Route to Stanley Cup in 2019 always had bumps, Blues always had response;
being 0-5 thus far, players say confidence hasn't wavered despite slide
The Blues knew when they entered the Edmonton bubble that there would be ample time to fix what needs fixing if things were to go wrong.
After all, eight of the 24 teams that entered the respective bubbles of Edmonton and Toronto knew there would be life after an exhibition game and three ... well, three more exhibition games on a race for the top four seeds in each respective conference to prep for round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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| (St. Louis Blues photo)
Ryan O'Reilly (90) and the Blues look to rebound against the Canucks and
goalie Jacob Markstrom (25) in Game 2 on Friday.
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And from the Blues' perspective, there a number of uncharacteristic errors, particularly in the third periods of those games, that needed fixing.
But they had time, time to look at video, get on the practice ice and hone in on drills that would help rectify some of those errors.
Well, that time now has a date on it, and it's associated with a fourth loss of a playoff series, something the Blues haven't experienced since 2017.
Yes, the play was better in a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round series, but there were costly errors at critical junctures of the game, and not just the third period where everything seems to be magnified because the game was 2-2 and the result hanging in the balance, but sprinkled throughout.
With games every other day, or in some cases, on back-to-back days, the time to fix is of utmost importance.
"Obviously there's more of a timeline with it being a series, there's obviously an end to it at some point, but I think we still have time to watch video, get on the ice a few times as we go here," defenseman Justin Faulk said. "I think we did have a pretty good first two periods last night and that was probably our best game we've played since we've been here. I think we're building in the right direction and I don't foresee it being much of an issue going forward."
Faulk was right, it probably was the best two periods the Blues have played since entering Edmonton. Aside from the opening five minutes or so, they were physical without their top two hitters on the team (Sammy Blais and Ivan Barbashev), they began to wear down the Canucks with puck possession as the game wore on, but credit to Vancouver's young core for absorbing the Blues' blows and staying resilient before striking on a couple mistakes and getting the upper hand in the series.
"Unfortunately the goal happens and I felt like we lost our life a little bit after that and our energy," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We've got to make sure that that doesn't happen. Things happen in the playoffs, goals here, things happen and you've got to make sure your energy stays up and spirits stay up.
"... I thought we were doing that (wearing Vancouver down) last night. I really did in my opinion. Other than their power plays, we didn't give them much. I thought we were controlling the offensive zone like we normally do. Third period, I thought our start was good, but we made a couple mistakes that went in our net and we lost our energy after that. That third goal, we've got to make sure that doesn't affect us like it did last night. I thought it killed our spirit a little bit, killed our energy and that can't happen in the playoffs. We've got to come out next shift and just get right back at what we were doing well. That's what we were so good at before. We've got to get back to that. We've come from behind. We won in a lot of different ways and fashions, so we can't let one goal affect us like it did last night."
For a veteran group to lose its composure after a goal is surprising, considering what the majority of this group went through last season.
"I thought we were playing a real good game up until then," forward Troy Brouwer said. "We were chasing it a little bit with the penalties and having to come from behind. Schwartzy had a great individual effort on the second goal. When they score the third goal, especially in the third period, it's always tough, can be a little bit deflating, but I still thought we handled it pretty well, kept pressing and it just wasn't to be for last night."
Game 2 is Friday at 5:30 p.m. (FS-MW, NHL Network, ESPN 101.1-FM), and when the Blues lost a game last season in the playoffs, their bounceback ability was rather profound. They never trailed a series by more than a game and will be looking for more of that bounceback -- and first win in Edmonton -- to level the series back up.
That's why confidence isn't an issue, especially to the guys within the locker room walls.
"That may look like that from the outside perspective, but in our dressing room, we're very confident on our group," Brouwer said. "We have, what is it, 20 Stanley Cup champions on this team, and with that is experience. Obviously the round-robin didn't go exactly we we liked, but we were still working, building. But our game has made a lot of progression in the last couple days, including last night as well. Still a few things to clean up, but the confidence in our team, it hasn't wavered."
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| (St. Louis Blues photo)
Jaden Schwartz (left) scored in Game 1, but the Blues will be looking to get
Vladimir Tarasenko (91) on the scoreboard for the first time on Friday.
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Exactly what Berube wants to hear, and that's why his message to them on Friday hasn't changed since his arrival.
"We always look at stuff and try and improve on, things that we can do better so we went over that," Berube said. "The other thing is moving on from last game. In the playoffs, you've got to move on from things. You can't just dwell on a loss or you can't think about a win too much. You've got to move on, it's a new game tomorrow. We've got to try and just play a little bit better. Going into the third period, I thought we carried the play, but in the third period, we made a couple mistakes as we've been doing in some of these games and it's cost us, so we've got to clean that up."
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