Effort, compete level come into question again for Blues following 6-3 loss to Kings

Los Angeles scores five unanswered on St. Louis, Husso, making his NHL 

debut, to drop Blues to 0-2-1 in second of back-to-back in mini series with teams

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It's still the early stages of the 2020-21 season, and there's obviously no time or room for panic, but there are some issues the Blues obviously need to work out.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues forward Brayden Schenn (10), who scored twice Sunday in a 6-3 loss

to the Los Angeles Kings, said St. Louis is lacking effort and compete.

Their 6-3 disheartening loss to the Los Angeles Kings continued a trend of the Blues (3-2-1) winning the first game of these two-game sets, then falling into a 180 trap and going in the opposite direction.

Coach Craig Berube already questioned the team's compete level and lack of skating recently following a 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Remember, this is a team that has already been bombarded 8-0 in a game this season against Colorado.

So following the loss to the Kings Sunday night, 24 hours after the Blues dispatched L.A. 4-2, it was easy to ask any of the players and/or Berube whether the inconsistencies have to do with effort or the compete level.

Brayden Schenn, who scored twice Sunday, had an easy answer.

"Both," he said. "You have to compete and you have to bring effort, especially in the second game of a series or in back-to-back, whatever it may be for 60 minutes. We all know it, you guys know it. We need to play 60 minutes and work hard and give your best effort in order to give yourself the best chance to win the hockey game and we didn't do that tonight.

"Yeah, it's been talked about. We know how it's looking so far in that second game of the series for us. It hasn't been great so far. It's already been talked about, but we have to do more than talking. We have to go out and fix it and we are grabbing the second of the back-to-back. It's early and we've got a lot of them left but we've got to fix that problem or else we're going to be a very average .500 hockey club."

'Why hasn't it been fixed?' would be the next logical question.

"I don’t know," Berube said. "You should ask the players."

Of course. They would know the answers. After all, they're the ones playing the game. But in a game in which your starting goalie (Ville Husso) is making his first NHL start, a veteran-laden team would seem to understand that as a team, it has to play connected and tight in order to give a rookie goalie a chance to grow into the game, gain some confidence and perhaps help you get two points.

This is the second time in which the Blues have hung Husso, who came on in relief of Jordan Binnington in the third period of a 8-0 blitzing at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche Jan. 15, out to dry in his two outings this season.

"I feel responsible for that, other guys do too," said Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly, who scored his first of the season Sunday. "It was an opportunity for us to show him that we're going to have his back and play hard for him and give him some confidence. We made it hard on him and on each other and that can't happen. He's a big part of this team and it's not his fault at all. It's myself and a few other guys, we have to find a way to provide our best game in front of him.

"He's a pretty even-keeled guy. He shows up and he works and I know he'll continue to do that. It's a matter of us rallying and being better for him. That's nothing to do with him, it's the guys out there playing in front of him and making his job easier."

Husso allowed five goals and made 29 saves in his first start, which isn't great in the save percentage department (.853), but he made the saves he was supposed to make except for the first Kings goal by Alex Iafallo when he didn't squeeze the near post tight enough. But other than that, two Vince Dunn mistakes cost the Blues two goals, a porous power play cost them another and that compete level that Berube called the players about earlier last week was the result of another goal.

"He made saves early, he kept us in early and ... it's his first NHL game and in the second period, it's breakaways and 2-on-1's, maybe turn over the puck and giving them a lot of chances and they're able to put the puck in the net and they did," Schenn said. "We've got to play better in front of him and we know that."

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Ville Husso (35) started his first NHL game for the Blues Sunday in a 6-3 

loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Husso made 29 saves. 

The Blues did make a third period push. They gave themselves a bit of a fighting chance, a pulse if you will. But down four goals in a league built to protect leads, that number was too high to overcome.

And it's hard to overlook the lack of effort at times and lack of a compete level.

"Yeah, but they’re caused by attitude in my opinion," Berube said. "Our attitude’s got to be better. Again, we've got to pull together as a team. That’s what it’s all about. And we’ve shown it at times and we’ve won hockey games. But again, the consistency is not there.

"Compete and work and all that, that’s attitude. That’s just all attitude."

(1-24-21) Kings-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It was another yeoman-like work night for the Blues' Justin Faulk and Marco Scandella on Saturday night in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings.

Both played over 20 minutes, with Faulk leading the way at 23:44 and Scandella not far behind at 21:12. They combined for six shots on goal (eight total), four hits and five blocked shots in the victory and have forged a partnership that's becoming quite reliable for the Blues behind Colton Parayko and Torey Krug.

Scandella, who spoke for the first time Sunday morning before the Blues (3-1-1) hosted the Kings (1-2-2) again on Sunday (7 p.m.; FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM), said it's been a great experience playing with Faulk and one that is quite similar to one he played in while with the Minnesota Wild.

"I feel like I played with a similar player in Jared Spurgeon when I played in Minnesota, so when I started playing with Faulker, I saw a lot of similarities between the two, and it just kind of brought me back to old times in Minnesota where that type of game of moving your feet, moving the puck quick, jumping in holes, lots of talk," Scandella said. "I feel like Faulker is really easy to read off of. I feel like I've been used to that game before.

"He's playing great right now. I feel like the confidence is coming and we're building that chemistry every day, I feel like we're getting better every game. I feel like we understand where each other are on the ice, we're helping each other out there, we're talking a lot now, we're moving the puck very well together. Just got to continue doing that and I feel like as a d-pairing, I feel like we're going to be really successful."

Blues coach Craig Berube has had no qualms of putting that pair on the ice late in games protecting a lead, as he did in the 5-4 win against San Jose last Monday and again on Saturday.

"They've been together for a little bit now. We had them together in the bubble too and they read off each other well," Berube said. "Scanny's a big guy and Faulker plays big; he's not overly big, but he plays big and they're just hard to play against. They get involved physically and they've got good sticks. They got good chemistry together and I think that's a big thing. When you've got good chemistry, you read off each other and you enjoy playing with each other, that's a big thing.

"(Faulk's) played tremendous hockey for us. ... He's a great team guy and he's playing real good hockey for us right now in a lot of situations. He's not an easy guy to play against out there, he makes good plays with the puck and he's got a good shot and he's shooting pucks. It's good to see."

Parayko is the Blues leader in time on ice heading into tonight's game (24:08), which puts him 23rd in the NHL, but Faulk's not far behind at 24:03, which is 25th in the league and more than three minutes of what he averaged in his first season with the Blues last year.

"I feel like he's playing with a lot of confidence and he's such a great skater," Scandella said. "When he's moving his feet like that, he can skate the puck out himself every time. He's making great reads and hopefully I'm allowing him to make those reads too. I just feel like the communication on the ice has been great so far."

- - -

It was another night of killing penalties for the Blues, who were 4-for-5 on the night and the one blemish was a 5-on-3 Kings goal due to a too many men penalty in the second period that put the Blues down two skaters for 35 seconds. 

It's taxing some of their top-end guys, including Ryan O'Reilly, who has yet to score but has three assists, including two Saturday, in five games.

O'Reilly has averaged 3:09 per game on the penalty kill, including 5:24 on Saturday. It's also forcing other top-end guys like David Perron, Mike Hoffman, Vince Dunn, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou to sit on the bench for long stretches without allowing them to see the ice.

"Yeah, it's tough. It's tough to find a rhythm," O'Reilly said. "Not just myself but through the lineup when we take those penalties, it completely destroys any kind of rhythm, getting everyone going and getting engaged in that way. So it makes it kind of sporadic and we've got to exert a lot of energy out there. It does affect it that way. It's something we've talked about. We have to find a way to stay out of the box more and keep that because the strength of our team is depth and we've got to be able to use it and get everyone engaged. When we do that, that's when we play at our best.

"For sure I take a lot of pride in it. When I came into the league, that was my role. I enjoy it. You have to be smart, you have to have a good stick and make good reads and find a way to bait their players into making mistakes. The last two games has been better; obviously the 5-on-3 goal was a little frustrating, but it's important. It's got to be a good staple if we want to continue to win, we have to be good on the PK. On top of that too, we have to find a way to stay out of the box. We've taken a few too many penalties, but last few games have been pretty solid."

- - -

Berube wouldn't disclose any potential lineup changes for tonight, including whether goalie Ville Husso will make his first NHL start.

Husso, a fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, did make his first NHL regular-season appearance in relief of Jordan Binnington Jan. 15 in the 8-0 loss at Colorado. He allowed four goals on 14 shots in the third period.

"I've been very impressed with 'Huus' the way he's been working," O'Reilly said. "This guy shows up, he's been here a lot, he's preparing, you can see he's getting better, he's putting in the work. For all the guys that were there in Colorado and he came in, we were horrible in front of him. I think we were kind of embarrassed. If he is in tonight, we want to be really good in front of him. We want to make it easy on him because he's obviously putting the work in and he's a great goaltender. It's on us. We have to be responsible that way and not feed any of their transition or or taking plays off that can make it easier for him in the net."

Berube said all lineup decisions will be made at game time.

- - -

Speaking of Scandella, he said he's fine after getting crunched into the boards from behind by San Jose's Timo Meier that ultimately forced him to miss Wednesday's game with an upper-body injury.

"It was definitely a weird play," Scandella said. "I felt like it was a little bit of a dirty play, but that's hockey. It was a hockey play. I was a little bit angry, I was trying to get something started there. I'm feeling good right now and just moving forward one day at a time."

- - -

In the rematch against LA, the Blues will likely see Jonathan Quick in goal after Cal Petersen made 26 saves on 29 shots.

The Blues outshot the Kings 30-23 in the game but LA held a decisive edge in shot attempts at 56-37.

"We're looking for quality over quantity," Berube said. "That's for sure. I think we can do a better job with denials and better sticks in certain situations to limit the Kings' attempts to keep it down a little bit, but from our side of things, we're looking more quality than quantity. 

"Overall, I thought we let them break the puck out too easily. We can do a better job of getting numbers in on the puck on our forecheck. It's not easy against that system they play, but we can do a better job of it."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup (will be determined during pregame warmups):

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Mike Hoffman-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Carl Gunnarsson

Ville Husso could start in goal; Jordan Binnington would be the backup.

Healthy scratches could include Sammy Blais and Niko Mikkola. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out.

- - -

The Kings' projected lineup (also to be determined during pregame warmups):

Alex Iafallo-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe 

Andreas Athanasiou-Blake Lizotte-Jeff Carter

Lias Andersson-Gabriel Vilardi-Dustin Brown

Carl Grundstrom-Michael Amadio-Trevor Moore

Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty

Kale Clague-Matt Roy

Kurtis MacDermid-Sean Walker

Jonathan Quick is expected to start; Calvin Petersen would be the backup.

Healthy scratches could include Olli Maatta and Austin Wagner. Matt Luff (undisclosed), Martin Frk (lower body) and Alex Turcotte (lower body) are out.

Power play kickstarts Blues' 4-2 win over Kings

Krug's first goal as a Blue comes on heels of veteran players discussing where 

to go after slow start on power play through first four games, going 0-for-14

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It may not have meant much to those watching from the outside, which is basically relegated to members of the media, but on Friday, the Blues' top power-play specialists wanted to talk things over.

They worked extensively with both power-play groups on the man-advantage Friday, wanting to shake off the ineffectiveness of the first four games that resulted in an 0-for-14 start.

From left, Blues players Ryan O'Reilly, Jaden Schwartz, Torey Krug,
Brayden Schenn and David Perron discuss power-play strategy Friday.

It marked only the second time in Blues history they've started the season without a power-play goal (1973-74 Blues went five straight games), and it made one wonder with the talent that the Blues can throw out there on either unit, that it would instantaneously click.

Well, it finally did when the newcomer to the top unit, Torey Krug, stepped into a clapper and scored to finally rip the monkey off the back of the Blues' power play in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at Enterprise Center.

And it was Krug, Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz that got together in a circle and just hashed out some things as to why things haven't worked yet.
It was as if the consensus was that it's too good to not produce, and there's too much talent for it to at least not create momentum despite it being only four games.

Here was a unit that was third in the NHL last season, 24.3 percent effective, and adding to it this season with the addition of Krug and Mike Hoffman, who has been used recently on the second unit with Robert Thomas, Tyler Bozak, Jordan Kyrou and Vince Dunn. Maybe too much was expected too soon with some new additions (Krug, Hoffman, Kyrou and Thomas to an extent). But success breeds more success, and just lumping a bunch of names together doesn't necessarily breed success without proper execution.

So when the Blues (3-1-1) went on their first power play Saturday, and they had scored on five of their past six against Los Angeles (1-2-2), it was only a matter of time before the dam broke, and Krug made that happen when he stepped into a David Perron pass and beat Cal Petersen for a 1-0 lead at 13:12 of the first period.

"We can draw X's and O's up on the board all day long, but at some point, the players have to take ownership of the thing," Krug said. "We have five great players out there. Obviously four of them returning from a great unit last year. We want to be the piece of the puzzle that helps continue power play success. We just talked as a group that we've got to put things on our shoulder and go to work."

It was good timing for Krug as well, who went without a goal in his first four games as a Blue after signing a seven-year, $45.5 million contract Oct. 9. Krug had an assist in four games, but to get the first one, and on the power play to boot, should help the group get its mojo going.

"It feels good," Krug said. "Obviously our power play was not catching any breaks there. We need to work a little bit harder and hopefully now that we've got one, the floodgates will open and we'll feel the confidence to continue to work.

"We'll get a picture with (the puck) and hopefully it's the first of many."

The Blues finished the game 1-for-2 with the man advantage, and 1-for-16 doesn't mean by any means that they've turned the corner, but at least it's a start, and the veterans took it upon themselves to do a little bit of soul searching on Friday just to be on the same page.

"I like that Krug shot the puck from the top," Blues coach Craig Berube said. 'We talked to him about that. That was a good PP.

"He comes from a power play that’s different from this one. We need to establish the shots at the top here. I think that’s how we’ve done things here for a bit. It’s just something that maybe he’s got to get used to. He’s got a good shot and I’d like him to use it."

Perron, who had a goal and an assist, said even with the personnel, it would take the players some time to get on the same page.

"Yeah, it's early in the year, so we can't worry too much about some things," Perron said. "I always find it funny when you start seeing stuff, whatever, 'This guy hasn't scored, or the power play ... It's still we're going through different times right now where we have played some hockey over the summer, but most of the league hasn't played that much since March last year and now we're getting into a 10-day training camp with new faces and we're supposed to just go on and click. Our team structure is probably the biggest thing for us as a team. So I think as we go here, we're hoping that all of those details will come around. I honestly think our coaching staff has done a really good job of showing us some of the little things that we can do better every single time and we're going to keep improving."

It was evident that the Blues moved the puck better, and no better example than Krug's goal.
Schenn quickly took the puck off the boards on his backhand, his the bumper (O'Reilly) in the middle, who moved it to the point. Krug pushed it to Perron in the left circle, who quickly dished back to Krug for the one-timer with Schwartz providing the traffic.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues players Brayden Schenn (10), Torey Krug and David Perron

celebrate Krug's goal against Blake Lizotte (46) and the Kings.

"That's an automatic play when the puck gets bumped back up to me, it has to get to the net one way or another," Krug said. "Those guys worked hard to recover pucks that whole shift, and I think we bobbled it a few times but they recovered it, made the right plays and 'Schwartzy' did the dirty work down in front of the net. All the credit goes to those guys."

All the Blues now have to do is get some consistency going with the man advantage, because they at least the past two games, have leveled off the penalty kill unit after a horrendous start.

"We were rolling for a while there and then we got into some penalty trouble once again," Krug said. "We've got to clean that up. They're a patient team. They sit back, they try to force you into some mistakes. We've just got to mature and grow as a group and just play winning hockey. We showed spurts of it and now we'd like a full 60-minute effort. Overall I thought we did a good job and it was a good win."

(1-23-21) Kings-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- In order for the Blues to play to their strength, which is at 5-on-5, the plan should be pretty simple: stay out of the penalty box.

That will be one goal in mind when the Blues (2-1-1) open a back-to-back set of home games against the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-2), beginning with today at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

The Blues have taken 22 penalties, good for 11 minutes per game, and although their penalty kill was effective in killing off all seven San Jose power plays in a 2-1 shootout loss on Wednesday, playing 5-on-5 serves them better. They've allowed only six even-strength goals in four games.

"Be more disciplined. I think we've got to stay out of the penalty box," defenseman Justin Faulk said. "We've done that way too much, too many times I think, just overall in the four games. 

"If we're out of the box, we can play 5-on-5 and we like our game there. ... We all believe we're a pretty tough team to play against 5-on-5. We're good in the o-zone, we're heavy. In the d-zone, we're quick on pucks and we swarm pretty good and we can break the puck out. If you're not playing 5-on-5, it's tough to have any flow to the game, especially when it's your own doing. Just sticking with it and staying out of the box, get to that game, we'll be alright."

Too many special teams disrupts the flow of the game, and especially in 5-on-5 situations where the Blues have outscored their opponents 10-6.

"It always does. It just limits guys," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "It overworks people and it doesn't get people out on the ice, they sit there too long."

Case in point, was sitting guys too long in the game Wednesday, and the Sharks were able to tax the Blues' top players and prevent them from spending time in the offensive zone.

"We want to stay out of the box more than we have been," forward Zach Sanford said. "It's been tough for the PK, but I think last game was a step in the right direction. Guys were blocking shots and helping each other out. I think we were working a lot harder last game on the PK than we had on the first three and it showed on the scoresheet. We've just got to stick to that game plan and keep working hard and keep earning those kills."

San Jose outshot the Blues 17-3 in the third and had it not been for the solid netminding from Jordan Binnington, who will make his fifth straight start to begin the season, the Blues would have been left without a point.

"We're working through a few things," veteran forward Kyle Clifford said. "It's only been four games and the goal is to get better every game and I felt like we've done that. It's tough without preseason games. Everybody is on the same level as far as teams without preseason games. We're working on our structure and our discipline here."

- - -

Speaking of Clifford, he will be making his second appearance against the Kings after spending nine-plus seasons in Los Angeles before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.

In these different times, normally a former teammate would spend the night before a game with former teammates/friends out to a dinner but with the COVID-19 situation, it was limited to texts and a hello this morning prior to the morning skate

"It's tough. Had to hook up with them in the hallway here, but obviously we're not allowed to mingle with each other too much," Clifford said. "There's been quite a turnover the last two years here, but there's still some guys that I played 10 years with. Just looking to get out there and having some battles with them. They're a good hockey team. Looks like they've added an extra step to their game. Our job is to be prepared and get ready to compete and battle for two points tonight.

"I've kept in touch with most of them throughout the summer and what not. It's good to see them in person."

Of Clifford's 679 NHL regular-season games and 133 points (62 goals, 71 assists), 660 games, 129 points (60 goals, 69 assists) came with the Kings.

- - -

The Blues begin a stretch of playing six games in nine days and 14 games in 24 days beginning tonight.

And in a 56-game season, the 14 games represents a quarter of the season and means little to no practice time after Friday's workout at Centene Community Ice Center.

"You're probably not going to have a lot of practice time," Berube said. "There's a lot of games being played here, so we're going to have to monitor that, go off how guys feel. I don't look too far ahead. All I care about is tomorrow's game. That's the honest truth. I'm not looking anywhere past that."

There will be days off in between, and three sets of back-to-back games in all.

"A lot of it's going to be on us making sure that we're taking care of the bodies," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "They're not just the games, it's going to be a lot of traveling going out west and coming back home and stuff like that. We've really got to make sure we're doing our best to take care of ourselves, make sure that we put ourselves in good positions and just realize how important each game is and how short this season is. No easy games in this division, no easy games in this league, period. It's going to be on us to make sure we're ready for each game."

"It's obviously a little different than a normal year," Sanford said. "It's back-to-back and then a couple tough games next week. I think it's just taking care of yourself during practice and off the ice too, eating the right things and getting the right rest and making sure you're ready to go every night."

- - -

Marco Scandella, who missed Wednesday with an upper-body injury, will return to the lineup tonight, per Berube, and put Niko Mikkola back in the press box.

Mikkola gives the Blues a solid option when called upon and the Finnish-born tall, lanky defenseman keeps knocking on the door of becoming a regular in the lineup.

Mikkola played 14:25 in the loss Wednesday, his sixth game in the NHL, and logged 4:59 on the penalty kill.

"He's a big body and takes up a lot of space," Berube said of Mikkola. "He's got a long stick and a big stick. That's what you need out there in those situations."

- - -

The Blues are still searching for a goal from one of their top-line forwards in Sanford, Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron.

In four games, that trip has been limited to three assists (one for each) through four games.

"We've got to be more connected, especially on the forecheck," Sanford said. "We haven't been forechecking as good as we have in the past. It's on me, it's on them too, it's on all of us getting in there. It's the F1 breaking plays up and the next guy being right there for a quick little play to attack."

- - -

The Kings come in fresh off a 4-2 win against Colorado, a game in which they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win. After nearly pulling off a first comeback win before falling 3-2 to the Avalanche on Tuesday, Los Angeles has the Blues' attention.

"They're playing better," Berube said. "They're playing hard, they're aggressive. It's going to be a hard game. They're an up-and-coming team. They still have some very good players from the old Stanley Cup teams. It'll be a hard game. Every game's hard.

"They've revamped their team obviously, added some more speed, things like that to their lineup. They're working hard. They've got some speed in their lineup now, they go to the net hard, and they still have some really good veterans that were on those winning teams, (Anze) Kopitar, (Jeff) Carter, (Drew) Doughty, (Jonathan) Quick, (Dustin) Brown. They still have a good core of veterans and they're building with their young guys."

Seemingly gone are the days of the big, heavy, burly Kings that grounded and pounded teams in winning two Stanley Cup titles (2012 and 2014). There are more younger players sprinkled into the lineup with a good cast of veterans.

"They seem to play a pretty quick game," Faulk said. "Based on what we've seen, they're pretty quick in the offensive zone. They hound, they're pretty quick on the forecheck, they send two guys and then even in the d-zone, it looks like they swarm pretty good around their net. It looks like they're trying to play quick and make things tough on us on both ends of the ice. We've just got to be prepared for that and stick with our systems and make it tough on them as well."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Mike Hoffman-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Carl Gunnarsson

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.

Sammy Blais and Niko Mikkola are healthy scratches. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out with injuries.

- - -

The Kings' projected lineup:

Alex Iafallo-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe 

Andreas Athanasiou-Blake Lizotte-Jeff Carter

Lias Andersson-Gabriel Vilardi-Dustin Brown

Carl Grundstrom-Michael Amadio-Trevor Moore

Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty

Kale Clague-Matt Roy

Kurtis MacDermid-Sean Walker

Calvin Petersen will start in goal; Jonathan Quick will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Olli Maatta, Austin Wagner and Mark Alt. Matt Luff (undisclosed), Martin Frk (lower body) and Alex Turcotte (lower body) are out.

(1-23-21) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Berube hammers points to players at practice; power play on wrong side of 

team record; Parayko, Scandella skate; Mikkola impresses in season debut

By LOU KORAC
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- There was no mistaking Blues coach Craig Berube's voice on Friday at the Centene Community Ice Center.

It didn't matter which rink the Blues were practicing on, the voice would be stern.

Not happy with his team's compete level and lack of skating following Wednesday's 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks, Berube made his feelings known what he wants to see moving forward as they prepare for back-to-back home games against the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-2) beginning Saturday.

"I just think that sometimes after a day off you've got to push them and get them going. I think that's part of it," Berube said after practice Friday. "There's a lot of times after a day off they're not into it yet. I wanted to make sure we got the full practice today and everything was good and we're sharp. Things have got to get better. We've got to keep getting better.

"We always want to get two points, but there's things that we didn't do well enough in that game that we've got to be better. We've got to clean penalties up for sure, power play needs to score or even create momentum for us and we've got to be a harder team to play against. I that game, I didn't see a hard enough forecheck or enough compete on pucks."

The players downplayed Berube's tone, but it was definitely there.

"It's the same as he's always been," forward Zach Sanford said. "It's all business and I think from the coaches down to the players, we know we can do better. I think today was a good work day and we're ready to go for tomorrow."

"He just wants us to be the best we can out there," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "He's motivating us and wants us to push in the right direction and make sure we're not satisfied with the way that we've started. We've gotten points in three of the four is good but not great. He just wants is to make sure we're not satisfied, we keep looking forward and we know how good of a team we are. When we play well, we work hard. Just making sure we're keeping our eyes looking forward and in the right direction."

The Blues are 2-1-1 and have taken five of eight possible points, which is a good clip, but the inconsistencies that have appeared (too many penalties, lack of a power play, compete level) is something they want to get corrected quicker than expected during a shortened season of 56 games.

"I think there's always room to grow and there's going to be throughout the season," Parayko said. "I think we're going to see different things throughout the season whether it be systems or power play or penalty kill that we want to change. That's just how this season's going to go, it's going to be quick, we didn't have a ton of time during training camp and obviously we have some new faces, but so far, we've done fairly well. We're 2-1-1 but we're not satisfied with that in the sense that the season's short, not many games, we want to make sure we get points, as many points as we can early on here and get off to a good start because near the end, it's going to be crazy right on and our division is very good. 2-1-1 is good but there's always room for improvement for sure."

* Power play drought -- The Blues, who were third in the NHL last season with the man advantage at 24.3 percent, have gotten off to a rough 0-for-14 start through four games this season.

It's only the second time in team history that they've gone four games to start the season without a power play goal (1973-74 was the other when they went the first five games without a power-play goal), and on Friday, got some extensive work in on it, and for now, the coaching staff is sticking with the same units with one exception.

Jordan Kyrou, who took a shift on the power play in the third period Wednesday, will stay with the unit of Robert Thomas, Tyler Bozak, Mike Hoffman and Vince Dunn. He replaces Sanford.

"I think that the power play, we're not scoring right now, so he's a very good player for us right now, he's competing hard (and) he's producing," Berube said of Kyrou.

Torey Krug, Brayden Schenn, Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron and Jaden Schwartz remained the top unit, a group that got in some extensive work with assistant coach Jim Montgomery.

"I think they're still finding their way (with) chemistry," Berube said. "We've got some new people on it. That's part of all the process, but I still think we can get more pucks to the net. I don't think we're looking to attack enough and create enough chaos or even momentum for our team."

* Parayko, Scandella skate -- Parayko and fellow defenseman Marco Scandella, who missed Wednesday's game with an upper-body injury stemming from a hit in the defensive zone along the wall by San Jose's Timo Meier, were full participants in practice on Friday and were part of the regular line rotations.

Berube said they, "both feel good. Hopefully they're good to go tomorrow."

Scandella took part in the optional skate Wednesday, but before Friday, Parayko had been a limited participant or not been on the ice at all since the skate on Sunday when he left towards the tail end of it a few minutes early. He hasn't missed a game, however.

"I feel great. It's good," Parayko said. "Obviously anything that's kind of nagging for anybody is going to be something you want to take care of and monitor with the short season."

As for defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who's missed the past two games with an upper-body injury believed to be concussion-related stemming from a hit from behind by Colorado's Valeri Nichushkin, Berube said, "Not yet, no. He's still out. That's the most information I can give you on that."

* Mikkola impresses -- Defenseman Niko Mikkola, who made his season debut and sixth NHL game Wednesday, impressed the coaching staff once again.

The 2016 fifth-round pick stepped in for the injured Scandella and played 14:25, including 4:59 on the penalty kill when the Blues were 7-for-7.

"We were very happy with him," Berube said. "He's played good hockey for us here, he was good on the penalty kill, he closes plays out, he's hard to play against. We'll see going forward how we're going to use people and he'll get his opportunity."

Penalties rearing their ugly heads for Blues early in season

Team took seven minors in a 2-1 shootout loss against Sharks on 

Wednesday at Enterprise Center, helping Sharks gain two-game split 

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- A point is a point, and in the NHL, you have to take them when you can get them.

But in the Blues' case of a 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday at Enterprise Center, this was a really good point because it was probably one they didn't deserve but also one that could have easily turned into two, if that makes sense.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Jordan Binnington (right) makes a save on Sharks center Tomas Hertl in

front of teammate Justin Faulk on Wednesday.

For the first time this season, the Blues (2-1-1) scored first, but couldn't finish the deal, and bottom line, it was penalties that did them in.

The Blues took seven minor penalties in the game, giving them 22 for the season, which tied for third-most in the league, and their 44 penalty minutes through four games is tied for fifth-most.

A penalty kill that came in dead-last in the NHL at 42.9 percent (6-for-14 kill efficiency) can't afford to spend all that time in the box, but believe it or not, the Blues were a perfect 7-for-7 on Wednesday. Killing them off wasn't the problem this time, but having to spend so much time in the box takes away from other parts of the game, and it really reared its ugly head when the Blues, who killed two brief 5-on-3 Sharks power-plays, spent much of the third period in their zone and got outshot 17-3.

"PK killed off seven penalties. I mean two, 5-on-3's. It's ridiculous, the penalties," an upset Blues coach Craig Berube said after the game. "We can't go to the box that much. It's really hard on people, it's hard on our team. Can't get to our game because of it. I don't know where we're at in the league penalty-wise, but might be leading the league."

A hooking call on David Perron 200 feet from his net started it all in the first period. Then there was an inadvertent delay of game minor on Colton Parayko late in the first the killer, the all-too-familiar too many men minor ... while on the power play.

And this one was as simple as Parayko jumping out of the penalty box himself and scooting to his bench. Perron jumps on in his place, but hold on, he leaes too soon, the linesman catches it and boom. There goes the power play.

"Well it's not a smart play," Berube said. "You've got to wait until the guy gets to the box. That's it."

Asked if he had any problems with the calls, Berube said, "No.

"They're penalties. That's why they call them."

The Blues were able to weather those in the first and come out of the period 0-0, and then got the lead when Brayden Schenn scored at 4:27 in the second for a 1-0 lead, but then penalties became an issue again.

Defenseman Torey Krug gets called for holding, and at the tail end of that kill, Oskar Sundqvist takes an ill-advised slashing penalty with 20 seconds left on Krug's penalty.
The Blues got away with that two-man disadvantage thanks to Evander Kane's knuckleheadedness -- he took four of San Jose's five minors on the night, including the first four -- that included spearing Jordan Binnington late in the period.

"Then it was Carl Gunnarsson jettisoned to the box for slashing near the midpoint of the third, and Parayko was called for a second time in the game, this time for holding midway through the period, a penalty that may have actually saved the Blues from giving up the lead of a 1-1 game because they were scrambling around their own net like a hot potato.

They couldn't clear pucks on a regular basis, and San Jose was buzzing.

Thanks to Binnington and his 37 saves for the game, it remained that way.

"It's a 1-1 game and just compete," Binnington said. "Our kill hasn't been doing so well coming into this game, so we know we wanted to have a good penalty kill, special teams. I think we had a good night in that department. But, you know, not the outcome we wanted.

"They had a little more juice. In a two-game series, losing the first game, they want to come out hard and win the next game. They were coming hard. We worked. It's coming together. But yeah, they had a good game."

The Blues may have righted the PK for one game, but it's not the style of game they want to play that taxes certain players out.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues defenseman Colton Parayko steps into a slap shot during a 2-1

shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.

"Yeah, PK was definitely better," Schenn said. "I still think it wasn't our best effort as a team 5-on-5. I think we have a lot to clean up there. Binner made some good saves, he was on his game tonight and helped us get a point. So we know we can be a little bit better but at the end of the day, it's tough winning against the same team on back-to-backs or playing the same team twice. So I guess we grabbed a point and moved forward."

In taking so many minors, the Blues turned pucks over, didn't win loose pucks and were outworked along the walls, and Berube noticed it.

"We've got a lot of guys that aren't skating and not competing hard enough," he said matter-of-factly.

"It was a weird game," Schenn said. "It just felt like special teams, and not much rhythm, not much pace to it. But like I said, we've got to find a way to clean up a few things. Be better. We just can't be satisfied with getting one point."

(1-20-21) Sharks-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues appear to be making one change to their lineup for the rematch against the San Jose Sharks (8 p.m.; FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

Sammy Blais, fresh off his two-game suspension stemming from a hit to the head of Colorado's Devon Toews in the season-opener, will jump into the lineup for veteran Kyle Clifford.

The Blues (2-1-0), who beat the Sharks 5-4 Monday, held a highly-populated optional morning skate ahead of their game with San Jose Wednesday, and Blais left the ice early while Clifford stayed on the ice to get in work long with Mackenzie MacEachern long after everyone else had left.

"Yeah, maybe," Blues coach Craig Berube answered when asked if Blais would play. "I still haven't made that decision, but that's what I'm leaning towards and it could happen."
With Blais in the lineup, he'll join a line with Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist.

"He's obviously a physical guy and really skilled," Sundqvist said of Blais. "Me and 'Barbs' have played with him before, so it's going to be easy to play with him again. I think Cliffy has done a great job playing with us. I'm sure we're going to swap around during the season when it's so tight and there are so many games. Just keep playing our game. We know what Chief and the coaching staff and our team expect from us. Just keep doing what we've been doing. I'm sure he's excited to be back in the lineup."

Clifford, who scored in the opener against Colorado, played just 6:09 in the game, one that had plenty of special teams involved and a lot of goals. And with a compressed schedule, the Blues will have to utilize everyone to keep bodies fresh as often as possible.

"We've got healthy bodies now too so it's good to keep it that way," Sundqvist said. "I think we have such a deep team, it doesn't really matter who's in the lineup. Everyone knows their job and what to do. I think that's one of our strengths this season that we're so deep on both ends."

- - -

Defensemen Colton Parayko and Marco Scandella, who did not practice on Tuesday because of what Berube called a maintenance day, were on the ice Wednesday.
Parayko skated briefly and took in some light self drills before departing, while Scandella put in a full skate.

Berube said he believes they will play tonight.

- - -

The Blues will be searching for their first 1-0 lead of the season after surrendering the first goal in each of the first three games.

Historically, teams that score first tend to win 67 percent of the time, while teams that don't, win 33 percent of the time.

"I think it'll come," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly said. "I think with bounces and such. I thought we played a great first period last game and we come out of it we're down 2-0. That happens, but there's no panic in our game. We knew it would come and that's exactly what happened. We get a break, someone makes a great play and gets us going and then it steamrolls from there. We'd like to score first and not look back, but it is a game. It's 60 minutes and it's about constantly building our game the best way possible, and if we score first, we score first and if not, we'll crawl back into it."

Berube isn't concerned with it yet either. He feels the Blues have been knocking on the door early in games.

"Even the second Colorado game, we had opportunities in the first period," Berube said. "I thought last game we really came out strong the first 10 minutes, we had some chances, but it'll come. You've got to deal with things, and if we're down, we'll fight back and hopefully we can score first. That's what we want to do, but that's not always going to be the case. You just go play.

- - -

The NHL announced on Tuesday that as of Tuesday's games, the League will be using game pucks without the imbedded tracking technology. The decision was made after concerns were raised about the puck’s performance during the first few days of the 2020-21 season. A review by the league determined that the first supply of 2020-21 pucks did not receive the same precise finishing treatments during the off-season manufacturing process as were used during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It is expected that a new supply of the league’s “tracking pucks” will be available soon and, after undergoing appropriate quality control testing, will be back in use for all games. In the interim, the league will use the official game pucks from the 2019-20 season and will continue to utilize player tracking technology for all games.

Berube and Sundqvist didn't even realize the pucks were different, but O'Reilly played along, jokingly

"Yeah, it wouldn't go in the net for me," O'Reilly said. "That was obviously a big change. Maybe I'll be scoring a lot more now. 

"I didn't really notice anything. Couldn't really tell if there's any difference. For us, I think most guys haven't noticed anything."

- - -

* Jordan Kyrou has scored the game-winner in each of the two Blues' wins and ce can become the 10th player in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to score each of his team’s first three game-winning goals in a season (regardless of when they occurred). The only Blues player to achieve the feat is Bernie Federko (three in 1981-82).

* O'Reilly needs one more assist for 100 with the Blues.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou 

Mike Hoffman-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak 

Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist-Sammy Blais

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Carl Gunnarsson

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.

Mackenzie MacEachern, Kyle Clifford and Niko Mikkola will be healthy scratches. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out.

- - -

The Sharks' projected lineup:

Ryan Donato-Logan Couture-Kevin Labanc

Timo Meier-Tomas Hertl-Evander Kane

John Leonard-Dylan Gambrell-Stefan Noesen

Marcus Sorensen-Patrick Marleau-Matt Nieto

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Erik Karlsson

Mario Ferraro-Brent Burns

Nikolai Knyzhov-Radim Simek

Martin Jones will start in goal; Devan Dubnyk will be the backup. 

Noah Gregor, Fredrik Handemark and Jacob Middleton are healthy scratches. The Shark report no injuries.