By LOU KORAC
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Now that the dust has settled and the Blues know what group they will have for the remaining 19 games of the regular-season, they feel it's best now to put their best foot forward and try to put a halt to the longest losing streak since the end of the 2013-14 season.
The Blues (34-25-4), who have lost six in a row and lost Paul Stastny on Monday after trading the veteran center to the Winnipeg Jets for conditional picks and prospect Erik Foley, musty pick up the pieces and move forward, and that's what they'll do tonight when they play the red-hot Minnesota Wild (35-20-7), who have won four in a row and are 6-1-1 their past eight games (7 p.m.; NBCSN, KMOX 1120-AM).
The Blues will try to avoid a seventh straight loss, which hasn't happened since an 0-5-2 run from Dec. 26, 2009-Jan. 7, 2010.
"This is our group," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I think that there's a lot of people around the league, whether it's in the game, out of the game, I think that a lot of people are sort of ready to determine how our story ends here, but the beauty of the game is we're the ones that get to decide that. We've got obviously a big stretch coming up here and every game is going to be a challenge, but we still believe we've go the group to do it."
There was still some sting in the locker room of losing a guy like Stastny, who Alexander Steen called a "glue guy" on Monday who was St. Louis to the roots after signing a four-year free agent contract on July 1, 2014 to play in the town he grew up in.
"You don't want to see a good friend, a veteran player, a guy who is a top player on the team leave, but it's always a tough time of the year," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "Nothing we can do now except grab this thing and opportunity for some other people guys to kind of move forward and take some more responsibility.
"... It sucks when you're one point out of a (playoff) spot and haven't won some games and you lose a guy who's a key piece. It's just an opportunity for some other guys to step up and obviously coaches and management think that these guys are capable or else they wouldn't be in these roles. Tonight is an opportunity for us to kind of grab this thing and guys to step up and show what they can do."
There has to be some relief to know that the trade deadline has come and gone but the Blues weren't able to get any help from management with the push for the rest of the season.
"I don't know if relief is the right word, but at least now we know where we are," Pietrangelo said. "We know nothing's going to happen. It's the guys in this locker room that can change this thing. That's how we're treating it today and some good responsibilities for some other guys to step up.
"... I'm not going to comment on subtracting and adding. This is the group that we have. This is the group that's going to push forward and push us into a playoff spot and we go from there."
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With Stastny out of the picture, players like Tage Thompson, Ivan Barbashev and Nikita Soshnikov will get thrust into more prominent roles.
Barbashev will center a line with Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko.
"He played center for us last year," Yeo said of Barbashev, who started at center on a top line with Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz when the playoffs began last season with Stastny injured. "He played against a really good team that we're playing here tonight and he played at the highest level in the playoffs. He was playing on our first line. His competitiveness, his defensive game was solid and good enough and when you've got a player like 'Vladi' out there who can create basically on his own, you've got to make sure he's surrounded with guys that can do the right thing defensively and work ethic-wise to help them get him the puck."
Soshnikov, who made his Blues debut in a 4-0 loss at Nashville on Sunday, moves into a top six role and will play with Brayden Schenn and Schwartz.
"Part of obviously is we've only seen the one game from 'Sosh' but I was impressed with him, his speed and his competitiveness," Yeo said. "I feel that that could add to two guys that obviously work very hard, two skilled players like 'Schwartzy' and 'Schenner' with 'Stas' departing there. We saw 'Barby' step up in that role, in that situation late in the year and into the playoffs and he did a real good job. When you lose a player like 'Stas,' there's an opportunity for somebody and 'Barby' is one of those guys."
Yeo was asked if Thompson, a natural center iceman, was considered to perhaps center that Steen and Tarasenko line.
"No, that wasn't a thought of ours," Yeo said. "Tage is doing well and he's another guy that's going to get a really good opportunity and we looked at some clips this morning. Every game, there's two or three good scoring chances, things that he's involved in, but there's parts of his game that still have to improve. I think that for him right now, he's at the right spot in terms of matchups and players that he's going to play against. It'll still give him an opportunity to show what he can do and certainly have an opportunity to grow and gain more but this is what we settled on today."
Instead, Thompson will start on right wing on a line with Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka and is looking forward to playing a more prominent role.
"It's a huge opportunity for me obviously," Thompson said. "It's sad seeing 'Stas' go. He was really great with me and helping me adjust to the pro game and feel comfortable here. It's a good opportunity and I've just got to take advantage of it."
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said he was receiving calls on the Blues' four top prospects (Thompson, Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Klim Kostin) and was unwilling to part with any of them, and Thompson is grateful.
"I didn't see that, but obviously it feels good," Thompson said. "It means they've got a lot of faith and trust and hope in us. I've just got to do my part and make sure I prove them right in making that decision."
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The Blues are going back to a familiar defensive pair with Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester for the game tonight.
Bouwmeester, who didn't take part in the morning skate, has been a partner of Pietrangelo's in the past, including time for Canada at the Winter Olympics.
"Just going back to some familiarity," Yeo said. "Gotta try and shake things up a little bit back there and obviously, whether it's the focus on scoring goals that we have right now, we're just giving up too many. So we've got to tighten up."
Also, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who's missed the past three games since sustaining a left knee injury Feb. 16 at Dallas, skated for the first time in Bouwmeester's spot but is not ready to return.
"It was his first day getting on the ice, so he's not an option for tonight," Yeo said. "... It was his first day, he was taking it pretty easy, but I thought he looked fine."
Jake Allen gets the start in goal, his third in a row, and sixth in the past eight games. He's 2-13-0 his past 15 starts but in his 13 losses, he has just 16 goals of support, or 1.23 per game
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So what's the skinny on Foley, who is a junior at Providence College? Thompson said the Blues did well in acquiring him.
Thompson was a teammate of Foley's at the 2017 World Junior Championships for USA and played against him while at the University of Connecticut.
"I think we're getting a really good power forward," Thompson said of Foley. "He's a great guy, I hung out with him a lot at world juniors. He was one of my better, closer friends there, I'd say. He's really strong on the puck, he's really good below the dots in the offensive zone, good with the puck, good speed, good shot. He's a real heavy player. I think he'll be really good for us in the future.
"We got a chance to play on the same line I think for maybe a few periods there. And I know him from playing against him in college. Obviously we played against each other for a couple years there. I'm really excited to have him here in the future. He's a great guy and an even better player."
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Alexander Steen-Ivan Barbashev-Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Nikita Soshnikov
Patrik Berglund-Vladimir Sobotka-Tage Thompson
Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Dmitrij Jaskin
Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn-Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson-Jordan Schmaltz
Jake Allen will start in goal; Carter Hutton will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Chris Thorburn and Oskar Sundqvist. Robby Fabbri (knee) is out for the season. Joel Edmundson (forearm) and Robert Bortuzzo (knee) are out.
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The Wild's projected lineup:
Jason Zucker-Eric Staal-Mikael Granlund
Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Nino Niederreiter
Charlie Coyle-Joel Eriksson Ek-Tyler Ennis
Daniel Winnik-Matt Cullen-Marcus Foligno
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler-Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk will start in goal; Alex Stalock will be the backup.
The healthy scratch is Gustav Olofsson. The Wild report no injuries.
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