Depleted Blues better start trusting, supporting each other on the ice before season goes haywire

Yes, injuries are causing some challenging times for Blues, 3-0 loss to Kings 

shows some alarming trends that continue to grow, trust being one of them

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- They 10 words that came from the thoughts from captain Ryan O'Reilly, at times throughout his press conference Monday that broke off into different segments and sprouted like branches representing different sorts of thoughts, spoke volumes regarding where the state of the Blues are right now these days.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly (left) said the team is having issues trusting one

another, trusting the process on these ice these days. 

"I don't think we're trusting ourselves very much right now," O'Reilly said after a discouraging 3-0 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Enterprise Center that left the decimated Blues (10-7-2) just 1-4-1 in their last six games here.

Even with a depleted lineup that took another hit when defenseman Carl Gunnarsson appears to have sustained some sort of serious injury to his right leg or knee in the second period that will now sideline the veteran for an extended period of time, to hear players talk of having trust issues, even with a veteran lineup where most of the players have played together for a lengthy amount of time, including win a Stanley Cup together in 2019, is troublesome, and needs fixing pretty quickly or this train that is on the verge of derailment will spiral out of control.

It's a Blues squad that is seriously disjointed right now, one that is a turnover machine in its own end and one that can't seem to find its way out of the ocean if it were in their own end, and one that has lost its will. Teams are doing to the Blues that the Blues used to teams: forecheck, hit, hunt, hound, recoup pucks ... wash, rinse, repeat. And it's worked to perfection.
But the Blues have a new sort of makeup now, and with regulars Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Bozak, Jaden Schwartz, Colton Parayko, Ivan Barbashev and now Gunnarsson out of the lineup for who knows how long -- Tarasenko is on the horizon -- it's made that sort of transition from the big, bad bully of the neighborhood to a more balanced roster filled with more finesse and speed compromising.

And it's hurting them in an inconsistent-filled first 19 games of this 56-game schedule.
But to find that guys are second-guessing what the teammate next to them is doing, not supporting one another on the ice that the Blues have been so accustomed to doing is puzzling.

"Yeah, I think so. I think as a group, sometimes we rely on what has worked in the past and get a little wrapped up on it and think we know how to do it," O'Reilly said. "And when we rely too much on that and think we know what it takes instead of just reinventing ourselves and trusting the compete level. That's where the winning comes from and the exciting hockey comes from. Right now, we just think it might be a little too easy and not having that trust factor where you're trusting that guy's going to compete beside you and he knows you're going to compete and it just kind of builds from there. It's surprising a bit but it happens. It's something that at least we know that we can change."

So why is this happening?

Good question.

The Blues can't blame it on the new guys in the lineup anymore. They've played roughly 30 percent of the season now. They can't blame the taxi squad guys because they are new, and despite being limited in their abilities to a degree, they do what's asked of them. 

"I'm not sure how (O'Reilly) said it, but I think what he means is no matter who's out there, trust the guy that's going to do the job," Blues assistant captain Brayden Schenn said, "and it's going to be tough some nights and you're not going to have chemistry with different linemates and new linemates and you've got to try and find ways to trust the process and ultimately find a way to win and grab two points."

So who helps the players gain one another's trust? Coaches? The players themselves? Both? How does one go about regaining the trust that's been so consistent some games but grossly inconsistent in others?

"We talk about it all the time," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We've got a lot of new players. You've got to find chemistry and you've got to trust each other. That's the only way you get out of this is by playing like a team and working as a team. That's the stuff that we talk about all the time and we'll continue to do that."

Against the Kings (8-6-3), who have won five in a row and are surging in the standings, the Blues had a decent start but not enough drive, passion and netfront presence around Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.

Then L.A. started to build some momentum, and when Robert Bortuzzo took a tripping penalty trying to bail out d-partner Vince Dunn, who looked like he was caught in quicksand while Andreas Athanasiou was wasting little time blowing past the Blues d-man, the Kings pounced on a loose puck and deposited it into the net late in the first period for a 1-0 lead.
Game. Set. Match.

The Blues mounted little until it was too late, and by the meaning too late is a horrendous Zach Sanford turnover -- where has that been said before? -- in his own zone that resulted in a two-goal lead for the Kings.

These are the sorts of puck errors the Blues have been making and opponents are making them pay in a big way.

"You've got to make better plays with the puck for sure and better decisions," Berube said. "You turn pucks over in the D-zone, it obviously causes problems. Our puck play has got to get better than it is right now. We don't execute good enough with the puck right now in all three zones. That's got to get better.

"It's not even awareness as much as we have the puck and we give it back to them. And then we didn't defend off (the second goal) very well when the guy takes it to the net. We were in position to defend him but we didn't."

The Blues showed some passion and energy in the third period but too little, too late. They're making a habit of playing catch-up because of glaring errors with the puck, or a lack of discipline. 

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

David Perron (57) and the Blues were smothered by Trevor Moore (12)

and the Los Angeles Kings on Monday in a 3-0 loss.

One way or the other, things need to change, whether they get some of these important pieces back in the lineup, or they find a way to rally around what they have and play more consistent hockey, because as it's constructed right now, this team will plummet in the West Division if this trend continues.

"I think there is a bigger issue that is our overall game and it's kind of ... we need to kind of at least learn how to lose together, lose as a team before we can win as a team," O'Reilly said. "It's just kind of being tight and not thinking as much and really supporting each other and having that kind of trust not only in our own game but our teammates' games. You can tell there's a little hesitation now. We don't want to make mistakes and it's putting us on our heels and you don't get bounces and find a way to put the puck in the net and we all get frustrated. Every one in that room is frustrated right now and wants to play better. We have an opportunity where we have to come together. We have to come together and rely on each other to get ourselves out of this and find our identity."