Blues get in first game-like situation in scrimmage

O'Reilly leads Team Blue with two goals, assist in 6-1 win over Team White

By LOU KORAC
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The Blues got away from the norm of the first week of training camp.

They scrimmaged for the first time Saturday and, as captain Alex Pietrangelo said, tried to implement some of the pace and speed they incorporated into drills when Phase 3 of the NHL's Return to Play Plan began on Monday.

Team Blue, behind a five-goal third period, blitzed Team White, 6-1.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Alex Pietrangelo takes a shot during training camp earlier in the week for

the Blues. He was part of Team Blue's 6-1 scrimmage win over Team White.

"Just pretty much everything that we worked on during the week, just some systems stuff," Pietrangelo said. "I think the hardest part really is the adjustments in your eyes and getting used to the movements around you and trying to find some time and space and work on your vision with the puck. We're all trained athletes. We all work out, so I don't think the cardio side is necessarily the hard part. The hard part is kind of getting back playing NHL speed. It's good that we did this. We're going to do it again I'm sure. Tomorrow we'll do more special teams, but the more we do this, the easier it will be when we get into a real game. 

"We were joking before we went out there. The practice is good because it helps you and it gets better, but we're all born to play, right? We all want the competition. We're not trying to really hurt each other out there or be too aggressive, but we still have a little bit of competitiveness out there and it kind of helps us to push each other. It's always fin to get into some sort of game situation."

Coach Craig Berube sat in the stands and watched, taking in whatever he can see from a higher ground than if he were on the bench. Assistants Sean Ferrell and Mike Van Ryn manned the benches. Assistants Steve Ott (linesman) and Marc Savard (referee) officiated the game.

"When you're on the bench, it's sometimes harder to see things," Berube said. "Up there, I can watch the whole game, I can see everything, see individuals, see system stuff and how we're playing and how we're looking. It's just easier up there. 

"I thought the pace was good. I thought guys worked hard. Obviously the execution is not great all the time and there's obviously things you've got to keep working on. That's what I expected, but I liked the work ethic and the pace was good, I thought."

Ryan O'Reilly led Team Blue with two goals and an assist on linemate Zach Sanford's goal.

"I feel like this last little while, it's been so much non-scrimmaging," O'Reilly said. "It's just doing so much practicing, these little 1-on-1's and individual skills. It's nice to finally get out there and play hockey, have those little battles, little nuances of the game. It's so much more fun to mix it up like that and get back to similar to what we're really doing.

"I think you take away the shift length and the timing where you get out there and it's 30-45 seconds hard, come off, rest, calm down and you're at it again. You're trying to get that timing back and also timing on the ice, little battles, finding ways to not over-skate it, to be able to pushing on guys, pushing off guys, all those little things that you don't really get in the full practice. It's obviously more game-like, and that's what we want."

Ivan Barbashev put Team White on the board first in the first period, scoring from the left circle on Jake Allen, but Robert Thomas answered with a penalty shot goal, a wrister top shelf over Jordan Binnington's glove, and then Team Blue took over.

Sammy Blais, who was a wrecking ball on the ice, scored the game-winner, and the onslaught continued with Sanford, O'Reilly twice and Troy Brouwer late scoring all off Ville Husso.

Joel Hofer took over for Allen in the third and blanked Team White.

"Sammy is competitive out there," Berube said of Blais. "I thought he looked really good too. Handled the puck really well. He was really physical. We know want our guys hitting each other too much obviously, but that's his game. He's got to be a physical player and I thought he looked good."

The Blues will try and get some more scrimmage time in next week before departing for Edmonton on July 26.

"Every day you can see everyone's feeling better and better, less soreness," Pietrangelo said. "I think for me, your eyes and your brain get adjusted better. A lot of the stuff that we've done here with Chief is second-nature to us. It's just kind of reiterating everything that we've done over the last year. That's all coming back and I think guys are starting to feel more comfortable and they're just kind of reacting and playing hockey. We're trying to get through the thinking part of kind of organizing our system so we can get back into this thing and jump pretty easily."