Yeo wants Blues to look ahead, not back; finding better consistency on
home ice; Thorburn provides veteran voice; Thompson takes scratch in stride
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- Instead of dwelling on the past, especially after a discouraging home loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild, Blues coach Mike Yeo prefers that they look ahead to the next important opponent.
After a 6-2 loss in which the Blues (32-20-3) failed to respond after some adverse hockey in the first period and when things went downhill from there, the schedule continues to get tough, and the Colorado Avalanche (29-19-4) come calling for the second time in two weeks here on Thursday.
The Blues defeated the Avalanche 3-1 on Jan. 25 and need to respond after a second lackluster home loss in five games and third in six.
"We talked about some things today and let's move on now, let's focus on tomorrow," Yeo said. "I don't want to go into tomorrow's game still talking about last game because then we're dead. We're playing against a good team, they're going to be excited to play us, they're going to be excited for the game. We have to have that same mindset.
"... I don't think that was a 6-2 game last night, so you have to be careful about when you crack the whip. We didn't react well enough, we didn't have enough fight when we got down and part of it was we didn't fight the right way, but for us, it's all about responding right now."
When the Blues lost 7-4 on home ice against Florida on Jan. 9, they responded the following game with a 2-1 overtime win at Toronto on Jan. 16 and then won at Ottawa (4-1) two nights later. When they lost 5-2 at home against Arizona on Jan. 20, they responded with three straight home wins and allowed two goals in the process.
"There's no question that we have character inside that locker room," Yeo said. "We'll bounce back tomorrow. We'll have to bounce back with a real strong effort. Obviously it's a team that's playing well. Obviously it's a team that's playing well. They had a big win last night and they're going to be awfully excited for that game, so we have to bring that same energy.
"Some of these losses that we've had at home, you look at what our team is doing to be successful, we're a hard-checking team, and obviously if we're giving up six goals in a game at home, that's pretty tough to think that we're going to go out and think we're going to score seven in a game. There's a way that we have to play the game and it involves a real strong competitive level and it involves a real strong checking game. When we're doing those things, ironically we create more offense, too."
The Blues, who held an optional skate Wednesday inside the Ice Zone ahead of three games in three and a half days and four in the next six to finish off what literally will be five games in seven days, got out in the open what went wrong Tuesday and what needs to be done to prevent something like that from happening often.
"You guys have probably heard the same quotes a million times, but just play," said goalie Jake Allen, who relieved Carter Hutton after one period. "We've done it enough in here. Guys have done it consistently over their careers. Don't worry about everything else. If we have a terrible period, so what if we have a terrible period. There's still another way we can find a way to get a point. Even last night, we're down whatever, 5-1 after two, we realized we weren't going to win that game, but if we can find some way in the third period to take some positive of it, then take it out and move on. You look at our schedule for the next month, it's the toughest part of the year. Everyone knows that."
What should resonate in the players' heads is it's one thing to get beat, but to lose in the fashion the Blues have lost their last three games is not something the players should want, especially when they get booed off the ice to a fan base that's very understanding, passionate and behind them more often than not.
"It's been like that the last few games if you can recall it at home. Not every game but the ones we struggled in," Allen said. "Not a good feeling. Last night was definitely deserving. Maybe some of the times in the past, it wasn't, but it's understanding.
"You want to win games. They support us so hard. It's not that we're out there not trying, it's just we've got to find ways to be better and right now, you look at the standings, teams are chasing our tail. They're already on our tail or past us. We've got to find a way to be more consistent, just get points. Realistically, we're not going to win every game the rest of the year, but even if we grind out a point in games, we've got to find a way to take that and maybe sometimes we don't deserve a point and we can find a way to get a point. That stuff goes a long way and that's why we made the playoffs last six or seven years in a row. I don't know if there's been any other teams that have consistently done that. Hopefully we can just keep going like that."
That's why the coaches had their say, watched things and explained some execution on video and then left the players alone so that they can sort some things out on their own, which Yeo finds beneficial.
"I think it's important that sometimes they sort things out on their own," he said. "There's no question as coaches, you have be careful that if you try to solve all the problems, then they'll wait for you to solve them all the time. But there's other times that we have to step in and we have to try and grab things or help steer things in the right direction, I should say."
* Consistency at home -- Since starting the season 5-0-0, the Blues, who were the last team to lose on home ice this season, are basically a .500 hockey team at Scottrade Center ever since.
The Blues are 18-11-0 at home this season, one loss away from matching their regulation loss total from a season ago, but since that 5-0-0 start, they're just 13-11-0, which is not nearly good enough for a team wanting to make the playoffs and being hard to play against in their own building.
"I think a lot of times it's just simplifying and not trying to do too much offensively," defenseman Robert Bortuzzo said. "When we play a road style, it's very hard to play against and if we can translate some of that stuff back home and playing in the offensive zone and using some of our crowd to our benefit, whether it's in the offensive zone, gaining momentum, standing over pucks, I think that's when we have the most success as a team when we're standing over pucks in the offensive zone, which helps us essentially as defensemen because we're playing down there and it's hard for them to get to our net. If we can get to the o-zone and stand over pucks, that's going to help us for sure."
Captain Alex Pietrangelo commented after the loss Tuesday that at times the Blues make it too complicated and unpredictable on home ice, which is not something intentionally done but done somehow regardless.
"I think our game doesn't change, whether it's at home or away," Yeo said. "I think we complicate it at times. Some of the turnovers we had in the neutral zone [Tuesday] are an example of that. We have to make plays and there's opportunities to make plays there, but there's other times where you have to manage the puck properly and you have to get it in on the forecheck.
"No, we're not trying to tell them to over-complicate things out there, I can tell you that. We were going pretty good for a while and we had a slip-up last game. Actually, our start was good but how we reacted to a little bit of adversity to the game wasn't good. So once we got down, we started to change things a little bit. But we have to make sure that we play a complete 60-minute effort tomorrow."
* Veteran voice -- He didn't play Tuesday, but when a veteran voice is sometimes needed to help keep the roster together in times of adversity, Chris Thorburn knows his place.
The oldest player on the roster at 34, Thorburn has been in locker rooms that have dealt with adverse situations and has expressed his opinion when called upon.
"I've tried to find my place. I've been around a while," Thorburn said. "I know when to chime in and when not to. At the same time, the leaders in this locker room are strong. The culture here is so good that only a couple guys have to say something and pretty much the message is said."
So what was the message spoken after a loss like Tuesday's?
"I think it's more just looking at it, thinking of the reasons why it happened like that," Thorburn said. "Just holding yourself accountable. At the same time, I think it comes down to the response. The good thing about hockey is it's an 82-game season and it's a long season, the grind. There's going to be ups and downs. It's how you handle them and how you respond to the downs. That's kind of what we talked about today. We understand we've got a good group in here, a good team. It's just a matter of hitting that reset button and understanding how and what it takes to win consistently in the league and just getting back to the basics. In no means overreacting, but at the same time recognizing how that outcome happened and learning from it an then responding."
* Thompson learning through ups, downs -- Rookie Tage Thompson, who was a healthy scratch Tuesday for the first time in 20 games, was one of the skaters to take the ice Wednesday looking for his way back into the lineup.
Thompson, who has six points (three goals, three assists) in 23 games this season, has just one assist his past eight games but at 20 years old, knows not to get discouraged by being sat for a game.
"It happens," Thompson said. "Obviously you don't want it to happen. You try everything in your power to make it so it doesn't happen, but I'm still young, I'm learning and coaching staff's good with teaching me, helping me out along the way. I've just got to learn from it, keep building, keep sticking with the process and I think obviously in the long run, everything's going to pay off. Right now, it's just a grind. A bit of a teaching and learning curve for me right now. I've just got to stay positive and not dwell on what's going on. Just embrace the adversity."
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