Soshnikov practices, expected to make Blues debut Sunday

Forward acquired for 2019 fourth-round pick, arrived after work visa issues 

completed; Schmaltz, Thompson recalled, Blais, Butler assigned to San Antonio

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- It took eight days, but Nikita Soshnikov's next NHL chapter finally has begun.

Soshnikov, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 15 for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, was on the ice on Saturday for his first practice with the Blues (34-24-4) before the team boarded a flight to Nashville for a showdown with the Predators on Sunday at 11 a.m. (NBC, KYKY 98.1-FM).

(St. Louis Blues photo)

New Blues forward Nikita Soshnikov practiced with his new team for the

first time Saturday and is expected to make debut on Sunday in Nashville.

Soshnikov, 24, arrived just before puck drop on Friday before the Blues' 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

"I've been in Toronto all this time waiting for my visa paperwork and all that stuff. I've been practicing," Soshnikov said. "Yeah, just skating on my own. Not fun."

Soshnikov was skating on a third line on right wing with Alexander Steen on the left and Patrik Berglund in the middle.

"I thought he looked really good," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "He's in good condition, skating is the first thing that jumps out at you. Hands, shot, he seemed to be jumping into the drills and fitting in as far as picking up our game fairly quickly. To me it looks like he's ready to get in the lineup tomorrow."

Soshnikov, an undrafted free agent who signed with Toronto on March 20, 2015, was weeded out in a numbers game with the Maple Leafs and became expendable, and in that regard, he was looking for a fresh start elsewhere.

"I was actually expecting a trade because of the situation there and what happened in Toronto," Soshnikov said. "When I got traded, I was real happy and couldn't wait to join the Blues."

He quickly received a couple calls and texts from his new teammates but doesn't know anyone. The Blues are hoping he can inject some new life into a team struggling for wins in a season-long five-game losing streak (0-4-1).

"There's no question," Yeo said. "You could see that there was a little bit of excitement and obviously when you add a guy like that, it gives you the ability to shuffle things around a little bit, it makes you a little bit deeper and a little bit stronger through your whole lineup.

"... He's been doing what he can and obviously there's nothing that's the same as being out with the group and getting in games but the only way for him to fully get up to speed is to start playing hockey so we might as well get him quickly."

Soshnikov hasn't played in a real game in nearly two weeks when he was on a conditioning assignment with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. He was activated off injured reserve on Saturday morning stemming from a lower-body injury that relegated his ice time in Toronto.

"I was with the Marlies last time. I had five games, helped me a lot too to get my legs back," Soshnikov said. "Since then, I was just practicing hard all week. We'll see tomorrow, but again, it's a different level. Just got to be ready, especially early against Nashville. I haven't played there, but I heard many good things about this building.

"I am totally (100 percent). I got cleared yesterday during the game. I was ready in Toronto so it was just the last issue."

Soshnikov was on a playoff team with the Maple Leafs and is in the middle of a playoff race now. He's eager to help the Blues in any fashion with his game.

"For sure, we've got to start winning right now because it's 20 games until the rest of the year. We've got to make the playoffs so hopefully we start winning tomorrow. 

"Play hard, physical, go for forecheck, go to net, create some offense, too, you know. Just play hard, PK too. We'll see how it's going to play out for me here."

The Blues hope it plays out well for the restricted free agent to be.

"We'll see. Games are gonna tell how I am going to fit in, but I'm just going to try and do my best, play hard and be a good teammate," Soshnikov said. "It was good [Saturday]. Yeah, I feel good. Tomorrow's (an) early game, I guess. Got to start early, got to be ready."

And when Soshnikov makes his Blues debut, he'll be the first player in franchise history to wear No. 90.

"I was actually pretty happy with this number because this was like my childhood number," he said. "I used to play with this number, so it's good to have it."

He couldn't have it in Toronto.

"No. If you're going to check, there's no high numbers in Toronto," Soshnikov said with a grin.

* NOTES -- The Blues recalled defenseman Jordan Schmaltz and forward Tage Thompson from San Antonio of the AHL on Saturday, and they'll join the team in Nashville after traveling from the Rampage's last game Friday in Tucson, Ariz. 

Schmaltz will join the lineup tomorrow and Thompson is expected to play.

"'Schmaltzy' will get in," Yeo said. "We feel we could use, No. 1, his right shot but also his puck-moving ability and 'Thommer's been playing well. We've said this before, that when he went down, it wasn't necessarily that he was going to be down for a long period of time but sometimes you have to bounce up and down a little bit. I know he's going to come in with a lot of energy and excitement. Obviously he's got the ability to shoot the puck in the net which we could use certainly a little bit of right now."

The Blues also assigned forward Sammy Blais and defenseman Chris Butler to the Rampage.

Blais has been cleared from concussion-related symptoms sustained Tuesday against San Jose. 

"It's a tough break, but unfortunately, that's part of it," Yeo said. "You have to stay healthy and you have to find a way to perform. He's doing a good job, he's on the right track, he's doing a good job when he's down there. He just can't seem to get any traction when he gets called up here. But that doesn't mean that he won't. He'll find his way. He has to just keep working at it."

Blues fall deeper into hole with 4-0 loss to Jets

Another home ice loss has frustrated fans taking it out on 

players after fifth straight defeat puts playoff position in peril

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- If the levels of embarrassment haven't reached the highest of decibels for the Blues, they should have after another dismal home loss.

What's become an all-too-familiar theme here at Scottrade Center, the Blues have been getting booed off the ice, which happened again after the first period Friday against the Winnipeg Jets; they play listless hockey, even though they're fighting for their playoff lives; and something that's been leaky at times was on full tilt on Friday: goalie Jake Allen getting the Bronx cheer when he would make a save/touch the puck.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) moves the puck in action Friday

of a 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Scottrade Center.

Roll  that all up together and it comes up to one big ball of nothing during a 4-0 loss to the Jets before 18,912 frustrated fans that have seen and had enough of the Blues (34-24-4), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1) and are hanging onto the second wildcard in the Western Conference by the slimmest of threads.

There have been similar home ice results as of late, including a 7-4 loss to Florida on Jan. 9, a 5-2 loss to lowly Arizona on Jan. 20, a 6-2 loss to Minnesota on Feb. 6 and now this, just to name a few, dropping the Blues' record at Scottrade Center to a very mediocre 19-14-0.

They're in dire straits, and the Blues have to find a way to fix the biggest problems that have faced them this season with 20 games remaining.

They've talked a good game, held team meetings and said the right things. If it came down to talk, the Blues would be at the top of the NHL standings. The problem is, that talk isn't translating to results on the ice.

"If I had the answer … it’s the reality. Just got to show up. Enough talking," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "You can only say so much. You got to go out and prove it."

Added assistant captain Alexander Steen: "Well look, we've got 20 games here. Obviously we’ve done a lot of talking and it needs to start showing up on the ice now. Twenty games and we’re in a fight here. We’re in a good division and we’re going to play some good teams, but you know I think we need to find that swagger and confidence in us again and get back to our game. Like I said, there’s a lot of points on the table, but this needs to turn around next game."

Against the Nashville Predators on Sunday? 

Good luck.

Coincidentally, this run of poor play and five straight losses started with the collapse in Nashville on Feb. 13 when the Blues coughed up a 3-0 third-period lead and lose 4-3 in overtime.

"I thought we played actually very well in Dallas (on Feb. 16, a 2-1 loss)," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "Maybe it's both of them (Nashville and Dallas) combined to be honest with you. But to come out of those two games with how hard we played, how well we played, and to come out with one point ... that's what we have to do is stay with it.

"We didn't get the results we deserved necessarily there, but that's what we're gonna have to do is battle through it and if we do, and we play that well night after night after night, then we'll get wins."

Needless to say, on the surface, it looks like a fragile hockey team. Is it?

"I don't want to use the word fragile," Yeo said. "I think we would all take that personally, but no question we're not handling adversity as well as we can right now. It's not a question of character, that's not the case, it's a matter of us figuring out how to handle it, how to face it, and what you need to do. If your three or four players, whether you get down in a game or whether you know you need a win but are trying to do more and trying to do extra, and taking themselves out of their game. And then you have a couple other players that kind of freeze up to the moment, then obviously you're not playing to your abilities."

The Blues, who actually opened the game well and played well the first 10 minutes, froze up once the first mistake was made and the rails came off.

A horrendous Chris Butler turnover turned into Nic Petan's goal at 10:03 of the first period, trying to go up the boards with the entire ice in front of him, and instead, Mark Scheifele picked the puck off, Butler fell down and Scheifele fed Petan for the tap-in past Allen, who made 19 saves, and a 1-0 Jets lead.

Forty-five seconds later, Blake Wheeler made it 2-0 on a goal Allen admitted he should have had. Wheeler skated into the Blues' zone with Colton Parayko defending, and from the right faceoff dot, wired a shot past Allen, who was off his angle and gave Wheeler too much to shoot at.

"Yeah, that was a bad goal, that was on me," Allen said. "I wasn't happy with that one."

Kyle Connor's fourth goal in four games, on the power-play, increased the lead to 3-0 at 18:31 on the Jets' first man-advantage.

By period's end, the Blues were being booed off the ice.

"Yeah, it’s not … we don’t like that," Pietrangelo said. "Especially me."

A frail team would have no pushback, and Patrik Laine's 29th goal of the season and fourth in as many games, a wrist shot from the right circle at 6:04 of the second period, made it 4-0 on the Jets' 14th shot.

It didn't take long for Allen to start getting the Bronx cheers, which angered Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko.

"I'm tired of talking about the same stuff every night," Tarasenko said. "Everyone knows what spot we are in. One thing I can address to everyone of you and the fans too, the goalies are the last guys who we can blame on this. This is just embarrassing to hear. A lot of guys have never played hockey and they cheer when Jake makes a save. If not for the goalies, we'd be in a worse spot right now. They can blame us, they can blame everyone, but don't touch the goalies.

"Me personally, I know how hard [Allen] works, I know how much he's done for the organization and especially this year and last year. I don't understand why people blame the goalies. That's wrong."

Tarasenko continued.

"I want to explain, I don't blame fans, I don't blame somebody who writes bad stuff about goalies, but trust me, as a guy who understands hockey, they do a lot for us," he said. "If they not play their hockey, we'd be out of the playoffs right now."

Allen fell to 2-12-0 in his past 14 starts, and to his defense, the team has scored a grand total of 16 goals, or 1.33 per game, in his 12 losses.

"We didn’t score a goal, so you can’t win the game by not scoring a goal," Pietrangelo said. "To me it’s … I don’t like it. It’s been bothering me. I’m not going to say anything about the fans, but it’s disappointing to hear that. We’ve got his back."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) tries to look around Winnipeg's Andrew Copp

while locating a puck Friday at Scottrade Center.

So, with road games against Nashville and Minnesota, which is now three points ahead of the Blues for third in the Central Division, what do the Blues do to get out of their funk?

"Find a way to win hockey games," Pietrangelo said. "That’s all you can do, right? Take a hard look in the mirror and win hockey games.

"We’re fighting for a playoff spot, that’s the reality of it. There’s concern. We’ve got to find a way, like I said, to win hockey games. We’ve got 20 games left and we’re just barely in the playoffs."

* NOTES -- On a good-news front, newly-acquired forward Nikita Soshnikov finally made his way to St. Louis Friday and will be on the ice with the Blues for practice Saturday morning.

Soshnikov, acquired for a 2019 fourth-round pick on Feb. 15, finally worked out his work-related visa issues and could make his Blues debut as early as Sunday.

"I think it's actually gonna be a good little injection into our group," Yeo said. "He brings speed, he brings competitiveness and I think that he's gonna bring some life. Sometimes just a little change like that can help spark things. I'm hoping that he has a good practice tomorrow and see how he is for Sunday.

"... What do we have to lose by throwing him in there? Let's get him in with the group and let's get him rolling, and obviously the quicker we do that the quicker he'll get up to speed with our game and with our group."

(2-23-18) Jets-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- When the Blues woke up this morning and spotted their place in the standings realizing that the wiggle room pertaining the Stanley Cup Playoff race in the Western Conference is gone, it placed a certain twist to the feel for the remaining 21 games in the regular season.

It's a feeling of angst, anxiety and most importantly, one of embracement.

"I think it's a little bit of everything," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. "I think embrace the challenge is a pretty good way of putting it because the group that we have is awesome, the group that we have has been to the playoffs many years in a row and knows what it takes. These are basically going to be playoff games from here on out. That's the best part is that we have a good group and we have a group that's able to win and a group that's very good.

"It's one of those things where we've got to do a playoff mentality each and every time. It's one of the things where we've got to look after each other on the ice and take care of each other and we're coming each and every night and playing a full 60. Playing a full 60 now is a key for us. If we do that and we obviously do it the way we can, you may not win every night, but we definitely give ourselves the best opportunity to create opportunities. If we do that, we'll be in a great spot."

When the Blues (34-23-4) host the Winnipeg Jets (35-16-9) at 7 p.m. today (FS-MW, KMOX 1120-AM), they can jump back into a tie for third place in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars and leapfrog the Minnesota Wild by one point in the Wild wildcard standings.

As it sits now, the Blues hold down the second wildcard by one point over the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames and lead the Colorado Avalanche by three. 

It's a mess, and the Blues are right smack in the middle of it.

But as Blues coach Mike Yeo put it, they could be in a worse place than this.

"You can be at the bottom of the standings and have nothing to play for and the other thing I would say is, we're going to have to play really good hockey to make the playoffs," Yeo said. "When you do that, you also go into the playoffs in a good spot, too. 

"We have to make sure we stay in the moment, that's going to be really important, that we don't get caught up in looking at what other teams are doing and don't get caught up in your previous result, whether it's good, whether it's bad. As much as anything else, you have to be a gamer, you have to enjoy this stuff, and you have to play your best hockey right now."

And for the Blues, getting in playing in these pressure-packed games, like Yeo said, is like a precursor to what could be lengthy momentum going into the postseason.

"Essentially, especially if you're able to carry it on into playoffs, kind of get into playoff mode, but there's no wiggle room at this point and it's an opportunity at this point for us to come together and an opportunity for us to enjoy the process," Parayko said. "It's an exciting time for us ands a time where we can really make a good push and make a statement by finishing the season strong. We still have a lot of good opponents, which is another good bonus because playoffs is extremely tough and it's going to be hard."

However, putting an end to the Blues' season-long four-game losing streak is the first step in maintaining that playoff position. The Blues haven't won since winning at Winnipeg on Feb. 9.

"It's obviously been in the back of our minds, it's something that we don't enjoy," Parayko said. "We all want to win. When you drop four in a row, it's no fun. We're going to obviously come tonight, put our best foot forward and do everything we can to get a win for our fans, ourselves and everybody involved."

So just take the challenge and run with it, right coach?

"There's no question," Yeo said. "I think we've had that feeling for a little bit here. We understand that we're competing against good teams. We knew that teams had games in hand on us for a little bit here, too. I think that sense has been there and now it's up to us.

"I really think it's important that you enjoy this. You can get stressed out about it. You can feel pressure. This is why you play, to play in meaningful games. You wish sometimes it was a little bit easier, that we made it a little bit easier on ourselves, but the bottom line is we're in the thick of it here and we have a chance to show what we can do from here on out and that's when it matters."

- - -

The update on forward Nikita Soshnikov is ... nothing.

Not yet anyway.

Soshnikov, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 15 for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has yet made his way to St. Louis because the Blues are working on finalizing his work visa issues from Canada to the United States.

At the time of the trade, the Blues said it would take 7-10 days to complete, and today is the eighth day. 

Yeo was hopeful that Soshnikov, 24, would be here today but that hasn't happened yet.

"No. We'll just keep waiting until he gets here but should be here soon," Yeo said. "... I think he's going to be here soon. Just waiting for final confirmation."

- - -

With Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (left knee injury) going on injured reserve Thursday, there was some question whether this would be some sort of long term injury.

"I wouldn't say a longer term," Yeo said. "I don't see him playing Sunday (at Nashville), and really all that meant was that he was going to be out for today's game. So we'll keep playing it by ear."

Bortuzzo, who's played in a career-high 55 games this season with one goal and seven assists, was hurt late in the second period of a 2-1 loss at Dallas Feb. 16.

For the time being, the Blues will carry just the six defensemen.

"Definitely we can (manage it)," Yeo said. "We still have capable guys."

- - -

The Blues will start Jake Allen in goal against the Jets.

Allen is 2-11-0 his past 13 decisions, but one of those wins was at Winnipeg two weeks ago, 5-2. However, in those 11 losses, the Blues have scored a grand total of 16 goals, or 1.45 goals per game.

"I think he has a chance to do what he did last year for us," Yeo said of starting Allen. "I think when things mattered most he played his best hockey. He got into a rhythm that was right at this time of year (last season) and so what better time to try to get something like that going right now."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Alexander Steen-Paul Stastny-Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Patrik Berglund

Ivan Barbashev-Vladimir Sobotka-Dmitrij Jaskin

Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Chris Thorburn

Carl Gunnarsson-Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester-Colton Parayko

Chris Butler-Vince Dunn

Jake Allen will start in goal; Carter Hutton will be the backup.

The healthy scratch is Oskar Sundqvist. Joel Edmundson (forearm), Robert Bortuzzo (knee) and Sammy Blais (concussion) are out. Robby Fabbri (knee) is out for the season.

- - -

The Jets' projected lineup:

Kyle Connor-Mark Scheifele-Blake Wheeler 

Mathieu Perreault-Bryan Little-Jack Roslovic

Nikolaj Ehlers-Andrew Copp-Patrik Laine

Nic Petan-Matt Hendricks-Joel Armia

Toby Enstrom-Dustin Byfuglien

Josh Morrissey-Tyler Myers

Ben Chiarot-Dmitry Kulikov

Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal; Michael Hutchinson will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Tucker Poolman and Marko Dano. Shawn Matthias (upper body), Steve Mason (concussion), Jacob Trouba (ankle), Adam Lowry (upper body) and Brandon Tanev (upper body) are all out.

(2-23-18) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Blues back to work after heart-to-heart meeting trying to curb four-game losing 

streak; Bortuzzo on IR, Blais day-to-day, Gunnarsson OK; Soshnikov update

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- One day after abruptly closing shop and calling off practice after their season-high fourth straight loss to San Jose, the Blues were back at it Thursday at the Ice Zone after a team meeting was the primary focus 24 hours earlier.

The Blues were expected to practice on Wednesday but instead, used the time together behind closed doors to, in some form or another, discuss their ill-timed 0-3-1 rut, which has dropped them into dangerous waters regarding the top eight in the Western Conference playoff race.

And the schedule for the Blues (34-23-4) doesn't get any easier leading up to Monday's trade deadline (vs. Winnipeg on Friday and at Nashville on Sunday) and the immediate game coming out of the deadline (at Minnesota on Tuesday).

"Practice is one thing, but this late in the season, two days in a row, you're probably not going to practice very hard anyways," defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. "It was good. We're kind of a crossroads in our season. Our start really carried us, but now we're having a little bit of a tough time. We're not necessarily playing the worst hockey we've been playing all year, but we're running into good teams and it's just finding ways to win. You hear it all the time, whatever it is, it's different every game. A big win against a good team tomorrow night, you try to continue that and you can gain momentum off these games. But for us right now, it's not really about momentum or feeling good about yourself. It's about wins and losses and that's the bottom line."

The abrupt cancellation of practice after a 3-2 loss to the Sharks on home ice that left coach Mike Yeo obviously frustrated surprised some but not all.

"It's not uncommon for us to have a couple days like this to use one of the days as an off-day and to ramp things up for a practice," Yeo said after Thursday's practice. "Got through practice and now we can turn our attentions to Winnipeg."

Talk is one thing, but what comes of the Blues' meeting on Wednesday will only be spoken one way.

"It's going to come through our play," Yeo said. "What matters right now is everybody understands the situation that we're in, there's certainly clarity to that; that's easy. Now it's about us making sure that we come together as a group and rebuilding the trust in our game and understanding that they we go out and do things the right way shift after shift, man after man, that we're going to get the results that we're looking for."

The Blues are down to 21 games remaining, and 14 of them are considered against teams either in a playoff position or within a fighting chance of reaching the postseason.

"There's no easy games anymore," Bouwmeester said. "We've gone through a stretch where goals haven't come as easy as maybe at the start of the year. Things are a little bit harder, but we're a team that's historically the last few years played a lot of close games, we've won a lot of close games. We should feel comfortable in those situations. One thing that we can maybe focus on is try and get out to a lead, get off to better starts because we do play well with the lead. But you play the game, they're all different and every team's good, so it's a challenge."

* Bortuzzo, Blais ruled out; Gunnarsson OK -- Both defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and forward Sammy Blais did not skate Thursday and both have been ruled out for Friday's game.

Late Thursday afternoon, the Blues announced that Bortuzzo was placed on injured reserve with a left knee injury sustained Feb. 16 at Dallas.

Blais left Tuesday's loss after taking a big hit from San Jose's Jannik Hansen with 1 minute 51 seconds remaining in the first period, and the team has said he's in concussion protocol.

"Obviously neither guy was on the ice today, so certainly both are ruled out for tomorrow," Yeo said.

Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson left practice a few minutes early Thursday and appeared to be gingerly walking off with head athletic trainer Ray Barile but Yeo said, "he should be fine."

* Soshnikov update -- Forward Nikita Soshnikov, who the Blues acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 15 for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, could arrive in St. Louis as early as Friday.

The Blues have been awaiting for his visa paperwork to be completed so that he may work in the United States.

"I'm waiting for word today hoping that potentially he can be here tomorrow, but nothing for sure yet," Yeo said.

As for Soshnikov, who has played in three games for the Leafs this season, came off a lower-body injury that required a five-game conditioning stint with the Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

So when he does arrive, Yeo said there's only one way to incorporate Soshnikov into the system.

"We're going to have to get him in. That's the only way," Yeo said. "Obviously you can do what you can in practice, you can do what you can with video, but realy the only for him to really get in and to get involved with our group and to show us what he can do is to get into the lineup. What you like is we think he's a guy that can add to our group, not only this year but in the future as well. I think the quicker we get him in, the quicker he'll get up to speed with our group."

Slumping Blues once again fall short in 3-2 loss to Sharks

Season-high fourth straight loss continues slide; 

team clinging to playoff position as trade deadline nears

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The frustration was finally on the face of Blues coach Mike Yeo, and that frustration resonated in his words.

If only the players would follow suit at some point here, but they better not wait too long.

Not with just 21 games left in the regular season.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz gets checked by Sharks defenseman

Dylan DeMelo on Tuesday at Scottrade Center.

More spurts of decent play was overshadowed by a lackluster second period, one in which the San Jose Sharks scored three times, and the Blues were left to ponder another lost game without points in a 3-2 loss before 17,297 at Scottrade Center.

The Blues' fourth straight loss, a season-high, leaves them still tied for third place in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars -- who have two games in hand -- at 72 points, but now those screws on the wildcard spot continue to squeeze tighter.

The Blues (34-23-4) are one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild, who have two games in hand, and Los Angeles and Calgary, both with 69 points, are just three points back, and the Kings have two games in hand and the Flames have one. Not to mention Colorado, which is four points back with two games in hand.

While the opponents continue to climb up the standings, the Blues keep falling down that slippery slope, and if they don't catch themselves soon, they could be in an unfamiliar position of falling out of the top eight and be on the outside of the Stanley Cup Playoffs looking in for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

"Desperation time was a while ago, so yeah, this is where pride has to come in," Yeo said. "We have to make sure that we obviously stop the bleeding. We have to start building confidence in the game that we're playing and have a feeling that showing up to the rink (and) that everybody's going to be ready to go. 

"We talked about it after the Dallas game that we played a good game, sometimes that happens, but we didn't win the game (2-1). We can't just accept that we're playing good and not winning hockey games. That's not good enough. We need points, we need wins and we need to start doing it now."

So to recap after an impressive win at Winnipeg on Feb. 9, the Blues were tied 1-1 with the Pittsburgh Penguins with 20 minutes to play before losing 4-1. OK, one game, playing the third in three and a half days is excusable. But then blowing that 3-0 third-period lead at Nashville and "salvaging" one point in a 4-3 loss was a shocking result but one of those "learning lessons." Then the Blues outplayed the Stars but can't finish in a 2-1 loss before coming out with little fire in the first, turn pucks over in the second and leave defensemen out to dry and succumb to three goals before making a third-period push but fall short again? The excuses are getting old and stale.

And for a change, Yeo called out those he relies on most from game to game.

"I'm up here upset tonight because I felt some guys that we really needed to count on tonight weren't good enough in the game," Yeo said. "That's where we need more from individuals. Obviously you can have a team game, you can have a system and all that stuff, but it's the individual play of the players, what they bring to the table and then doing it together as a team, that's when you're dangerous and that's where I thought that we had it in the third period but it was too little, too late."

It was a scoreless first period, one in which the Blues were outshot 12-8, but not enough of setting the tone in a game which the Blues needed as much as the Sharks (33-19-8) did.

"Yeah, it's obviously frustrating. You want to win games," said Blues goalie Carter Hutton, who made 20 saves. "... I think the time for moral victories has come and gone. We've got to win hockey games and get points." 

And then, there were the lapses, the mistakes, the carelessness with pucks, and the Sharks made the Blues pay in the second period.

Logan Couture gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 6:35 when he lifted a rebound over Hutton after an initial shot from the slot by Mikkel Boedker. Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and Colton Parayko were caught on the same side of the ice after Parayko lost his stick initially, and Jaden Schwartz moved into the high slot and vacated the area in which Couture was in. 

Ivan Barbashev tied the game 1-1 at 8:23 on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle that beat Jones high on the short side after a pass from Kyle Brodziak.

But then the Sharks scored consecutive goals off 3-on-2's, and on both occasions, Blues forwards hung defensemen Vince Dunn and Chris Butler and Hutton out to dry.

Joonas Donskoi put the Sharks ahead 2-1 at 12:05 on a quick snap shot from the left face-off circle. It came after Patrik Berglund tried to intercept a pass to Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the neutral zone and got caught, Paul Stastny was flat-footed along the boards.

Boedker made it 3-1 at 15:54 on a shot from close range, his fifth goal in four games, after Schwartz lost handle of the puck at the Sharks blue line and all three Blues forwards (Schwartz, Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko) were caught up ice. And in the end, Schenn was late getting back to tie up Boedker after Chris Tierney's pass through the slot caromed off Butler's skate.

"They came hard in the second period. We weren't executing all the little things," Parayko said.

"I thought they were just better than us in the second period," Yeo said. "I thought we were sloppy, I thought we were drifting all over the place. That allowed them some easy plays. We gave them too many odd-man rushes and not enough urgency in the little things in the game, not enough execution.

"... I didn't think we played well tonight. We had a good third period. We only had two scoring chances in the first period, so I didn't think we were especially strong there and obviously I thought that they were a lot better than us in the second period. Playing one period doesn't qualify as a good game."

Tarasenko's power-play goal with 23.7 seconds remaining made it 3-2 off a rebound of Dunn's shot from the slot and gave the Blues momentum and life, something they obviously tried to use in the final 20 minutes.

The Blues outshot the Sharks 13-5 in the third period and had a push for the tying goal but fell short, including a puck off Scottie Upshall that hit the post and was cleared off the line by Sharks defenseman Brent Burns.

"You can say all you want, but at this point in the year you've got to get points and you got to get results," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "We had chances, we just didn't score. I mean, the second period we weren't aggressive enough, but we had a lot of chances. We've got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net."

The Blues don't play again until Friday when they host the Jets. They could be on the outside looking in by then.

"Obviously a frustrating time right now," Parayko said. "It's one of those things where we're only putting together certain parts of the game. We've got to play a full 60, especially at this time of the year. These games are tough to come by. If you look at the standings, it's all close. Teams are laying everything out there to get points, and these are the hard ones to win. So we need to play a full 60 if we want to win games."

But it begs the question of if there's any pride inside that locker room to try and grab this playoff race and immerse yourselves in it. Can the Blues do that and is there any pride in there?

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues left wing Ivan Barbashev (middle) celebrates with teammates Jay

Bouwmeester (left) and Dmitrij Jaskin (23) after scoring on Tuesday.

"I know that we have pride," Yeo said. "I know that there's pride and I know that there's character in the room. Now we have a chance to show it."

Does Yeo think there's someone inside that room that can grab this and say, 'Enough is enough?' 

"Yeah, I do," Yeo said. "I think that we were in a tough position last year and found a way to play our best hockey when the season was on the line and now we're putting ourselves in a position where we have to do it again."

* NOTES -- Blues right wing Sammy Blais, recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Monday, left the game with 1:39 remaining in the first period and did not return because of an upper-body injury.

Blais was checked hard by Jannik Hansen with 1:51 to play in the period and Blais initially was on the bench but left and did not return.

"I'll give you guys an update on him tomorrow, but definitely an upper-body injury," Yeo said.

(2-20-18) Sharks-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues will insert three new players into the lineup when they host the San Jose Sharks today at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, KMOX 1120-AM) at Scottrade Center.

Carter Hutton will be in goal, Oskar Sundqvist will play his first game in nearly two months, Chris Butler will play in just his second NHL game since the 2015-16 season and Sammy Blais, recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Monday, will be inserted into the lineup.

Butler will play for the injured Robert Bortuzzo, who has a lower-body injury that coach Mike Yeo calls day-to-day. He was checked near the end of the second period of a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday and hasn't practiced since.

"'Borts' is out tonight. I'd say lower body, a little dinged up," Yeo said. "A good opportunity for 'Butts' to come in. Obviously a veteran player we have a lot of confidence in and a guy that can move the puck, a guy that's familiar with our game."

Butler will slot in and play on the left side and slide rookie Vince Dunn to the right. He played in the regular-season finale last season against the Colorado Avalanche but has since been relegated to the Chicago Wolves last season and San Antonio this season.

"I think you have to manage it. There's a level of excitement," said the St. Louis native Butler, who played at Chaminade High School. "We've had conversations with family and friends and I probably would have been content had I never played another NHL game. It wasn't really something I thought of as a possibility growing up, so maybe it's probably a little more special now to be able to have family and my kid here now. It's got more meaning to it now.

"I'm treating it more like a playoff game. Points are hard to come by now if you look at how tight the Western Conference is and you look at how easily wildcard is interchanging right now with us dipping down the other day. It's a focused group, it's an excited group and I'm just looking to contribute any way I can."

Butler had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 47 games with the Rampage this season.

"He's a top-notch teammate, character guy, really fits in well with our group and we've been very happy with his play," Yeo said of Butler. "He comes up and it's good to get him an opportunity to get in the game."

As for Sundqvist, who had six points in six games (two goals, four assists) with the Rampage when he was sent down on a conditioning assignment, will play just his second game since Dec. 27.

"It's been a while," Sundqvist said. "It's probably the beginning of January. It's going to be nice to get to play again. It was good to be down in San Antonio for two weeks and play some hockey again. That was the main thing I wanted to do.

"I got to play a ton of minutes (in San Antonio), a ton of offensive situations, it helped get my confidence back and stuff like that. It was nice to get some big minutes down there."

Yeo has always liked Sundqvist's game but would like to see him more involved at this level.

"It's good that he scored a couple goals, that was the big thing for me," Yeo said of Sundqvist's stint with the Rampage. "But that and in combination with he needed to play. He's been out for a while and to get the game conditioning, to get the timing back, I think that was very important. It's hard for a player like that, if you've been out of the lineup, you played one game in two, three weeks, it's going to be tough for you to come in and perform at a high level. Him getting back in the lineup and playing those games, I think it's going to be really good for his confidence. We talked about his lows, his bad games are never really bad games, he's responsible, he's always reliable defensively, we just have to get more good games from him and that comes from the defensive side of things."

Blais, who is tied for the team lead in points with the Rampage this season with 28 (11 goals, 17 assists), will slot in and play in a top-six role with Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz.

"Been hearing very good things about his play, the offensive side he's been very dynamic, very dangerous," Yeo said of Blais.

It's the fifth time Blais has been recalled, who was assigned to the Rampage on Jan. 5 following a lower-body injury.

"It's always fun to be back here and to see all the guys," Blais said. "I'm excited for tonight and I'm looking forward to be here and very happy.

"I got sent down after my injury and I played pretty good there. I got a lot of ice time and my confidence back. I didn't play for a month before that and I had a couple good games there and I feel very good on the ice. I'm looking forward to be here and hopefully to stay here. ... I think I'm an offensive player. In the American Hockey League, I'm an offensive player that can make plays. I just got to being that here and if I can do that, I'm going to be in good (shape) to stay here. I'm healthy and everything is fine. I'm just looking forward to being here and I'm just happy to be here. It's the best league in the world and every chance I get to play here, I've just got to enjoy it and make the most of it."

- - -

Blais will replace Vladimir Sobotka, who is sick and out of the lineup tonight for the first time this season. 

That would now leave Schenn, Paul Stastny, Colton Parayko and Vladimir Tarasenko as the only players to play in every game this season.

- - -

Hutton is 4-0-1 with a 0.98 goals-against average, a .968 save percentage and two shutouts in five games against San Jose.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Alexander Steen-Paul Stastny-Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Sammy Blais

Ivan Barbashev-Kyle Brodziak-Patrik Berglund

Scottie Upshall-Oskar Sundqvist-Dmitrij Jaskin 

Carl Gunnarsson-Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester-Colton Parayko

Chris Butler-Vince Dunn

Carter Hutton will start in goal; Jake Allen will be the backup.

The healthy scratch is Chris Thorburn. Joel Edmundson (forearm), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body), Vladimir Sobotka (illness) and Robby Fabbri (knee) are all out.

- - -

The Sharks' projected lineup:

Timo Meier-Joe Pavelski-Melker Karlsson

Kevin Labanc-Logan Couture-Joonas Donskoi

Mikkel Boedker-Chris Tierney-Jannik Hansen

Barclay Goodrow-Daniel O'Regan-Marcus Sorensen 

Joakim Ryan-Brent Burns

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Justin Braun

Brenden Dillon-Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones will start in goal; Aaron Dell will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Paul Martin, Tim Heed and Rudolfs Balcers. Joe Thornton (knee), Joel Ward (shoulder) and Tomas Hertl (upper body) are out.

Players remain focused on task at hand as trade deadline nears

Having no control over personnel decisions, Blues aim to keep moving 

forward in thick of Western Conference playoff race with Feb. 26 date looming

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- The Blues know what time of year it is.

Heck, so do 30 other teams.

It's that time of year where the pretenders become sellers and those that think they are contenders, wonder if there's a piece or pieces that can alter their landscape that gives them the best opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues center Brayden Schenn said players have no

control over personnel decisions and will focus on

what they have.

The Blues (43-22-4), tied for third place in the Central Division but holding down the first wildcard in the Western Conference and bunched up with a slew of other conference contenders, are no different.

The NHL Trade Deadline is six days away on Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. (CT), and a team desperate to try and find a forward to play in the top six, the Blues have been linked to a number of potential players rumored to be available on the market.

But as they prepare for a pivotal game against the San Jose Sharks (32-19-8) on Tuesday, it was business as usual.

"You have zero control over it unless you have a full no-move clause, which most guys don't or not many guys do," said Blues center Brayden Schenn, who was traded to the Blues on June 23, 2017. "It's one of those things where you can read things or you don't know what to believe, what not to believe, whether guys are talking with their agents or whatever, but at the end of the day, you have zero control of where you're going or what's going to happen. You can look into things or read into the things, but at the end of the day, you've just got to try and worry about coming to the rink, being prepared and doing your job, try not to worry about what's on the outside and worry about on the ice."

Players have no control of what Blues management has cooking or not cooking, but that doesn't mean they're unaware that the landscape of the roster could change between now and Monday.

"I know everyone's definitely aware of the time of year we're at, but I think everyone at this level knows you can't really think about it or dwell on it too much because if you are, then you're not focusing on the things that you need to focus on," veteran center Kyle Brodziak said. "You try to let go and not worry about it too much. Hopefully the time comes and goes and everyone's still around.

"Everybody wonders. You never know what they're thinking and what they're trying to do. That's why it's almost pointless to dwell on it and worry about it because you really at the end of the day have no idea what the team's plan is and what they're thinking."

And without that control, coaches know how to conduct the business at hand, and that's to prepare for the next work day without dwelling on who may or may not be here.

"We've had zero conversations about it inside our locker room," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I think that looking at our group, I don't seeing anybody that's panicking or worried or anything about their situation. I think we're all focused on making sure that we're ready to play good hockey. That's number one in our minds right now and that's number one in my mind, too.

"There's 31 teams in the league that wonder that. There's no excuses there. We have a game that we have to prepare for and certainly we shouldn't be thinking about that."

Trade deadlines come and go every year. Players change addresses at this time of year on a regular basis. Players know that when they sign up in this business, and that's why they become immune to it.

"It's the nature of the beast and the business," Schenn said. "You just become accustomed to it and try not to worry about it. Changes happen in the locker room every year. Teams are always trying to get better. Obviously it's going to be no different in this organization. Obviously we know we're in a battle and if we make changes or not, those are things you have to deal with and for me personally, I've been in trade rumors (in the past) for a while and obviously I got traded this (past) summer. It's all part of it. Teams are looking to get better and we'll see what we do."

The communication between Yeo and GM Doug Armstrong is constant and will continue to stay constant.

"Doug and I talk every day about our group and about what's going on," Yeo said. "One thing I appreciate is Doug's got a really good feel for our group and for what's out there and all that kind of stuff. Certainly we talk about everything, but I have a lot of confidence in him and what he's up to right now.

"... I'm excited about our group and I know that we haven't been getting consistent wins lately (0-2-1), but our game has been consistent lately. We've been hard to play against. We just need a little bit more. If we bear down and capitalize on a couple of these chances that we're getting, if we bear down and finish that game in Nashville, then we're singing a different tune right now. We could easily in our last four games, we could have four wins and we should have three at least, but those are against good hockey teams, so I know what we're capable of. We just have to step it up one more notch."

One thing the players on this Blues roster do agree on is that if the roster remains in tact, they believe they can compete.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Center Kyle Brodziak said if the Blues stand pat at the

trade deadline, he likes this group moving forward. 

"We definitely know when we are on top of our game and we're playing well, we can play with any team in the league," Brodziak said. "It's been a bit of a tough stretch lately, but in saying that, we've got a lot of hockey left and we still want to come with the mindset of getting better every day and hopefully today was a good step and we'll get some good results tomorrow."

"I'm not the GM, but we believe in this locker room," Schenn said. "Whether it stays or whether it changes, guys are going to go out there and give it our all and try to win a championship."

* NOTES -- The Blues returned to practice Monday following a Sunday off day and everyone skated but defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who also did not practice Saturday in Dallas. 

"He's a little dinged up, yeah," Yeo said of Bortuzzo, who was checked hard late in the second period of a 2-1 loss to the Stars on Friday. "We'll see how he is tomorrow."

Brodziak centered a third line with Vladimir Sobotka on the left and Patrik Berglund on the right, and center Oskar Sundqvist will play against the Sharks.

As for Zach Sanford, who the Blues activated last week and assigned to the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League to get some games in after missing over five months with a dislocated left shoulder, he will remain there for the time being.

"We sent him down without telling him that there's anything guaranteed for him," Yeo said. "He knows that he's got to play hockey games and that hasn't changed. 

"He's missed a lot of time here, so he's got to play hockey games. That's what we did, we sent him down and go play some hockey games and earn a call-up."

As for newly-acquired right wing Nikita Soshnikov, who the Blues picked up from Toronto last Thursday for a 2019 fourth-round pick, Yeo is hopeful to have him by the end of the week.

Soshnikov is awaiting completion of his visa papers to work in the U.S.

The Blues recalled forward Sammy Blais from San Antonio on Monday and he could get back into the lineup against the Sharks.

Blais has three points (two goals, one assist) in 10 NHL games this season but was tied for the team lead in San Antonio with 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in just 30 games.