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."