(3-16-22) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Buchnevich practices, Thomas, Krug do not; players view as trade 

deadline nears; Blues haven't had it good in OT; Sundqvist managing injuries 

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues were back on the ice Tuesday, in the middle of their final three-day stretch between games for the remainder of the regular season.

Forward Pavel Buchnevich, out the past three games in concussion protocol, was on the ice for the first time in a week wearing a red no-contact jersey.

"He finished practice, which was good," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "You kind of got to see how he feels tomorrow."

Buchnevich, who has 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) in 50 games, got in a full workload of cardio but no hitting. 

"Just see how he handles that with your head," Berube said.

Center Robert Thomas, who missed Sunday's 4-3 overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets due to a non-COVID related illness, missed practice, and defenseman Torey Krug was also kept off the ice for maintenance purposes.

"Still not doing any (good)," Berube said of Thomas. "We'll see how he is tomorrow. I can't really give you an answer on that one.

"Krug will be at practice tomorrow. We're just managing him."

* No bueno in OT -- The Blues overtime record this season has not been, to put it kindly, all that good. 

Losing to the Jets dropped their mark to 1-6 in games decided by the five-minute 3-on-3 session. Only the Buffalo Sabres are worse at 1-7.

The Blues put in little to no practice for 3-on-3 situations, largely because it can be hard to simulate the situations that can arise there.

"It's hard to practice 3-on-3 and get the certain situations that come up," Berube said. "I thought about it a little bit, practicing it but it's not an easy thing to practice. You can't make up scenarios in 3-on-3s. It's not a lot of system-wise going into 3-on-3. It's just what it is, you've normally got three skilled guys out there, your top-skilled players and it's about capitalizing on your opportunities, but it's also about being patient and not wasting shots if you're not in position to score. 

"It's about getting the face-off. We didn't win the draw (Sunday). We didn't have the puck. We had the puck the one time and we got a good opportunity from David Perron, but that was the only time we had the puck the whole time. You've got to be patient and have composure anf then you've got to take the puck out of the zone a lot of times, get some line changes in there, get fresh guys out there and then you can't poach on anything. If you don't have the puck, you can't poach on anything. You've got to stay patient and keep them on the outside as much as you can. I think we've lost three or four games this year where we just poached and didn't do a good job there and we ended up giving an odd-man rush."

The goal the Jets scored by Pierre-Luc Dubois had them with three forwards on the ice at the same time, something that's rare but not unforeseen.

"You can try and attack them if you do get the puck," said Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, who was on the ice for the 2-on-1 that the Jets scored on in OT. "They had good possession obviously on us, but it's an opportunity for us to get the chance to get on the offense too because if you can get them in their zone maybe, it could be a good opportunity. Obviously they had good puck control for the overtime and then ended up working out (for them), but it was different. I don't know if we've seen three forwards.

"I think puck possession's a big thing. Just the little things, I don't know, 3-on-3s an open game, it's pretty open, a lot of skilled guys. If there's one breakdown or something like that, the puck can go in the back of the net pretty quickly. But also at the other end for us too. There seems to be a couple good chances for each team and you've just got to bury it, put it in the net if you have a chance. Puck possession's kind of the name of the game in overtime. Just get possession, good changes and stuff like that."

* Trade deadline looming -- With the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, Monday at 2 p.m. (CT) to be exact, it's only natural for players throughout the 32 teams to be wondering who stays, who goes, will the roster be the same or not when it comes to dealings management takes part in.

For teams like the Blues in the thick of the playoff race, or for those as certain lock-ins looking for that one piece or two that can put them over the top, or even those rebuilding and looking to the future, times can certainly be unnerving.

"I think almost everyone is usually nervous about the deadline, but nothing you can control," Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist said. "You use it to focus on playing your game and trying to win hockey games for the Blues."

And the Blues have been good about really not mentioning it or talking about it, which is probably the best way to go since players without clauses in their contracts have no say in the goings on.

"That's what you've got to do," Parayko said. "You've got to focus on coming to the game or to the rink and just working hard and just doing the best in your role. We have a good team. I'm excited about the stretch run and where this is going to go. We have a good dynamic. It's one of those things where it's a part of it, everybody kind of knows what the trade deadline week is like or whatever. We're just looking forward to just moving forward as a group after the deadline. I don't think we've really talked about it. Nobody's really talked about it in the room. We just go about our business, show up and just keep on working."

"That is probably the best way to go about it is just to not talk about it," Sundqvist said. "Like Colton said, you can't control any of it. You can just keep focusing on your game and playing your best hockey. What happens, happens."

It's no secret that the Blues are linked to a top four defenseman, or even enhancing the forward position if need be, but considering their cap situation and being up or at the cap ceiling, they really need to maneuver themselves into dollar-in, dollar out trades or sweeten deals for teams to take on an outgoing salary.

But if they don't do anything, they like the group they have to take their best shot at winning it all.

"I do. We're good," Parayko said. "We have a good combination of everything. We have a lot of the roles filled. We have a lot of speed, we've got a lot of guys that can score, we've got a lot of guys that chip in pucks that will work down low, work the d-men hard. I think we have a good, collective group of players that create a good team and a really dynamic team that can be really tough to defend. Obviously our back end is really strong and guys that move the puck well and things like that and guys that can get up in the play also make it tough on teams. Overall, goalie's been playing really well for us too, gives us a chance to win every night. I really go like our team.

"It's one of those things where you just look back and after that official day, it's this is the team that's moving forward. That's what it is and everyone's eventually got to buy into that role and buy into their spot, push to make the team better and just make us a better group of six guys on the ice at all times."

"I'm confident on this group. I've been that from Day 1," Sundqvist said. "We've proven that when we play our game, we're a very difficult team to play against. Now it's just bear down and focus on this last stretch and really, really get into that playoff mode. It's still really tight in the standings and we need to play our game right now like it's a playoff game. We need to really prepare. I'm sure with our leaders in the locker room, we're going to really bare down here and work for getting in as good a position as possible before the playoffs.

"... I think we're a really tight group and we're deep in all positions. I really think this group can do a lot of damage in the playoffs. It feels like we're a team that's built for playoffs and if this is the group that's going to do it, I'm 100 percent confident we can do it."

* Sundqvist managing injuries -- It's been no secret that Sundqvist has been playing at less than 100 percent this season, and coming off major surgeries to his left knee and both hips, who can blame him?

Sundqvist, who has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 39 games this season, played on Sunday after missing three games.

The Blues are managing his workload and practicing when he can.

"I think we were on the road for like 18 out of 20 days or something like that and it really took a toll on the body," Sundqvist said. "I kind of didn't have the time that I needed to keep everything as fit as I wanted, so we decided to take a couple days off there with focusing on the off-ice stuff and really tried to build the strength back up. It was good to get those days off and really focused on building my strength back up. Now we should be all good."

Let's face it, the Blues managing Sundqvist is like saying they know he won't likely be 100 percent until next season, and that's usually the case for players who have knee surgeries, particularly to ACLs.

"That's what they've been telling me too from the beginning," Sundqvist said. "You try to get that a little in the back of your mind too that the whole first year, it's not going to feel 100 percent normal. Like you said, it's not until the next season that everything's going to be feeling back to 100 percent and feeling great again. We're doing our best to try and manage it and keeping it as good as possible. I know people you're talking about that did ACL surgery, well I also had two hip surgeries to put in that pile. We're just trying to manage it as best as we can because you don't have the whole summer to really work out and for training and stuff like that. That's going to come this summer again when you really get a full summer of focusing on preparing for next season."