Blues embarrassed on home ice again in 6-1 loss to Canucks

Another perplexing result following a win against a strong foe has 

players frustrated, flummoxed; home ice issues a serious concern

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Where does one begin?

Same place as many other disjointed Blues losses this season? Well, there have been plenty of those.

For the sixth time (SIXTH!), the Blues allowed five or more goals on home ice, and this was just the 16th game (it happened only four times all of last season), and it happened again in embarrassing fashion following another victory against one of the NHL's elites in a 6-1 loss to the lowly Vancouver Canucks on Sunday before 16,841 fans at Enterprise Center that again left disgusted and angry.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom makes a save on the Blues' Robert Thomas

Sunday in Vancouver's 6-1 win at Enterprise Center.

The boos that reigned down from the plush new seats of the mezzanine level filtered down to ice level were hard to miss. But for Blues players, they've become a common occurrence this season. It's brutal, and the fans have been given more than enough reasons to voice their displeasure.

"They come to see us play, and pay to see us play, and that's multiple times where we've put out poor performances on home ice," said Blues center Brayden Schenn, who was visibly upset answering questions. "It's obviously unacceptable and we've got to find ways to not only win hockey games but make this a tough place to play. A proud place to play in front of our fans."

The Blues have some of the more passionate fans in the NHL and back the team 100 percent or more when they play hard, compete and five an all-out effort.

But a roster that's carrying $80-plus million paying players that have grossly underachieved seem to come up with the same answers after every dysfunctional loss such as this one. The common ones are "we weren't prepared, we didn't play hard enough, we took our foot off the gas."

Forward Vladimir Tarasenko has been down this path before, and did so again apologizing to those paying their hard-earned money and attending this clown show.

"There is no consistency in our game. I apologize to all our fans," Tarasenko said. "We can't play at home like this. It's unacceptable. I don't know how to like fix it. We work on it, but it doesn't work for now. We have a really hard game and then the next day, we just blow up like this. Like, I don't know."

That really hard game was Friday, at Winnipeg of all places, and the Blues go into MTS Place and shut out the Jets. Granted it was only 1-0 because of great goaltending from Jake Allen and a semblance of a structured defense, but it was there. And it's been there in the past. Like in Toronto, a 4-1 win, and against San Jose, a 4-0 win, or even obliterating Nashville here the day after Thanksgiving 6-2. But then there are the stinkers, no ... bomb-outs. Patrik Laine of the Jets can attest to that when he came in here 24 hours after that Nashville win and scored five times pitching a tent in the Blues' zone on the majority of those. 

And then there was rookie phenom Elias Pettersson, who recorded five points and Brock Boeser was the beneficiary of three of those points with his second NHL hat trick.

Young players are making it a habit of putting up career numbers against the Blues, and the home fans are the unfortunate ones of having to witness these milestones at the expense of those they're paying to watch.

"We stop playing," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "Saying that, we gave up eight scoring chances in the game and six goals against. There are a lot of areas that have to be better tonight, for sure.

"We've got to be mentally tougher than that tonight, to let a bad bounce effect us like it did."

That bad bounce Berube was referring to was the first Canucks goal, scored by Boeser, which came after a Jay Bouwmeester giveaway to Pettersson, who fed Boeser in the slot. Boeser's shot was high off the glass, but it caromed back off Allen's skate and into the net 2:31 into the game.

"They scored that first goal there, where it goes off Jake. I thought before that we had a decent start to the game," Schenn said. "They get one lucky goal and we just shut it down."

How? How does a team just shut down that early in the game, and it's only 1-0?

"We're a fragile group," Schenn said.

Therein lies the problem, and that's the mountain that the Blues have to climb over, but at 10-14-4, it's going to feel like trying to get over Mount Everest.

"Right now we’re not committed enough to what we want to accomplish," Blues forward Alexander Steen said. "You know, tonight was a couple of unlucky bounces and it completely changed the competitiveness of the game."

And how does one get committed then?

"We’ve got to work at it everyday," Steen said. "Everyday is a new opportunity and we’re not taking those opportunities right now."

When told of Steen's comments of the lack of day to day commitment, Schenn's response was terse.

"That's a question for him, I don't know," Schenn said. "I don't know. Maybe he can have the answer to that."

Some tension there? Most definitely, and when results like this continue to become common, despite the important pieces missing in the lineup (Alex Pietrangelo, Jaden Schwartz, Robby Fabbri and Carl Gunnarsson and Berube scratched David Perron today for what he called overall play and too many penalties and to send a message to the rest of the veterans that they'll be held accountable), there's going to be the friction and tension. Apparently, benching Perron didn't solve anything, at least for the guys on the ice. Maybe Perron got the message; we'll see moving forward.

"That's certainly why we're where we're at and why we show inconsistency like we do," Berube said. "[Steen's] dead right."

But when asked about the veteran play, Berube was to the point.

"Very disappointed," he said. "Not even close."

Does the coach begin to hold more veterans accountable and even take their minutes away? Perhaps.

"We can do that," Berube said. "There's different ways. That's an in-house thing anyhow, right?"

The chance to get back in this game was on the table when the Blues were given a four-minute power-play at 8:15 of the first down a goal when Eric Gudbranson high-sticked Steen.

But the power-play looked lifeless with little zone time and only two harmless shots. Pettersson scored 31 seconds after the Blues power-play ended and that was that.

"We were awful," Schenn said of the power play. "Two shots on goal I think we had and they had six breakouts. So obviously, we need to score there or at least create momentum."

Allen, who has been sharp the past 10 games with a 1.79 goals-against average and .939 save percentage, was pulled given the mercy pull after Boeser's second of the game at 14:06 making it 3-0. He allowed three goals on six shots and was pulled in favor of Chad Johnson, who allowed three goals on 15 shots.

"It's got to be better," Berube said of the goaltending. "Just like our other players have to be better too. We get a four-minute power play and nothing happens, especially early in the game like that, we have to make something happen there and that's our best players on the ice."

Telling was that the Blues called up Jordan Binnington from San Antonio and assigned Sammy Blais to the Rampage. Neither Allen nor Johnson appeared injured, so what does this mean? Time will tell, but there's the sense management and the coaching staff wants to see better goaltending somewhere.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues center Ryan O'Reilly (90) looks to get a shot off Sunday against the

Vancouver Canucks and Jay Beagle (83). The Canucks won 6-1.

The Blues fell to 6-8-1 at home, and in those six games where they've allowed five goals or more, they've been outscored 36-15, and what's worse, the Blues have been outscored 24-6 in losses following a win.

"We work on it, but it doesn't work," Tarasenko said. "It feels weird and we all feel bad that we're here, especially playing like this at home.

"There is no excuses to us. It's easy to find any excuse right now, but like I said, we can't play like this, especially at home. This was always a hard building to play (in). We need to get it back somehow."

Those were days long ago. Now, the Blues' barn has become a welcome wagon for the strong getting stronger, or those looking to cure their ails.


"We're going to keep drilling in their heads, so you guys can keep asking me and asking me and asking me, I'm going to tell you the same thing: We're going at it, we're going to keep pounding it in their heads until they get it. That's it," Berube said.

(12-9-18) Canucks-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It's happened before, multiples times as a matter of fact, when the Blues have teased their fan base this season with statement wins, only to follow them up with head-scratching losses.

The Blues (10-13-4) will get another opportunity today when they host the Vancouver Canucks (12-16-2), who have lost 12 of 14 (2-10-2), at 2 p.m. (FS-MW, KMOX 1120-AM).

The Blues are coming off a solid 1-0 win at Winnipeg on Friday, highlighted by Jake Allen's 26-save effort for his 17th NHL shutout -- all with the Blues -- which puts him in sole possession of third on the franchise all-time list past Glenn Hall. 

But this isn't the first time the Blues have been down this road. 

A 5-3 win against Calgary on Oct. 11 was followed up by a 4-3 overtime loss at Chicago two nights later. A solid road win, 4-1 at Toronto on Oct. 20, was followed up with a 5-4 loss at Winnipeg two nights later when the Blues coughed up a 3-1 lead entering the third period. A 5-3 win on home ice over Vegas on Nov. 1 was followed up by a poor 5-1 loss to Minnesota two nights later. A solid 4-0 shutout win over San Jose on Nov. 9 was followed up again with a 3-2 loss to the Wild two days later against a team playing its third game in three and a half days. Another win over Vegas, 4-1 on the road on Nov. 16, was followed up 24 hours later with another lackluster performance loss, 4-0 at San Jose. The most impressive win, 6-2 at home against Nashville the day after Thanksgiving was followed up 24 hours later with another thud, 8-4 at home against the Jets with Patrik Laine carving up the Blues for five goals. A 3-2 overtime win at Colorado Nov. 30 was followed up yet again with what looked like a disinterested group the following night in a 6-1 loss at Arizona.

Sounds like a broken record, right? Well, it sure feels like it, and it has been a sore spot.

"It has been," said Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, who scored the lone goal Friday. "I think it's been a little bit of a trend for sure. It's one of those things where you want to learn obviously. We've had too many of these. We have to understand that yes, we're good enough to beat the top of the league, but we also have to be good enough to beat the other guys that might not necessarily be at the top of the standings. You've got to play a full game in this league to win. You can't play a good team and play really well and then kind of bring your game down a bit to necessarily match the other team. Everyone's good in this league and everyone can make things happen. I think you've got to bring your best game every night and just be consistent with it. That's going to change a lot of things. We've just got to be good tomorrow. Don't look at last game and how the next game is going to go. Just focus on the next game coming at us, whoever the opponent is. Worry about what we can control."

So how do the Blues follow up this performance from Friday?

"We have to get back and win a game," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly said. "... If it wasn't for 'Jakey' that last game, it could have been very different. We have to regroup. It's nice to come in in the morning and you got a good win. A lot of guys contributed, but it's back to work with a good team coming in. They've got some good players and we have to make a statement and throw another one together here. It has been an issue for us, having that consistency and following a game up well. It's a big opportunity for us here. We need to establish our game."

The Blues have to figure out why they haven't been able to sustain winning streaks. They've only had two two-game winning streaks, thus the reason they're under .500 and only have 10 wins through 27 games. So what will it take?

"I think it's preparation and knowing that it's going to be work," O'Reilly said. "You can see we do win a game. A lot of times the focus going into it, we know exactly what the little details of that opponent going into it and we're aware of. It's nice with a 2 o'clock game, we do have a few meetings [Saturday], have an insight into them. That gets us in the mindset of, 'OK, let's go get another game to worry about.' 

"We feel confident. We got a win, but still, we have to respond with a really good game."

Blues interim coach Craig Berube said "it's a process. We've got to come out and have the same mindset. You've got to come out and you've got to play hard, compete hard and do things right."

- - -

Blues forward David Perron was skating with extra forwards on Saturday, and will be a healthy scratch Sunday. 

Perron has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 27 games but has had a rash of penalties in games recently that has the coaches wanting him to take a step back and reassert himself.

"Just his play recently, some penalties, some stuff like that," Berube said.

Perron has at least a penalty in five of the past eight games and he took a holding penalty in the third period against the Jets that had the coaches visibly upset.

That conversation between a coach and a veteran player can he a tough one but necessary at times.

"It's tough, we need more, we need better, he knows that," Berube said. "It's tough, but it's part of the game. We need guys to play better."

Perron was skating with Sammy Blais and the injured Jaden Schwartz. Jordan Kyrou stepped into Perron's spot on the line with O'Reilly and Zach Sanford.


"We'll get him in here," Berube said of Kyrou, who has one assist in 10 games in his rookie season.

- - -

Allen is expected to get the nod in goal again after his 26-save performance Friday. 

The start of the season didn't provide the kind of numbers that jump out, but in his past nine starts, Allen has stopped 245 out of 261 shots, good for a 1.78 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

Allen has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of those nine starts.

"He's been playing outstanding," O'Reilly said. "He's confident back there. He's making saves at key times. For us, we want to limit those as much as possible. We have to be better in front of him, but when he does make those huge saves, you want to play harder for that guy."

- - -

Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo arguably played his best game as a Blue when he played 21 minutes 4 seconds, the most he's played since he played 21:39 on Jan. 21, 2015 against Chicago.

Bortuzzo blocked four shots, including a one-timer from Laine on the penalty kill and set the tone early when he played Laine hard early in the first period.

"He defends hard, he's got good sticks," Berube said. "He's aggressive, blocks shots and he plays a hard game. He's played a lot of good games, but he played a real good game last night.

"He's an in-your-face player and I thought that Jordan Nolan's hit (on Laine) early on in the game was good. To me, it was a bad call. That's a good hit."

- - -

The Blues have won five in a row against the Canucks and are 8-0-1 against them the past nine games.

Blues penalty killing has been exceptional against Vancouver, killing off 31 of the past 32 attempts.

Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games against the Canucks.

Allen is 6-0-2 with a 2.24 GAA and .913 save percentage in his past eight games against the Canucks.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-Jordan Kyrou

Alexander Steen-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko

Pat Maroon-Tyler Bozak-Robert Thomas

Jordan Nolan-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Joel Edmundson-Colton Parayko

Jay Bouwmeester-Robert Bortuzzo

Vince Dunn-Chris Butler

Jake Allen will start in goal; Chad Johnson will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include David Perron, Jordan Schmaltz and Sammy Blais. Jaden Schwartz (hand), Alex Pietrangelo (hand/wrist), Robby Fabbri (shoulder), Carl Gunnarsson (wrist) are all out.

- - -

The Canucks' projected lineup:

Nikolay Goldobin-Bo Horvat-Jake Virtanen

Josh Leivo-Elias Pettersson-Brock Boeser

Antoine Roussel-Adam Gaudette-Loui Eriksson

Markus Granlund-Jay Beagle-Tyler Motte

Alexander Edler-Christopher Tanev

Ben Hutton-Erik Gudbranson

Derrick Pouliot-Troy Stecher

Jacob Markstrom will start in goal; Anders Nilsson will be the backup.

Healthy scratches are expected to be Tim Schaller, Michael Del Zotto and Alex Biega. Brandon Sutter (shoulder) and Sven Baertschi (concussion) are out.

Blues lose lead late, game in shootout to Oilers 3-2

Another 2-0 lead lost in blown point, including goal scored against 

in final minute; poor call against in second cost St. Louis crucial goal

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Where has this script been written before?

Oh yeah, here. 

Stop if you've heard this before: Blues open the game looking like world beaters, Blues gain lead, Blues sit back on lead, lead disappears, victory disappears.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Jake Allen (left) had another solid game, stopping 34 of 36 shots but it came

in a 3-2 shootout loss to Edmonton on Wednesday.

There have been disjointed losses, for sure, but welcome to the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues, who built up another two-goal lead in a game, only to see it slip away with a goal against in the final minute and the goalie pulled, which led to an eventual 3-2 loss in a shootout to Ken Hitchcock's Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday at Enterprise Center.

The Blues (9-13-4), were dominant in the opening 20 minutes, they outshot the Oilers (14-12-2) 15-5 and got goals from Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn. 

But ... somehow, someway, the mindset becomes: sit back, hang on, hold on tight, and don't slip.

That hasn't worked in ... ever. And Edmonton came out and poured 17 shots in the second period on Jake Allen, who was terrific in making 34 saves through regulation and in overtime, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got a second-period goal before Oscar Klefbom tied the game with 55.2 seconds left in regulation.

"It happens when you sit back and play defense as soon as you get the lead," Schenn said. "We sat back as soon as we were up 2-0 the whole night, let them come at us and eventually, they're going to tie the game, which they did."

Who does this happen? How has this become an epidemic in this room and players consistently admit to it in postgame interviews?

"I'm not sure," Schenn said.

Blues interim coach Craig Berube summed it up.

"It's just the mindset," Berube said. "We're a fragile group I guess and guys are trying to hang on to a lead instead of making it 3-0. That's got to be more of our mindset. We should have come out in that second period and pushed the pace right away on them and tried to make it 3-0."

But there may be a bit of defense for the Blues in this one. Not that they're absolved of blame for allowing the Oilers back into the game and actually sitting back, but this was not a particularly good night for officials Justin St. Pierre and Chris Rooney, especially St. Pierre.

St. Pierre egregiously blew a call 6 minutes 55 seconds into the second period when the Blues should have had a goal off the stick of Zach Sanford that would have made it a 3-1 game.

Sanford scored from the slot after Oilers goalie Cam Talbot was knocked to the ice by Vladimir Tarasenko, but Tarasenko, who was at the top of the blue paint trying to cut through the crease, got help from Oilers defenseman Matt Benning, who turned, saw Tarasenko coming, threw an elbow and shoulder into Tarasenko causing the goalie contact.

But St. Pierre, with a clear view from the right corner, instead blew the whistle, waved off the goal and called Tarasenko for goaltender interference, sending the 16,551 in attendance into a delirium towards the officials, who didn't get any better as the game went on.

Berube wanted to challenge the call, but it's a non-reviewable play since there was no goal to be reviewed once the penalty was called and Sanford touched the puck.

"The ref had his arm up for a penalty on Vladi, interference with the goalie, so when Sanford shot the puck in they blew the whistle," Berube said. "And you can't challenge that, obviously, so nothing we can do.

Berube got an explanation from Rooney, not St. Pierre, and wanted to have his say after seeing the replay.

"Yeah, he was pushed," Berube said, who obviously let both officials know it.

And the explanation Berube got?

"Nothing," he said. "They're not going to say anything. They made the call, they can't reverse it. It is a big swing. But …"

The "but" is the Blues had other opportunities to cash in, but Talbot, who made 28 saves, was solid. He made saves on Ryan O'Reilly twice breaking in alone and one in particular on Sanford late in the game with the Blues trying to make it a 3-1 game. Oskar Sundqvist, who set up Barbashev for the first goal, had one in the slot staring at an empty cage go wide of the net on a backhand.

"I tried to go same spot I went earlier on him," Sanford said of his chance on Talbot. "I beat him earlier under the arm. It just trickled out the wrong way."

What was troublesome is that the Blues once again failed to properly defend a 6-on-5. When Edmonton gained the zone, the Blues lost the puck battle too easily. Then as the Oilers got the puck to the point for Klembom's one-timer, the Blues had five guys sucked in too deep, and the shot got through a screen past Allen. Tarasenko shied away from a shot block.

"We've got to block that shot, that's the biggest thing," Berube said. "We've got to block that shot. Yeah.

"[Tarasenko] could be out further, he could get out there a little quicker and get in the shooting lane and do a better job there, for sure."

Allen had no chance with all the layers of bodies in front of him, but felt he could have gotten a better read.

"I saw the big windup, I knew he was going far side so I tried to push over there," Allen said. "I just didn't get a good enough read on it. I should have tried to get a better read on it."

The Blues were able to kill off a Schenn penalty in overtime and do a good job there, but in the shootout, after Tyler Bozak scored, Allen couldn't stop Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid, and Talbot was able to make saves on Tarasenko and Schenn.

Another game, another lost point. It's the fourth time the Blues did not win when taking a 2-0 lead. They lost 5-4 in overtime Oct. 6 here against Chicago, lost 5-4 in overtime at Winnipeg on Oct. 22, lost 7-4 against Columbus here on Oct. 25 and on Wednesday. 

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Brayden Schenn (left), David Perron (center) and Jordan Kyrou (33) all

celebrate Schenn's goal in the first period Wednesday against Edmonton.

"The game never should have gotten to overtime. It's unfortunate it did," Allen said. "Again, we did a great job in overtime to battle to kill that one off. The PP, the 4-on-3, some good looks, big blocks there. It shouldn't have gotten to overtime. We had a good first period, we have to keep up the effort up a little more."

"We got caught in a three-quarter ice game there, just stopped making plays," Berube said. "When you stop making plays, you get the puck out, they just pound it back in and they're coming at us. That's their game too so we fed into them in the second.

"... I thought the third was not bad. I thought it was a pretty good period. We had some opportunities to close that game out. We didn't finish. ... We'll look at the film and talk about it and go over it again and keep banging away at it."

(12-5-18) Oilers-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Craig Berube will mix up his forward lines when the Blues (9-13-3) host the Edmonton Oilers (13-12-2) at 7 p.m. (NBCSN, KMOX 1120-AM).

The Blues, 1-3-0 their past four games and 2-6-0 the past eight, will see rookies Robert Thomas and Zach Sanford get a crack at playing with Ryan O'Reilly on the top line, Jordan Kyrou, recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Monday, will get on a line with David Perron and Brayden Schenn and Berube will give Tyler Bozak a crack with Vladimir Tarasenko.

"Sanford and O'Reilly have played together before and have had good success," Berube said. "Gotta good playmaker there with them (in) Robby Thomas. Speed on Schenn and Perron (line). They've been playing quite a bit, just put some speed there with Kyrou, and Vladi with Bozak and [Pat] Maroon. Bozie's a good rush player, get some shots off the rush for Vladi and big Patty Maroon going around the net, being around the net."

Some have scoffed that Tarasenko, who has scored in three of the past four games, is getting dropped to Bozak's line, but Berube said it's an effort of getting him with a center with a pass-first mentality.

"He's scored some goals the last few games, not last game obviously but before that it was three in a row," Berube said of Tarasenko. "I think he's on the right track here. He's getting good looks. He's just got to keep getting those good looks and he's got to keep shooting. The worst thing that can happen is he starts aiming the puck. The key is just to get the shot off quick, don't aim it, just shoot it and it will go in.

"Last year, [Bozak] was on a line with [James] van Riemsdyk and [Mitch] Marner (in Toronto) a lot of the time. They were a good rush line. He's a good rush player."

Bozak, who has no points the past eight games and one assist the past 11 after eight points (two goals, six assists) the previous six, is looking forward to the opportunity.

"Just create space for him, get him the puck in good areas to shoot with a guy like that," Bozak said. "I've played with [Phil] Kessel for quite a few years. Pretty similar with different kind of hands but just the way they shoot the puck, they both can really score from anywhere on the ice. They're so good at getting open, I think whoever we're with -- I think it's Patty -- if it's that tomorrow, we'll try and create as much space and time for him and get him the puck as much as we can and in positions to shoot.

"We've personally got to produce more offensively. Maybe trying to spark that putting me with a guy like Vladi. Hopefully that does that. You've just got to find chemistry with guys, I think. The games we've been losing, I don't think chemistry's really been there with some lines. We're just kind of changing it up and hopefully it works out."

Bozak is adjusting to life of juggling linemates, something he's not used to after a steady stream of playing with van Riemsdyk in the past and Alexander Steen here this season.

"I'm not really used to it," Bozak said. "I've stuck with the same guys for quite a long time. I've played with JVR for probably seven years straight. We got to know each other. I thought me and 'Steener' were working well together, finding some chemistry and then some injuries happen and things switch. Sometimes it takes a little time to find chemistry. Sometimes you just don't have it with certain guys. It's been a work in progress, but hopefully we'll find something here and get on a little roll."

But make no mistake about it. Bozak will defer to Tarasenko when it comes to shooting pucks.

"I'll be telling him to shoot it as much as he can," Bozak said. "That was the same with Kessel honestly. He always wanted to pass the puck. I don't know, I always say if I had a shot like theirs, I'd be shooting it every time I have the chance. He's a very unselfish player and wants to pass it whenever he can, but I'm going to try to get into his head to shoot it every time."

- - - 

Jordan Nolan will make his Blues debut tonight.

Along with Kyrou and Chris Butler, Nolan was also recalled on Monday after the Blues were hit with the injury bug even deeper with the losses of Alex Pietrangelo (hand), Robby Fabbri (shoulder) and Steen (concussion) to go with Jaden Schwartz (hand) and Carl Gunnarsson (upper body).

Nolan was leading the Rampage in points with 15 (seven goals, eight assists) in 24 games.

Nolan was signed to a one-year, two-way contract in the offseason after spending last season with the Buffalo Sabres.

"It's been great. It's been a lot of fun," Nolan said. "When you get sent down, you're not sure what the situation will be. It's been seven years since I've played down there. To get sent down is a little disappointing and your ego takes a little bit of a hit. But we've got a good group of young guys and older guys. Just kind of learned to accept being down there and if I wanted to get back here, I needed to play hard and earn my way back up. I feel like I've been playing well and I earned a shot back up here.

"I was really enjoying my time down there. You're playing a lot and you're getting an opportunity. You're playing power play, playing penalty kill. But this was the main goal to get back here and I feel like I belong in this league. To have St. Louis call and rewarding me with this is pretty special. I'm excited to hopefully wear this uniform. ... I hope to come here and bring some energy. It's not easy to turn it around. It takes a lot of hard work and you have to realize what your role is."

Nolan will slot in on the fourth line with Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist.

"I'm not sure it was a scoring role, but he was producing," Berube said of Nolan. "He's a pretty simple player, north-south player. He did score some goals down there. He just goes up and down his wing. Pretty predictable player. We need predictability. I like the size. He gets there and makes contact."

- - -

Blues defensemen Jay Bouwmeester has been the subject of criticism for his play to begin this season, and in many ways, it's been justified. But Bouwmeester, who is coming off of offseason surgery to his left hip, by his own admission said it hasn't been the greatest start to a season for him but has been feeling better and getting back to himself as of late.

Bouwmeester, who has three assists in 21 games and has the second-worst plus-minus on the team at minus-10, has played better of late and admits the hip is finally starting to feel good again.

"I feel the last number of games, I've felt a lot better," Bouwmeester said. "Skating a lot better. I'm not going to lie, at the start of the year, I didn't feel very good. I didn't know what it was going to get back to, to be quite honest. I'd say the last couple of weeks maybe, you turn the corner. I just feel better.

"Before, it was to a point where I could play but it certainly wasn't comfortable with everything, moving the way you normally would, but I think we're past that. There's still a little ways to go, but now everything is ... the worst of it's probably behind you. There's still little things, but it's not like that's really affecting me as much as it was."

Bouwmeester's 23 minutes 22 seconds time on ice Saturday was his second-longest of the season behind his 23:59 played in a 4-3 overtime loss at Chicago on Oct. 13.

"He's definitely coming around," Berube said. "He's moving a lot better out there. We all know 'Bouw'. His game is skating. He was a great skater for years, he's starting to get that stride back so his game's coming around."

Bouwmeester, who will play in his 1,128th NHL game tonight, was also candid on how the Blues can get back on the rails despite missing some key players.

"Where do you start? You start with your next game," Bouwmeester said. "That's the way the world works. It's not going to stop for anybody. Everybody knows that. We've got some guys hurt, there's always guys hurt (on) every team. You go up and down the league, you're going to have injuries. It's the same old story, an opportunity for other guys and chances for guys to step up and fill those holes. ... You take it a day at a time and you don't look too far down the road."

And it starts with a belief in the room.

"Yeah, there better be because you're past a quarter of a year, you've got three quarters left," Bouwmeester said. "I think our focus now is we just have to dumb it down. Just shorten your focus a little. Just look at it as what's in front of you, what game you have to win and to approach. Don't look at the big picture because if you look at that, then it doesn't look pretty. I think everyone realizes that. If we're going to claw back into it, then that's what we're going to do. We're not going to gain 10 points overnight. We're going to have to put a real solid stretch here. We have a lot of games against teams in our division. We haven't played a few teams. Those games become much more important, but tomorrow's the most important one."

- - -

Ken Hitchcock's reunion tour commences here tonight, another of his former stomping grounds. 

Hitchcock, who was hired by the Oilers to replace Todd McLellan one day after the Blues fired coach Mike Yeo, returned here last season when he coached the Dallas Stars for the second time in his career. 

Hitchcock coached the Blues from 2011-2017 and now gets to put his hands on the career of Connor McDavid but still has emotional ties with the Blues, who he coached for 413 regular-season games and was 248-124-41 with two Central Division titles and five playoff appearances, including a trip to the Western Conference Final in 2016 where they lost to San Jose in six games. 

"What went on here for six years, there's still a lot of players left over from when I was here in St. Louis and I'm proud of that too because we built something pretty special and you're proud of that," Hitchcock said. "You want to get the two points (tonight), but it's a stranger feeling for me as a coach because there's a real emotional connection to probably seven or eight players here with St. Louis that we were very close (with). That probably is the most confusing part to me because of the respect that both sides have for each other."

- - -

Steen, Schwartz and Gunnarsson all took part in the morning skate but are getting closer.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-Robert Thomas

David Perron-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Pat Maroon-Tyler Bozak-Vladimir Tarasenko

Jordan Nolan-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Joel Edmundson-Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn-Robert Bortuzzo

Jay Bouwmeester-Chris Butler

Jake Allen will start in goal; Chad Johnson will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Jordan Schmaltz and Sammy Blais. Jaden Schwartz (hand), Alex Pietrangelo (hand), Alexander Steen (concussion), Robby Fabbri (shoulder) and Carl Gunnarsson (upper body) are all out.

- - -

The Oilers' projected lineup:

Leon Draisaitl-Connor McDavid-Alex Chiasson 

Jujhar Khaira-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Jesse Puljujarvi

Milan Lucic-Kyle Brodziak-Zack Kassian

Patrick Russell-Ryan Spooner-Ty Rattie

Oscar Klefbom-Adam Larsson

Darnell Nurse-Kris Russell

Kevin Gravel-Matt Benning

Cam Talbot will start in goal; Mikko Koskinen will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Jason Garrison, Chris Wideman and Valentin Zykov. Drake Caggiula (hand), Andrej Sekera (Achilles) and Tobias Rieder (upper body) are all out.

(12-4-18) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Allen understands Maroon's frustration; Blais apologetic for stick 

infraction; no supplemental discipline for Johnson; Fabbri has no luck

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Another bad loss for the Blues Saturday, 6-1 at Arizona, on the heels of a strong 3-2 overtime win at Colorado brought out the yo-yo effect for the first quarter of the season.

And Blues forward Pat Maroon, being interviewed by Fox Sports Midwest's John Kelly and Bernie Federko after the loss, was very candid in speaking to the state of the team after the game: "We left our teammates out to dry, we're not playing for each other right now," Maroon said. "We're a one-hit wonder. We play an excellent game and then we come back and play a god-awful game."

This is the Blues in a nutshell, and as the days go by and games get fewer and fewer, and with the Blues (9-13-3, 21 points) sitting tied for last in the NHL and Western Conference with the Los Angeles Kings, some raw emotion was finally on display, and it comes as no surprise from others in the room.

"I'm sure there's frustration," Blues goalie Jake Allen said. "That was a bad game for everyone in general. I had to sit there and watch it unfortunately. It was tough to watch. We definitely didn't bring our 'A' game. There's definitely some frustration in that as well. 

"I definitely think you can say that at times (that) we haven't been playing for each other. We haven't been playing good enough individually, take enough pride in yourself and the Bluenote, everything (on) all of the above ... there's not a whole lot to say anymore. We've been struggling for answers, but we've just got to find a way to win."

Every time the Blues seem poised to make a move following a good, solid win against a formidable opponent at the top of the standings, they take two steps back losing to a lesser, weaker opponent. And not only lose, but get blown off the ice doing so to go along with their 1-5-3 record in one-goal games.

But here they are, answering the season-old questions of why they're losing and in the fashion in which way they're doing so.

"No, you wish obviously not, but we are," said Allen, who's actually put up solid numbers in his past and allowed two or fewer goals in six of his past eight starts. "It's unfortunate to be honest. It can't happen anymore. We've said everything you can possibly say in the world. I don't even know what to say anymore to be honest. We've just got to win hockey games. 

"We've got to go back to the Colorado game as a reference and realize how hard it actually is to win in this league now, especially against really good teams. We've got two really good teams this week (Edmonton at home Wednesday and at Winnipeg on Friday) and then carry over to next week and a young team like Vancouver (on Sunday). I think we've just got to go back to that point. Everyone paid a price in that game. I think guys came out of that game sore and tired, but that's the way you've got to win in this league and we can really use that as a reference."

By the time the Blues hit the halfway mark to the season after their January home date with Dallas, the Blues will have played 11 of their next 16 games at Enterprise Center, where they really need to make some headlines if they are to even be in the conversation of getting back into the playoff race.

"What are we, 24-25 games in now? Obviously not the results from top to bottom," Blues center Brayden Schenn said. "We're in a situation now where we have to dig in deeper, find ways to win hockey games. Start with one. 

"Again, we've got to find a way to put a streak together. We like what we did in Colorado, came back and gave another tough performance. Let's start with one here against Edmonton and let's build a streak."

But one has to wonder: is this Blues team the one that can go on the road and win at Toronto, Vegas and Colorado and beat Nashville, San Jose and Calgary soundly on home ice or the one that got embarrassed like it did at Arizona and in home losses to WInnipeg and Columbus?

"Yeah, it's easy to say obviously," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. "It's one of those things where we've had definitely a lot of really good hockey games throughout the season and we've beat some good teams. Obviously we are a really good team. It's just one of those things where we've got to put in a full 60 each and every night. It's hard to win in this league of you aren't playing a full 60 and if you're not bringing the full game each night. We've got to make sure that we bring a full 60 each night and just give our best. Even if you give your best, you're not going to win 82, but you're going to definitely give yourself a good chance and set yourself up for a good spot."

* Blais apologetic for stick infraction -- Blues winger Sammy Blais saw the post, and as gruesome as Michael Grabner's eye was, it even made Blais cringe at the sight of a serious eye injury.

"I saw the replay after the game and it's just bad luck," Blais said. "I got hooked and then the guy lifted my stick right in his eye."

Blais was in a tight board battle with Arizona's Brad Richardson, when the next thing you know, Blais' stick catches Grabner, coming in to win a puck battle, underneath his visor and directly clipping his right eye.

Grabner, who immediately went down to the ice grabbing his face, was taken off with a towel on his face from the bleeding and taken to an area hospital. He posted on his Instagram account Sunday the aftermath.

"The guy [Richardson] lifted my stick, so it's not really my fault," Blais said. "It was a bad luck play. I texted him and he was doing better so hopefully he'll be back on the ice.

"I knew my stick had touched something but I didn't know it was that high. He's doing better now, so that's the main point. I was happy for him. ... I texted him and he said he was going better. Hopefully he'll be back soon on the ice."

* Johnson gets no supplemental discipline -- Former Blues defenseman and No. 1 overall pick, Erik Johnson, got off without suspension for his check to the head of the Blues' Alexander Steen in the second period Friday.

Steen, who moments before shooting the puck and taking the brunt of Johnson's check, had made a strong check of his own on Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, dislodging the puck from the Avalanche center.

Johnson received a five-minute elbowing major and a game-misconduct for the infraction at 3:38 of the second. Steen, who was playing in his second game after missing the previous six with a head injury, left the game and did not return and Blues general manager Doug Armstrong on Monday said it was concussion-related and Steen is day to day.

"It seemed a little bit late to me, but it wasn't really ... he kept his arm and shoulder close to his body," Armstrong said of Johnson. "It was a borderline one that I'm sure the league took a look at, but it didn't jump off the page at me as an illegal ... it was a hit to the head, but through the core of the body. I'm sure that's what the league felt too or they would have suspended him if they thought he picked his head."

* Replacing the captain's minutes -- Taking an injury hit and losing Alex Pietrangelo, Robby Fabbri and Steen all at once is a tough pill for the Blues to swallow at once, and it's going to take others to supplement those voids left. But in reality, how does a defensive unit go about in replacing the team-leading 24:37 average time on ice Pietrangelo leaves behind? The ones that include even-strength minutes, power play and shorthanded situations. 

"He brings a lot to us," Parayko said of Pietrangelo. "He'll play all situations on the ice. Obviously our leader back there. It's one of those things where you've just got to be excited if you're a defenseman in the lineup to come to the game and be prepared and take on a role, a bigger role that you're already in, just embrace it and take it head on and make sure you do the best of your ability. Just do your job and help the team as much as possible."

Parayko, who is second among defensemen at 22:06, is the likely candidate to grab some of those minutes.

"For sure. I think whatever the case may be, I think that we've got the group that's able and capable of stepping in, throughout our whole defensive core, all six of us that play each night," Parayko said. "I think we're all capable of playing extra minutes and playing different situations. That's the beauty of it. We have a very good defensive core. We've jut got to come and continue to do our thing and make sure that we do our thing and our part back there to help out the forwards and help out the team and obviously the goaltender win games."

* No luck for Fabbri -- Blues forward Robby Fabbri, who made his return this season after missing nearly two seasons with two torn ACL injuries to his left knee and the first 10 games of this season with a sore back, hip and groin, was just getting into a rhythm before separating his shoulder late in the first period Saturday.

Fabbri, who has two goals and two assists in 15 games, has missed 122 of the past 137 regular-season games and now is sidelined at least through Christmas.

"It's tough. He's had a tough run here. We do feel for him," Blues interim coach Craig Berube said. "He had good jump. He had a lot of scoring opportunities. They just didn't go in. He had a lot of good looks, it looks like he had a lot of good energy every game and he was excited to be back playing for sure."

* Reinforcements arrive from San Antonio -- With the Blues putting Pietrangelo, Fabbri and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (upper body) on injured reserve Monday (Gunnarsson retroactive to Nov. 17), the Blues recalled forwards Jordan Nolan and Jordan Kyrou and defenseman Chris Butler from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.

"They all played in the NHL," Berube said. "Kyrou has played the least amount of games in the NHL, but the other two guys are veteran guys who have had time in the NHL. I expect them to come up and be ready to go."

Nolan, a veteran winger signed as a free agent after playing with Buffalo last season, was leading the Rampage with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 24 games.

"He is what he is," Berube said. "Competitive guy, he knows how to play the game, he's played on a Stanley Cup champion (with the Kings twice in 2013 and 2015), he plays hard, physical. An up and down fourth line winger."

Kyrou, who played nine games with the Blues after making it out of training camp, has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 14 games. He had one assist with the Blues.

"He's been playing pretty well lately," Berube said. "Getting some points and some goals. He's got great speed and puck skills."

Butler will make his second stint in St. Louis this season. He had 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 23 games with the Rampage this season after playing in two games (one goal) with the Blues in October.

"'Buttsie's been around a long time, I coached him in the minors, he was our captain," Berube said. "He was a fantastic defenseman down there."

All three were expected to arrive in St. Louis Monday and be on the ice Tuesday.

Injuries hit Blues again with Pietrangelo, Fabbri, Steen all out

Blues captain placed on long-term IR with hand injury, surgery 

likely; Fabbri has separated shoulder, Steen day to day with concussion

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- If it wasn't bad enough, now comes a plethora of injuries.

More of them.

Alex Pietrangelo

The Blues season through 25 games at 9-13-3, the worst start since starting 7-15-3 in 2006-07, was already going from bad to poor, and that was with minimal news on the injury front.

Then came the weekend, and the Blues announced on Monday that Alex Pietrangelo was one of three players put on injured reserve.

Pietrangelo (hand), Robby Fabbri (shoulder) and Carl Gunnarsson (upper body) were all put on IR. Alexander Steen (concussion) is day to day.

Pietrangelo was hurt Friday in a 3-2 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche when he was checked by Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog midway through the third period and is likely to have surgery.

"Alex Pietrangelo sustained a hand injury, he's been placed on long-term (injured reserve), so he'll be reevaluated around Christmas," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Monday afternoon before practice. "He's talking to the doctors now. There's the likelihood that he'll have some surgery, yes."

Pietrangelo leads the Blues in ice time per game at 24:37.

"He's a huge loss," Blues interim coach Craig Berube said. "Logs a lot of minutes, plays in a lot of situations, captain of your team. It's tough, but there are other players who are going to get an opportunities here, and they have to step up. We all have to play well. The team has to play well. When you have injuries, it's very important that we stick together as a team and play well as a team."

Fabbri, who's missed 122 of the past 137 games with two torn left ACL's and sore back, sore hip and sore groin, was injured Saturday late in the first period of a 6-1 loss at Arizona.

"Robby Fabbri separated his shoulder. He's been put on IR and will be evaluated around Christmas," Armstrong said. "His is a shoulder injury; I don't think it's a surgical candidate. I'm actually sure it's not or else we'd be a lot longer than Christmas."

With the recent rash of injuries, which includes Jaden Schwartz (hand) being out since Nov. 14, the Blues recalled forwards Jordan Nolan and Jordan Kyrou and defenseman Chris Butler from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.

"With those five players out, we've recalled three guys from the American Hockey League's San Antonio, Nolan, Kyrou and Butler," Armstrong said. "They should all be here and ready for practice tomorrow."

Berube had 19 skaters on the ice Monday afternoon for practice at Enterprise Center.

"It gives other guys opportunities that are going to be presented to them now," Berube said. "Everybody's got to step their game up. Injuries happen in this league, that's part of it all. Every team goes through it."