Broby as a whole (was) physical, skated well, built his game as the game went on,鈥 Blues coach Drew Bannister said. 鈥淏ut I thought overall, his stick (was) killing plays, getting up in the rush too 鈥 which was something I thought early on, our D weren鈥檛 activating. I thought as the game went on, we did a better job of that as a corps.鈥
Faulk: 鈥淗e likes to skate, which is good. It鈥檚 just trying to realize that and see how he navigates the ice and where he puts himself, especially with the puck. How he likes to make plays and when he likes to make the plays as he鈥檚 moving his feet. That鈥檚 something you don鈥檛 want to take away from a guy is their ability to skate. So that鈥檚 on me to learn how he鈥檚 going to use that to his advantage, figure it out a little bit and be there to help him out.鈥
- Forwards Alexandre Texier and Kasperi Kapanen returned to the ice for morning skate before the Blues played the Sharks on Thursday night and are expected to play vs. San Jose.
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