Kyrou heeds coach's words, leads Blues to 5-3 win over Sabres

All-Star forward prone to costly turnovers as of late, comes up with proper 

response with two goals, assist after chat with Berube post-practice Thursday

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Jordan Kyrou stood toe-to-toe with Craig Berube on Thursday, listening intently to his coach's words.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues forward Jordan Kyrou pumps his fist after scoring against the Buffalo

Sabres in a 5-3 win on Friday at Enterprise Center.

Someone standing toe-to-toe with 'The Chief' doesn't happen often, at least in Berube's playing days. But this was different. This was a coach looking to get a message across to one of his young, rising talents.

Kyrou had gone through a tough stretch of games, including Tuesday in Philadelphia. He had just turned a puck over in the offensive zone that led to the Flyers' tying goal. The Blues won the game but Kyrou just saw one shift the rest of the game.

Let's just say he took Berube's words Thursday to heart on Friday with a three-point night, including two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Enterprise Center.

The message from Berube to Kyrou was simple: skate.

And skate.

And skate.

And skate ... which he did on a night playing with linemates Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev.

"It's kind of just like a little reset, kind of get your mind back to where it needs to be to be at the top of your game and what you need to do to do that," Kyrou said. "... Obviously you kind of know what’s not going right. For me it’s just move my feet without the puck. That’s the biggest part of my game. And just compete."

There's no question of Kyrou's electricity he provides when he's at his best. When the puck's on his stick and he's moving forward, buzzing in the offensive zone, he's hard to catch and tough to get the puck off his stick. Bu there are those moments when he tries to go for a hope play, make a high-risk pass, or put the puck in a bad spot that allows the opposition to transition with numbers the other way, or not competing for pucks along the wall or protecting it properly that has gotten Kyrou into trouble.

That wasn't the case Friday.

"He was really good tonight from the get-go," Berube said. "He was skating and attacking and he's a dangerous player when he does that.

"... He was going to come out of it, no matter what. It was just a matter of time. It was good to see. That line was very good tonight.

"We're here to help him and he has to help himself, but we're here to help him and work with him. There's going to be times that I'm tough on him and there's going to be times that I'm a father figure to him. I want to help him as much as I can because he's a great player and he's going to help our team. I think since the All-Star Game, he's been a little off for sure and I think he'll find his way."

Sure enough, Kyrou found his way. Case-in-point on Colton Parayko's go-ahead and eventual game-winner.

Barbashev, who had three assists, makes an alert play with a defensive zone poke-check. Parayko pushed the puck up to Kyrou, who was off to the races. Parayko knew if this was going to turn into a 2-on-1 play, he had to get on his horse and giddy-up, which he did.
Kyrou shot the puck that was stopped by Dustin Tokarski, creating a rebound for Parayko to use his clever hand-eye coordination and bat the rebound in for Kyrou's third point of the game, after he scored his 20th of the season earlier.

Kyrou is the fastest skater. No, seriously, he is, and his winning time of 13.55 at the All-Star Skills Competition proved it, even more so than all-world Edmonton captain Connor McDavid.

"He’s the fastest skater," Parayko said of Kyrou. "He’s obviously got good speed. And obviously  good play by him. He had a really good game but he's a fast guy, tough to keep up with for sure."

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues forward Jordan Kyrou (25) looks to skate past Sabres defenseman

Robert Hagg on Friday at Enterprise Center. 

In six games since the All-Star Game, Kyrou had just a goal and two assists, not producing at the clip he was going at previously. And when he played a season-low 11:51 at Philadelphia Tuesday, things could only go up for him.

"I think I just tried to refocus on what makes my game go and I got back to that tonight," Kyrou said. "And that's just moving my feet and just competing harder."

Kyrou picked up goal No. 19 on a one-timer from the slot, a power-play goal at 7:06 of the first period to get the scoring started for the Blues and tie the game 1-1, then collected No. 20 with a redirection of Justin Faulk's point shot at 14:23 to make it 2-1.

"It’s definitely pretty cool," Kyrou said. "First time doing it, so yeah, it’s a cool thing."

The Blues hope there's more to come.