(4-4-16) Coyotes-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues arrived in the early hours Monday morning fresh off a 5-1 road victory at the Colorado Avalanche, and with another important game on tap for today against the Arizona Coyotes, it was a very limited group of skaters on the ice.

But among those that skated, and skated at a good pace were rookie left wing Robby Fabbri, who's missed two games with a lower-body injury, and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who's missed the past five games with what are believed to have been concussion symptoms.

Fabbri and Bouwmeester were joined on the ice by defenseman Petteri Lindbohm, right wing Ryan Reaves and goalie Brian Elliott, who will start tonight but neither will play.


"Bouwmeester, Fabbri skated today and they aren't ready," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We'll have both join us as full participants on the practice on Wednesday. We're leaning towards taking Tuesday off or having it as an optional and we'll practice with them full on Wednesday and then see how they look on Wednesday whether they play Thursday or not."

If the Blues are to win the Central Division, they'll have to do so without goalie Jake Allen or captain David Backes, who will miss the remainder of the regular season with respective lower-body injuries.


The Blues say both will be re-evaluated at the end of the conclusion of the regular season.

"They're hurt. They're not able to play," Hitchcock said. "We'll give you an update on the time frame on both guys on Monday, but not able to play, both were hurt yesterday. Can't tell you time frame-wise because we don't honestly know. Obviously a sense of urgency with playoffs around the corner is there, but believe me, if they were able to play, they'd be playing. Not able to play.

"Obviously David's an impact player."

Allen was replaced by Anders Nilsson, who made 19 saves, for the final 40 minutes.

Backes had a goal and assist in 16 minutes 54 seconds of ice time and won seven of 11 faceoffs; Hitchcock said the injury occurred when Backes made a pass with 2:55 remaining in the game on a Troy Brouwer empty-net goal.

The goal is to try and have both available for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which are slated to begin April 13.

"You know what the playoffs are like. You try and play. If you've got to play at 80 percent, you play at 80 percent. You're hopeful that you're at 100 (percent), but none of us can honestly tell you right now until these things are moved a little bit further down the dial here. It's not what we hoped for, it just seems to be what our season's been about and we've got to step up.

Steve Ott, who's been nursing those torn hamstrings injured on Dec. 5, was not on the ice Monday morning with the other skaters.

If Fabbri and Bouwmeester are able to play, Magnus Paajarvi or Dmitrij Jaskin and Robert Bortuzzo are the likely players that will be healthy scratches.

- - -

With a game in hand Monday against the Coyotes (35-36-7), the Blues (46-23-9) will attempt to pull into a first-place tie with the Dallas Stars in the race for the Central Division title.

The Blues' win at Colorado on Sunday night, coupled with the Stars' 3-1 loss at the Anaheim Ducks means the Blues have the chance to pull even in points (105) with the Stars. However, Dallas holds the tiebreaker in regulation or overtime wins. Dallas has 46, St. Louis has 42.

The Blues, who have won six of seven, have a chance to distance themselves from the third-place Chicago Blackhawks with a win. It would put St. Louis six points ahead of the Blackhawks with two games remaining; Chicago has three.

"We know what's in front of us, we know what's behind us," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "The biggest thing is worry about ourselves. We know if we play the way we can, we're going to put ourselves in a good position. We want to make sure we're going full speed here going into the playoffs."

Before the Blues played Sunday, the Blackhawks applied some heat with their 6-4 home victory against the Boston Bruins to pull within two points of the Blues, but St. Louis' focus is still winning the division and not worrying about who's behind them.

"I think we're still trying to pay attention to Dallas," Hitchcock said. "You work all year and you've got a chance for first place, you want to keep going. That's the goal, and then after we finish against Washington (in the season-finale on Saturday), you turn the page and wherever you start, you start. I think it's all about momentum and playing well."


- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Alexander Steen-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko

Magnus Paajarvi-Paul Stastny-Troy Brouwer

Jaden Schwartz-Patrik Berglund-Dmitrij Jaskin

Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Ryan Reaves

Joel Edmundson-Alex Pietrangelo

Carl Gunnarsson-Kevin Shattenkirk

Colton Parayko-Robert Bortuzzo

Brian Elliott will start in goal. Anders Nilsson is expected to be the backup.

The healthy scratches could be either Magnus Paajarvi or Dmitrij Jaskin and Petteri Lindbohm. Robby Fabbri (lower body) and Jay Bouwmeester (upper body) are questionable and Steve Ott (hamstrings) is doubtful. Jake Allen (lower body) and David Backes (lower body) are out.

- - -

The Coyotes' projected lineup:

Alex Tanguay-Antoine Vermette-Anthony Duclair

Tobias Rieder-Laurent Dauphin-Jiri Sekac

Max Domi-Brad Richardson-Shane Doan

Jordan Martinook-Boyd Gordon-Kyle Chipchura

Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Connor Murphy

Kevin Connauton-Zbynek Michalek

Klas Dahlbeck-Alex Grant 

Mike Smith will start in goal. Louis Domingue will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Nicklas Grossman, Sergei Plotnikov and Viktor Tikhonov. Martin Hanzal (upper body), Anders Lindback (Achillies), Eric Selleck (upper body), Michael Stone (knee) and Joe Vitale (head) are out with injuries.

Blues win game, lose Allen in 5-1 win over Avs

Netminder injured late in first, replaced by 

Nilsson; St. Louis pulls within two points of Dallas

By LOU KORAC
DENVER -- The Blues held their end of the bargain in the race for first in the Central Division but could be another costly injury along the way.

But then again, what else is new?

The Blues' 5-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche Sunday night at Pepsi Center yielded yet another body. 

Goalie Jake Allen, who finished the first period with 11 saves, appeared to tweak something in the lower-body extremity with 3 minutes 20 seconds remaining in the period. He did not return for the second and was replaced by backup Anders Nilsson; Brian Elliott was left in St. Louis for an anticipated start Monday at home against the Arizona Coyotes.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues left wing Magnus Paajarvi (56) scores against Avalanche goalie

Semyon Varlamov in the first period of a 5-1 St. Louis victory Sunday.

Allen missed 17 games (roughly six weeks) from Jan. 8-Feb. 22 with a knee injury.

"We'll know a little bit more on Jake tomorrow," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "... We'll see in the morning how it is. Hopefully it's day-to-day.

"I don't even know (what play it happened on). I'm not even sure what it is. We'll have a better evaluation in the morning."

But the Blues (47-23-9) moved four points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks, who beat the Boston Bruins 6-4 earlier in the day, for second in the Central and moved two points behind the Dallas Stars, who lost 3-1 Sunday night against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Blues, who won for the sixth time in seven games, and Blackhawks each have three games  remaining; the Stars have two.

"We know what's in front of us, we know what's behind us," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "The biggest thing is worry about ourselves. We know if we play the way we can, we're going to put ourselves in a good position. We want to make sure we're going full speed here going into the playoffs."

David Backes, Pietrangelo and Troy Brouwer each had a goal and assist for the Blues, who got 19 saves from Nilsson, making his second appearance with the Blues since being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers.

Nilsson, who made a relief appearance at Calgary on March 14, got the call in the locker room so he knew he was going in.

"It's tough to see Jake go down there; he gave us a good start and the team came out to a good start there in the first period," Nilsson said. Leading 3-0, it kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off of me.

"It was fun to play. It's been a little while, so it's fun to see some game action."j  

"The guys really played for him," Hitchcock said of Nilsson, "because he's worked so hard to get back to where he's an NHL goalie in his own mind and he worked on some things with Jimmy (Corsi). He looks sound right now. He looks really sound. He's big, there's nothing you can see in the net. He handles the puck well. This is a really big asset for us." 

The Blues played like a team with plenty to play for in the first period, getting goals from Backes on the power play, Paajarvi and Parayko.

After Allen came up with some clutch saves as the Avalanche was pushing shorthanded, Backes and Tarasenko broke out in a 2-on-1, and Tarasenko fed Backes in the left circle for the one-timer to beat goalie Semyon Varlamov 5:30 into the game.

Paajarvi's first goal in 24 games (he scored Dec. 21 at Philadelphia) came after defenseman Robert Bortuzzo's strip of the puck in the neutral zone to start the play. Stastny, who has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 12 games, fed Paajarvi, who was able to whack a third attempt at the near post past Varlamov at 8:56.

Parayko's ninth of the season came after the Avalanche broke up an odd-man rush, then Steen came up with the puck behind the net and fed Parayko, who wasted no time with the booming slap shot from the right circle at 16:09.

Parayko also had his first NHL fight in the third period with Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog.

"It's just a thing at spur of the moment; I'm not a guy really needing to go looking for a fight," Parayko said. "I don't really feel it's my game, but if it's there, I guess I've got to stand up for myself and not back down. It was there, and if that's what I'm going to have to do, then that's what I'm going to have to do to stand up for myself."

But it was the kind of period the Blues were able to replicate from what they did in the third period against Boston Friday when they scored three times.

"We had a good push there in the third (Friday) and to carry that over to the start of this game, we needed a good response," Pietrangelo said. "I thought we did a good job of sticking to the details."

Hitchcock added: "We really started the game well. We really put a lot of pressure on them. We made them make mistakes, scored goals because of it. I really liked the way we played the game. For the first half, we really played well."

Colorado replaced Varlamov after the first period with Calvin Pickard, who yielded a goal to Pietrangelo 3:26 into the second for a 4-0 St. Louis lead after Kyle Brodziak won an offensive zone faceoff, and Pietrangelo fired a wrister through traffic.

It was the eighth goal the past five games and fifth in two that Blues defensemen have scored.

The Blues managed the game the way they wanted to, making sure Nilsson was comfortable and giving him easier looks when the Avalanche, who were outshot 39-31, were coming into the zone.

"Let's be honest, (Nilsson) hasn't played much since he got here," Pietrangelo said. "To come in like he did tonight, he played well. We tried keeping as easy on him as possible. I thought we did a good job as a 'D' taking away those second chances."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues goalie Anders Nilsson (middle) guards the net as teammate Jori 

Lehtera (12) and former Blue Erik Johnson battle for a loose puck Sunday.

Matt Duchene ended the shutout for the Blues when he tipped in Mikkel Boedker's shot from the slot for his 30th of the season, but Troy Brouwer, who has 13 points in 12 games, finished things off with an empty-netter.

"We managed (the puck) better, but we checked a lot better," Hitchcock said. "We created a lot of neutral zone turnovers, which was good for us. I just liked the way we played in the first period. It was sound, it was sending the other team a message, It was a good sign."

* NOTE -- The Blues will not hold a morning skate Monday, and therefore any information on Allen or any of the injured players that have been out won't be known until Monday afternoon.

(4-3-16) Blues-Avalanche Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
DENVER -- Carl Gunnarsson will make his return to the lineup for the Blues in a crucial game against the Colorado Avalanche today (7 p.m., NBCSN, KMOX 1120-AM).

Gunnarsson, who's missed the past three games with a lower-body injury, will replace Petteri Lindbohm in the lineup.

Gunnarsson, who has three goals and six assists in 68 games, hasn't missed large chunks of time due to injury, but this was the fourth time he's missed because of a minor ailment or another. All in all, he's missed 10 games in four stretches.

"I think when he's been healthy, he's been good," coach Ken Hitchcock said of Gunnarsson pregame. "He's gotten banged up this year more than normal. He's a guy that, I think the opposite, if you don't notice him, he's doing well because he's a quiet player, he's a smart player, positional player. If you don't notice him, then he's usually playing pretty well. I think when he's been in, he's been healthy, he's been a good player, but he's gotten banged up a little bit this year. 

"I think what's really helped us is we've had good, competitive depth that's allowed us to spend extra time bringing guys back in rather than rushing them back."

- - -

With the Chicago Blackhawks' 6-4 home win against the Boston Bruins this afternoon, the Blackhawks are two points behind the Blues for second place in the Central Division.

The Blues (46-23-9, 101 points) have a game in hand, which is tonight. They play tomorrow night at home against the Arizona Coyotes, and instead of looking over their shoulders, until they have no shot at catching the Dallas Stars, who are four points ahead of the Blues and playing tonight at the Anaheim Ducks, the Blues still have their sights set on first place.

"I think we're still trying to pay attention to Dallas," Hitchcock said. "You work all year and you've got a chance for first place, you want to keep going. That's the goal, and then after we finish against Washington (the season-finale on Saturday), you turn the page and wherever you start, you start. I think it's all about momentum and playing well. 

"It was disappointing defensively against Boston (a 6-5 loss Friday that snapped a five-game winning streak) because we got porous, we got too risky defensively. We chased contact a little bit and got caught out of position a few times and they took advantage of it. Back on task again today. Hopefully our checking game's as good as our offensive game and I think we'll be in good shape."

- - -

Jake Allen will get the start in goal tonight and be backed up Anders Nilsson. It's the same situation as last week when Allen shut out the Washington Capitals 4-0. Brian Elliott, who will start Monday, stayed home after blanking Vancouver the previous night and didn't travel to Washington, also didn't travel to Denver so he can rest and not get in late.

"I haven't really thought of it that way," Hitchcock said. "I think it's given us a chance to work with guys longer in practice knowing that we don't have to bring them back. Like today, we had a lot of work with Elliott and stuff like that previously. We spent an awful lot of time with him yesterday and then he was able to rest and get ready for tomorrow. The travel part's been good. To me, the biggest part is we've been able to get the extra work for him."

- - -

The Blues have scored three or more goals in 13 of the past 14 games and Hitchcock noticed that the Blues have jumped from 28th in the NHL in scoring to 15th since the All-Star break.

"I just think we're scoring more," Hitchcock said. "We're going into the hard zones, we're winning the numbers game there, been doing it for a couple months now. One time, we were 28th in the league in scoring and I looked today and we're 15th. It's not chemistry with a line or anything like that. 

"Look at the (five) goals we scored against Boston, all of them are the same. We've got numbers, bodies, determination in the scoring areas. That's what you've got to do to score in this league."

- - -

Hitchcock said he'll tinker with line combinations tonight but wouldn't say who. It'll be based on what Colorado coach Patrick Roy does.

"There's some line changes that I'll wait on the coach on the other side to determine, but we're going to make some line changes today," Hitchcock said.  

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Alexander Steen-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaden Schwartz-Patrik Berglund-David Backes

Magnus Paajarvi-Paul Stastny-Troy Brouwer

Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Dmitrij Jaskin

Joel Edmundson-Alex Pietrangelo

Kevin Shattenkirk-Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson-Robert Bortuzzo

Jake Allen will start in goal. Anders Nilsson will be the backup.

The healthy scratches are Ryan Reaves, Petteri Lindbohm and Brian Elliott. Robby Fabbri (lower body), Jay Bouwmeester (upper body) and Steve Ott (hamstrings) are out with injuries.

- - -

The Avalanche's projected lineup:

Mikkel Boedker-Matt Duchene-Mikhail Grigorenko

Gabriel Landeskog-Carl Soderberg-Blake Comeau

Shawn Matthias-John Mitchell-Jarome Iginla

Cody McLeod-Andrew Agozzino-Jack Skille

Chris Bigras-Erik Johnson

Nick Holden-Tyson Barrie

Zach Redmond-Francois Beauchemin

Semyon Varlamov will start in goal. Calvin Pickard will be the backup.

Andrew Bodnarchuk and Andreas Martinsen are expected to be healthy scratches. Nathan MacKinnon (knee), Brad Stuart (back), Eric Gelinas (elbow), Jesse Winchester (head) and Nikita Zadorov (concussion) are out.

Stastny giving Blues what they paid him big money to do

Center on best stretch of games producing points since signing 

$28 million contract two years ago; not trying to look too far ahead

By LOU KORAC
DENVER -- When a player has the chance to come home and join the team he grew up following after watching his Hall of Fame father end his career there, Paul Stastny jumped at the opportunity.

But Stastny's roots in Denver and with the Colorado Avalanche were tough to break. After all, Stastny spent the first eight seasons of his career playing with the Avalanche following two seasons with the University of Denver.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues center Paul Stastny is producing at a clip many expected when he

signed with the Blues two years ago. 

And when Stastny, 30, was one of the more sought-after free agents in the summer of 2014, he knew the spotlight would shine on him after getting a four-year, $28 million contract that averaged out to $7 million per season.

When a player gets thrust into that upper echelon of pay, eyes will naturally be cast upon them, and normally point production is expected to reach a certain level.

It's taken nearly two full seasons, but Stastny is living up to the point-producing billing. He's on a points run unlike any since donning the Blues jersey. 

Entering Sunday's game against the Avalanche, Stastny has 16 points in the past 11 games (four goals, 12 assists) and includes six multi-point games in the past nine. He came into Saturday leading the NHL in points (16) since March 9 and has found his calling playing mostly with Troy Brouwer and Robby Fabbri.

Stastny, who went to Chaminade High School and is a part of an impressive athletic alumni (Ben Bishop, Chris Butler, Chris Wideman among those currently playing in the NHL) and basketball hoopsters in the NBA (David Lee and Bradley Beal) and now Jayson Tatum, who will play at Duke next season.

Each player goes under his own merit, but Stastny put the pressure on himself to perform. But it goes back to his days of being the son of Peter Stastny, whose 16-year career netted 450 goals and 1,239 NHL points in 977 career games. It should be in the genes, right?

Stastny sits with 46 points in 60 games, his total accomplished in 74 games last season. And while those numbers may not jump out as a whole, the recent body of work gives the impression that he's producing at a clip the Blues expected and more when they signed him two years ago.

"I've put the most standards on myself," Stastny said. "You guys think I'm having a good year, but I think I can be better. That's the way I've always kind of taken the approach. What happened in the past is in the past. No one cares about that; everyone always looks forward to the next game or where you are right now. You've got to find ways of keep getting better and then keep enjoying it. When you're enjoying yourself and you're giving it your all, you have no regrets out there and you have nothing to complain about, I think that's when you're at your best."

Stastny got off to a solid start with the Blues last season with four points his first two games, but in the fourth game, a shoulder injury derailed his start and forced him to miss nearly three weeks. He had eight multi-point games all season and never seemed to quite live up to that No. 1 center billing from a points perspective despite his strong faceoff numbers and defensive play.

But the Blues paid Stastny to be a top-notch center. Producing offense mattered, especially after coming off a 25-goal, 60-point season with the Avalanche in 71 games the previous season.

"You come into a new situation, it takes a little to get adjusted to and then whether it's coaching staff or players or just the new kind of system, organization, that takes a little bit but everyone always felt like that first year's going to be the toughest and that's true, especially with your first move," Stastny said. "Not just coming back here, but it was being in one spot the whole time. ... That first move is always the toughest. After that, you kind of know what to expect."

Stastny again got off to a good start this season with five points in five games but got hurt again. While blocking a shot Oct. 16 in Vancouver, he broke a bone in his foot and missed the next 16 games. But finding his niche with Brouwer and Fabbri has given the Blues a lethal line.

"I've got to tell you, it's really impressive the way Paul's playing right now," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who at times said last season the Blues "needed more" when it came to Stastny's production.

"I think when you're emotionally connected, you get the best from a player," Hitchcock added. "If he didn't get hurt earlier in the year, he could have had a great year offensively because his strength on the puck and his determination, it's a real good sign for us moving forward.

"His conscience on the ice and that line has been terrific. It's been effective offensively, it's been effective defensively. This is as well ... 'Stas' has really elevated his game to another level, which is really really good to see."

Stastny, who leads the Blues in points since the All-Star break (24 in 26 games), is putting in a complete body of work that's paying off.

"I think I'm comfortable, that's for sure," Stastny said. "You never want to be too comfortable, you're always pushing yourself to be better every day whether it's in practice or games or playing different roles. Some nights you're going to be looked upon to help and other nights it's not going your way but you've still got to be important defensively and special teams. I think that's where we've found our success, is no one on our team complains about anything. Different guys are put in different situations on nights. As long as the team's winning, everyone's happy.

"I think it's a mix of hard work and when things are going well, you're playing with confidence and everything seems to be a little easier, everything slows down a little bit. That first period yesterday wasn't good, our line wasn't well and sometimes you get frustrated and you can't let that bother you too much and you've got to worry about what you can do yourself. When you start looking at other people or things aren't working well, then it's only going to bring you down. To be the best I can be, you've got to try and be positive all the time, even when things aren't going well and be a good player all-around because we all rely on each other in this game. There's not too many individuals that can just do it all by themselves. When we're playing at our best is when we're all playing together."

Don't think for a second his teammates aren't noticing.

"His hockey sense is off the charts," goalie Jake Allen said. "He just makes people that he plays with so much better. They feed off that with energy and it helps him as well. He's a passer, he's a play-maker, and he can also finish. But he's a pass-first-type guy and before 'Fabs' got hurt there, that line was unbelievable for us for a long time. Hopefully he can get back soon and get that trio reunited. 'Stas' is the leader of that group and the other guys follow suit."

Stastny, who is third on the Blues in points behind Vladimir Tarasenko (67) and Alexander Steen (50), is first in assists with 36; he has 550 points (186 goals, 364 assists in 672 regular season games). All the stuff about leading the league with X-amount of points since March 9 and leading the team in points since the All-Star break is irrelevant. All that matters is the team success, and as long as he's chipping in his share, the 'W's will take care of themselves.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Paul Stastny (left) celebrates a goal with teammate Vladimir Tarasenko

earlier this season. Stastny has 16 points the past 11 games.

Oh, and he's still among the NHL leaders in faceoff percentage at 56.5 percent. Not only are the points piling up, but the all-around game is growing, too.

"I don't listen to those numbers; I don't care," Stastny said. "I've tried not to look at the big picture. Sometimes you get caught up in the big picture. You look at the whole season where ... it's tough sometimes. You're going to go through tough stretches, you're going to go through good stretches. I've gotten to the point now where I just focus on ... I looked at last game, and it was good. Now I focus on Colorado and what I can do to help myself out and my line; what can we do to help out the team because the last thing you want to do is have a bad game and think about it too long. I've gotten to the point where I enjoy each game, try and give it my all so I have nothing to complain about, nothing to think about when you're playing that next game and you have too many days in between. Easier said than done; it's not easy. Mentally it's tough, but you just try to look at that game and not look at the big picture."

(4-3-16) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Hitchcock tinkers with lines; injured skaters Fabbri, 

Bouwmeester, Gunnarsson, Ott skate; Brouwer OK; Allen to start Sunday

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- The Blues, on the heels of a 6-5 loss to the Boston Bruins at home Friday, had a little bit of a different look at practice on Saturday.

Alexander Steen was at left wing with Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz was skating with Patrik Berglund and David Backes, but coach Ken Hitchcock said it's a good possibility that Schwartz will play in Robby Fabbri's spot with Paul Stastny and Troy Brouwer and Dmitrij Jaskin will jump in with Backes and Berglund, perhaps leaving Magnus Paajarvi out Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche (7 p.m.; NBCSN, KMOX 1120-AM).

"We'll use somebody else tomorrow, whether it's 'Schwartzy' or whatever, we'll use somebody there," Hitchcock said of playing with Stastny and Brouwer, the line producing the most points lately. "We'll probably lean on 'Schwartzy' and probably put the big line back together with Berglund, Jaskin and Backes, we'll probably go back to that."

The lines Saturday were a bit different and Hitchcock said not to go of that 

"We're trying to get some tempo with some people and stuff like that and go from there," Hitchcock said.

* Fabbri, Bouwmeester, Gunnarsson, Ott all skate, getting closer -- The good news out of practice Saturday is that Fabbri, who missed Friday after sustaining a lower-body Tuesday against the Avalanche, skated with the team along with defensemen Jay Bouwmeester (upper body) and Carl Gunnarsson (lower body) and forward Steve Ott, who continues to recover from the hamstring tears he sustained Dec. 5.

"None are going to play in Colorado, but it's a good sign that they were able to participate right til the end," Hitchcock said. "It almost looked like tryouts, we had so many guys out on the ice, which was a real good sign."

Gunnarsson did travel to the game Sunday, so there's an outside chance he could play. 

As for Monday at home against Arizona, none have been ruled out.

"I don't know," Hitchcock said. "Until Ray (Barile) or those guys decide, it's kind of just status quo right now."

* Brouwer misses practice -- The Blues had 24 of their 25 skaters on the ice Saturday, and the only one to miss was Brouwer, who has been hot like his linemates with 11 points the past 11 games.

Brouwer will play Sunday.

"He's fine," Hitchcock said. "Day off."

* Allen to start Sunday -- Goalie Jake Allen, who came on in relief of Brian Elliott Friday and played the third period, will get the start against the fading Avalanche, who could be eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention with a regulation loss and Minnesota Wild win.

Brian Elliott did not make the trip to Denver to get the rest Sunday night instead of traveling home for a likely start against Arizona on Monday. Anders Nilsson, like he did last week at Washington, will be the backup for Allen on Sunday.

Elliott allowed five goals on 23 shots in the loss to the Bruins, but Allen took the loss for allowing the sixth goal, which was the game-winner.

"I think they capitalized on the opportunities they had," Elliott said of the Bruins. "It's the type of game where they're playing for their lives. We knew that. Obviously we scored first ad they came back. If I stop that breakaway, maybe it's a different game altogether. You're going to have types of games like that. It still ended up being a one-goal game and you have to hang your hat on that. Guys did a really good job responding and coming back in the third period.

"It's easy to get hung up on something like this at the end of the year, but you have to look at the whole body of work, not worry and don't panic, trust our game, trust our process of getting ready for the big dance."

Bruins best Blues in wild 6-5 affair

Uncharacteristic mismanaging of pucks, mistakes cost St. Louis 

chance to move into tie for first in division despite late comeback

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It was an out-of-character game of sorts for the Blues Friday against the desperate Boston Bruins.

The Blues have been so sound, especially defensively and managing the puck. And when mistakes were made, goalies Brian Elliott and Jake Allen were there to save the day.

Call it a blip on the radar; the Blues hope it's nothing more than that, but their quest for the Central Division title took a hit with a wild 6-5 loss to the Bruins before 19,202 at Scottrade on Friday.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues right wing Troy Brouwer (top) battles with Boston's 

John-Michael Liles for a loose puck Friday

Elliott, who came in 10-0-1 with a 1.41 goals-against average and .951 save percentage his past 12 starts, including 4-0-0 with a 0.25 GAA and .989 save percentage since returning from a knee injury, was pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots, and the Blues (46-23-9), who saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

Boston (41-29-8), in a fight for its playoff life, remained one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings for third place in the Atlantic Division after the Red Wings clipped the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Friday.

Boston, which was 1-6-0 the past seven games and scored only 10 goals, burst out in a big way and build a 2-1 lead after one, then scored three unanswered in the second to grab a 5-2 lead in the second period before the Blues came on and made it interesting to get to within one on two occasions.

Patrice Bergeron scored his 30th goal, Boston's second power-play goal, with 3:24 remaining to make it 6-4 on a shot from the slot. The Blues challenged goalie interference but the call on the ice stood.

Kevin Shattenkirk scored for St. Louis with 20.7 seconds left with a sixth attacker to make it 6-5. The game ended with the Blues on a power play.

"We weren't ready to go," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who coached in his 1,400th NHL game to tie Pat Quinn for seventh place all-time. "We weren't sharp, we weren't ready to go. It was really an extension of the third period of the last game here. We kind of backed off a little bit there and we weren't ready to go tonight. We got going a little bit at periods of time. We had a stretch in the second period where we were good. Obviously a big push in the third period when we scored the third goal, but we weren't sharp and even saying that, we scored five goals. Some of the goals were really good. They were hard-working goals, but we weren't sharp with the puck and we weren't really sharp in our defending, our communication."

David Krejci had two goals and two assists, Loui Eriksson and Matt Beleskey each had a goal and assist for the Bruins.

"You see Detroit won, we don’t want to wait until the last minute," said Bruins coach Claude Julien, who coached in his 700th game behind the Boston bench. "Hopefully this gets us back on track here. They are not easy games, but as I told the players before the game anybody in this League can win on any given night so why not us? Just go out there and play to win and we did just that." 

John-Michael Liles and Torey Krug each had two assists, and Tuukka Rask made 25 saves to win for the second time in six games.

"It was kind of nerve wracking at the end of the game but we got the job done and at this point of the season that’s all that matters," Krejci said. "Must win. I think we played with desperation and showed it tonight from the beginning." 

The Blues trail the Dallas Stars by two points and a tiebreaker for first place in the Central Division. Each team has four games left. 

Paul Stastny had a goal and assist for the Blues, David Backes and Troy Brouwer each had two assists and Elliott made 18 saves before being replaced at the start of the third period by Jake Allen, who made four, and took the loss.

After Stastny tied the game 2-2 at 5:39 of the second period, the Bruins scored three goals in an 8:23 span to take a 5-2 lead. 

Beleskey scored on a slap shot from the high slot, beating Elliott after Krejci won an offensive-zone faceoff from Jori Lehtera to make it 3-2 at 9:51. Frank Vatrano made it 4-2 at 15:27 when he scored from the slot off a Lee Stempniak feed, and Krejci used Eriksson as a screen to beat Elliott at 18:14 for a power-play goal to make it 5-2. Eriksson had an assist for his 500th NHL point. 

"We were a little bit sloppy in our own zone and in the neutral zone had a couple turnovers," said left wing Jaden Schwartz, who gave the Blues a 1-0 first-period lead. "They're a good team, a desperate team. They took advantage of some mistakes we made. We had a good push there in the third, got some good momentum and hopefully we can continue that the next few games.

"They're a desperate team, they were on us quick. They have some defensemen that can make some plays. They worked hard, but we've got to execute a little bit better."

The Blues made it 5-4 with goals from Robert Bortuzzo at 3:56 and Alex Pietrangelo at 7:38 of the third period.

"In the third, I thought we had our compete level rise a lot," Pietrangelo said. "We had some really good opportunities offensively and getting the puck out of our zone with some ease.

"Especially in the first two periods, especially in the first we should have raised our work ethic a bit. We knew they were going to come at us pretty hard. That's a desperate team."

The teams combined for three goals in 2:31 of the first period. 

Schwartz put the Blues up 1-0 when he converted Lehtera's saucer pass at 14:04, but Eriksson got behind Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson after a stretch pass from Liles and beat Elliott on a breakaway at 14:45 to tie it 1-1. Krejci put Boston up 2-1 at 16:35 when he got behind Edmundson and followed up a Beleskey slap shot. It was the first time since March 16 (six games) the Blues trailed in a game.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues players Magnus Paajarvi (56) and Paul Stastny celebrate a Stastny

goal as Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask looks on in disgust.

Boston's two goals came on three shots. During the Bruins' previous seven games, they scored 10 goals. 

Elliott is still unbeaten in regulation in his past 13 starts, and the players took full responsibility.

"In games like this when they let in a couple goals, it always kind of falls on our shoulders, and we know that," Stastny said. "We tell them that.

"These goalies will always blame themselves when it was just too many odd-man rushes, too many second looks. We can't rely on our goaltending that much. It’s not a recipe for success."

(4-1-16) Bruins-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Magnus Paajarvi, come on down.

Paajarvi is the next contestant on The Price is Right, or it's next-man-up time again for the Blues (46-22-9, 101 points), who will be without rookie left wing Robby Fabbri on Friday when they play host to the Boston Bruins (40-29-8) at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, KMOX 1120-AM).

Paajarvi, a healthy scratch the past five games, will move into the lineup with Fabbri, who has a lower-body injury, out of the lineup for at least one game, and perhaps more.

Paajarvi will step in and play alongside Paul Stastny and Troy Brouwer in what arguably has been the Blues' hottest line as they look for a sixth straight win.

"I'm trying to do my thing and hopefully the chemistry is going to be good," Paajarvi said. "It's unfortunate with 'Fabs.' I know it's not too danger of an injury so he'll be back soon. I want to do my thing and see where it goes. ... I have to focus on myself and hopefully bring something to the table and hopefully I can."

Coach Ken Hitchcock said Fabbri and injured defensemen Jay Bouwmeester (upper body) and Carl Gunnarsson (lower body) all skated before an optional. 

"All those guys skated this morning and if the beat writers would have gotten here a little earlier, they would have seen that," Hitchcock joked. "But everybody skated this morning and they were full-go. We'll just continue on the daily updates, but it was good to see everybody out there blasting away."

Paajarvi was picked over Dmitrij Jaskin, who Hitchcock said will play at some point against either Colorado on Sunday or Arizona on Monday.

"Just the speed and the quickness of this game, we anticipate a hard game with a lot of quickness in it," Hitchcock said of his choice. "We're looking at playing Jaskin on one or both of the games on the weekend, so he's going to get in also.

"I just look at (the Bruins') lineup. They've got so much quickness up front. You're going to have to be able to skate, you're going to have to cover a lot of ice. The transition play ... we were effective in Boston because we didn't allow them to get loose on transition. We want to guard against it. Also with the way Brouwer and Stastny play and the tempo that Fabbri (brings), Magnus is the closest player we've got to play with that tempo. He's hungry right now; he really wants a chance to play right now. I think we're going to get an 'A' game from him."

- - -

When Hitchcock opposes close friend Claude Julien of the Bruins, who are one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings for third place in the Atlantic Division,  he will be coaching his 1,400th NHL game and tie another close friend (Pat Quinn, who passed away in 2014) f or seventh on the all-time list.

"I didn't know that," Hitchcock said. "Because it's Pat, it means a lot. We were great friends. He really gave me my start when I was coaching junior; he let me coach in some training camp games for Vancouver, made a fool of myself. We had a lot of laughs from there right to the end; it means a lot."

Hitchcock's regular season record is 754-451-194, and he has a 76-72 playoff record. With the Blues, Hitchcock is 221-101-36 with a 10-17 playoff record.

- - -

The Blues are hoping to keep the Bruins down.

Boston, after starting March 5-0-2, is 1-6-0 in the past seven games and the Bruins have scored a grand total of 10 goals.

"If you turn down the volume, it looks like they should win," Hitchcock said of the Bruins. "My God, how do they not score in that game in New Jersey. They had five odd-man rushes in the first period. You start to think about being snake-bit. 

"We talked this morning, and competition's competition. They're good points for us, too. We need these points to keep pace with Dallas; home ice means the world. You've just got to believe, and the way his team's playing, they're hard to play against and they compete on the puck as good as anybody we've played against. The game we had in Boston was one of the best-played hockey games by two teams all year. We're expecting the same from them again. It's hard to believe when you play that well, you're not going to have success. Hopefully it isn't tonight, but they are doing a lot of things very well right now."

The Blues defeated the Bruins 2-0 on Dec. 22 at TD Garden, the only meeting of the season.

"It's respecting what they have on their side," Julien said of the Blues. "They've got good balance throughout their whole lineup. It's important that we  play a real tight game here, respect that part of their game. They're big, they're strong, they protect the puck well. We just want to make sure here that we're making some solid plays and then at the same time, we're minimizing the mistakes and the breakdowns."

The Blues, who trail the Stars by two points, have a game in hand.

"We play a pretty tough defensive team (tonight)," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "We have to know it's going to be a tight game and our team defense is going to have to be probably our best that it's been in the past five games because those guys can make you pay. They're a team that's going to be fighting, they're a desperate team right now. I think we're going to have to match that desperation and try to draw from it because I think that's when we play our best hockey when we play like that.

"I think this is kind of the best thing for us is to be in this race. In years past we've had a bit of a cushion. You see what's happening to Washington now. We know that feeling. When there's nothing in front of you to grab hold of it's tough to kind of fight for something. From our standpoint, we have a great battle going on with Dallas, just back and forth, win, win, win, I think it's forcing us to play our best hockey. Whatever happens at the end of it we'll see but right now it's forcing us to play our best hockey and I think that's something that's only going to be good for us going forward."

- - -

The Blues' 100-plus point season is their third in a row, and fourth under Hitchcock.

"This one feels different though," Hitchcock said. "This one feels like a lot of challenges and very much next-man-up team. All the words that come out, but this is a true team. We saw a lot of teams who just couldn't handle absorbing the injuries that they did to key guys. We went the other way. Guys adapted in a great way, we changed the way we played and had to adapt. Guys bought in and bought in quick. When we went through that stretch in December and January and we had to get points when we were scoring one goal, two goals, that's what really changed our season because it could have been like some of the teams that are out now, we could have been in the same boat."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Jaden Schwartz-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko

Patrik Berglund-Alexander Steen-David Backes

Magnus Paajarvi-Paul Stastny-Troy Brouwer

Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Ryan Reaves

Joel Edmundson-Alex Pietrangelo

Kevin Shattenkirk-Colton Parayko

Petteri Lindbohm-Robert Bortuzzo

Brian Elliott will start in goal. Jake Allen will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Dmitrij Jaskin and Anders Nilsson. Jay Bouwmeester (upper body), Carl Gunnarsson (lower body), Robby Fabbri (lower body) and Steve Ott (hamstrings) are out.

- - -

The Bruins' projected lineup:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson

Matt Beleskey-David Krejci-David Pasternak

Frank Vatrano-Ryan Spooner-Lee Stempniak

Landon Ferraro-Noel Acciari-Jimmy Hayes

Zdeno Chara-John-Michael Liles

Joe Morrow-Kevan Miller

Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask will start in goal. Jonas Gustavsson will be the backup. 

Tyler Randell, Zach Trotman and Seth Griffith are expected to be healthy scratches. Brett Connolly (undisclosed) and Dennis Seidenberg (undisclosed) are out with injuries.