Slow start buries Blues again in 5-2 loss to Ducks

Team has lost three of four, have been

outscored 9-0 in first period of those losses

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues were down this road before and got out of it. They seemed to have fallen into some bad habits once again.

When coach Ken Hitchcock said his team needed to eliminate "some debris in our game" a season ago, it took the Blues some time to recover. But they did so in time and made the playoffs.

The Blues are not quite there yet, but there are remnants of "debris" creeping into their game, and it's come at a time when the Western Conference is sizzling right now.

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

The Blues' Maxim Lapierre (40) battles for the puck with the Ducks' Kyle

Palmieri Saturday night at Scottrade Center.

 Ryan Getzlaf extended his points streak to 13 games with a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks handed the Blues only their second regulation loss of the season at home with a 5-2 victory Saturday night at Scottrade Center.

What was supposed to be another Western Conference clash of heavyweights turned into another dud for the Blues.

The Ducks (20-7-5) got goals by Andrew Cogliano, Corey Perry and Getzlaf in the opening 7 minutes, 29 seconds. Perry and Getzlaf scored in a 1:53 span to chase Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak.

Nick Bonino and Cogliano had a goal and an assist and rookie Frederik Andersen stopped 26 shots to improve to 8-1-0. The Ducks, who beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout Friday night, are 5-1-2 in their past eight games.

Jaden Schwartz and Patrik Berglund scored third-period for the Blues, who fell to 12-2-2 on home ice. The Blues (19-6-3) have dropped three of four games and are 0-for-California this season; four of their six regulation losses have come against the Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks, who've beaten them twice.

In the past four games, the Blues have been outscored 9-1 in the first period, and 9-0 in the three losses they've sustained.

"I think it's the same for every game," Hitchcock said. "When you don't have a mindset of checking, then that affects your competitive level, races for pucks, puck battles, 50-50 pucks. When your mindset is something other than checking to start with, that affects everything. It's been the same. We went through this last year, and it was, what, a month we went through this where we had to change our attitude towards what was important.

"We'll score lots of we check better. We'll get way more offensive zone time. We're just chasing the game. We're chasing the game because we're not starting with the puck, we're not keeping the puck, we're not determined when we're being checked, and we're not determined when we're checking, so you play slow. We look slow and then we speed up as the game goes on. We got more competitive as the game went on, but we're allowing the other team to dictate the checking tempo and it affects every part of our game."

Added Berglund: "We're obviously not ready to play, especially against Anaheim, which is a really good team. We let them have the start and it's kind of hard to get back against a good team like that. Preparation, whatever ... we need to obviously do something about it and do something from the start."

The Ducks won for the first time in regulation in St. Louis the past nine games. Their last regulation win here was a 4-3 victory on Dec. 28, 2008.

Cogliano opened the scoring 1:10 into the game when his centering feed to Saku Koivu caromed off the left skate of Blues defenseman Barret Jackman and between Halak's skates.

Perry's power-play goal came after a delay of game penalty to Alex Pietrangelo when Perry deflected Getzlaf's high shot from the slot past Halak at 5:36 for a 2-0 lead.

After a David Backes turnover, Getzlaf chased Halak when his wrister from the right circle beat the Blues' goaltender at 7:29. Halak was replaced by Brian Elliott after allowing three goals on eight shots.

"There's nothing I could have done (on the first two goals)," Halak said. "Just maybe the third one, I need to stop that one.

"I need to look at myself and everybody else needs to probably find the answers. We need to play for 60 minutes, not only for 20."

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said his team noticed a difference in the Blues' goalie during warm-ups.

"We watched warm-up and I thought Halak looked out of sorts," Boudreau said. "When a (first) goal goes in like that its tough to recover. Two good shots after that and we got the lead, silenced the crowd for a long period of time and we were able to just hang on at the end."

Getzlaf has 10 goals and 10 assists in his past 13 games. In the Ducks' past 11 games, he has six goals and eight assists. Getzlaf missed three games with an upper-body injury that broke up his points streak.

The Blues had a pair of four-minute power plays, one in each of the first two periods, but came up empty-handed. Vladimir Sobotka was high-sticked by Pat Maroon, then again by Sami Vatanen.

The Blues had five shots during the first four-minute advantage but had no shots on the second high-sticking call.

Bonino scored with 2:44 left in the second period to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead, getting a feed at the left side of the net from St. Louis native Maroon. Bonino now has 10 points in nine games.

Schwartz got the Blues on the board 1:18 into the third period when he jammed in T.J. Oshie's wraparound pass to the left post to cut the Ducks' lead to 4-1. Schwartz now has nine points in eight of the past nine games (four goals, five assists). The assist was Oshie's seventh point in seven games (six assists).

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

Alexander Steen (pictured) and the Blues had another slow start and it

cost them in a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks Saturday night.

Berglund's first goal in 23 games cut the Ducks' lead to 4-2 when he got behind the defense and went in alone on Andersen, beating the Anaheim goalie high stick side at 6:38 of the third.

Berglund's goal extended the Blues' streak of scoring two or more goals on home ice to 22 games dating back to last season.

Mark Fistric added an empty-net goal with 1:48 remaining to seal the victory and sent the Blues

"The execution of the game plan the first five, 10 minutes is unacceptable," Jackman said. "The first one they get a bounce, and we don't respond after that. A power play goal against and we're down 2-0 pretty quick. It's not the way this team is built. We're built on strong starts and getting engaged early and we haven't been doing that."

(12-7-13) Ducks-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The flu bug has been slowly biting Blues players one by one in recent weeks.

Alexander Steen is the latest victim after missing the morning skate Saturday ahead of the Blues' clash with the Anaheim Ducks (19-7-5) at Scottrade Center (7 p.m. on FSN, KMOX 1120-AM).
Steen, who leads the team with 20 goals and is second to Alex Ovechkin's 21 goals for the overall NHL lead, will be a game-time decision for the Blues (19-5-3).

It all started when Chris Stewart was the first to get sick when the Blues were in Buffalo but he played. Kevin Shattenkirk missed the Nov. 25 home game against the Minnesota Wild because of illness, and left wing Magnus Paajarvi sat out a 3-2 loss Monday against the Los Angeles Kings.

"Same rules ... doesn't feel well, stay home, stay away from the rest of us," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of Steen, who also leads the team with 32 points in 27 games. "Everybody else has been able to play that's been sick.

"We'll see how he feels later in the day. Rather than infect the rest of us, he didn't feel well and just stayed home."

If Steen is unable to go, Jaden Schwartz will step into the slot vacated by Steen and play with David Backes and T.J. Oshie.

"He's a similar player with more speed probably," Hitchcock said of Schwartz, the 14th pick in the 2010 NHL Draft. "Not the size that Alex brings to the table. Alex is a big player, but if we have to go this way, the lines you saw today will be the ones that will play. If Steener's back in, the ones we finished with (Thursday), those are the ones we'll play with."

- - -

The Ducks come into St. Louis on the heels of their third consecutive shootout game, a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Veteran right wing Teemu Selanne is not expected to play against the Blues, which is common when the Ducks play back-to-back games this season. Only once has Selenne, 42, played in a back-to-back role, and that's because the Ducks were beset with injuries.

"Yep," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said when asked if the team had made a decision regarding Selanne. And when asked if he would share that information, he simply said, "No."

But it is expected that St. Louis native Pat Maroon will play against the Blues for the first time in his NHL career.

Maroon, 25, grew up following the Blues and will have 70 or so members of his family in the building to see him, including his 5-year-old son Anthony.

"He loves being around the guys," Maroon said of his son. "I take him to skate with me in the summers so he gets to see everyone. He's really excited about this kind of stuff. ... He obviously knows who everyone is. He knows everyone. His favorite player is (Corey) Perry so hopefully he'll get to meet him tonight.

"It's very exciting. Obviously my family and my son get to watch me tonight. ... I probably left 70 passes, but it's going to be fun for me. Growing up, having season tickets in the old arena watching some Hall of Famers. Now I get the chance to play against my hometown, the St. Louis Blues and playing in this arena so I'm very excited about that."

Maroon, who has two goals and two assists in 19 games for the Ducks this season, missed out on his chance to play against the Blues last season when he was sent back to the American Hockey League when the Ducks came to town because he was an emergency recall.

Maroon led Oakville High School to a Mid-States hockey championship, played for St. Louis Junior Blues as well as the St. Louis Bandits, where he won North American Hockey League MVP.

But Maroon loves his time in Anaheim.

"It's been really fun, he said. "I got the chance to play with (Ryan) Getzlaf and Perry when (Dustin) Penner went down this season. Unfortunately, we don't want to see Penner go down, but I got the chance to play with them and it was probably one of the funnest things I've been through. Those are the moments that you'll never forget.

"And Teemu Selanne is probably the nicest guy on and off the ice. He's the biggest role model any rookie can ask for; comes in every day, works hard. He tells you what you need to hear. Watching a Hall of Famer like that is very cool to sit next to someone like that on the bench and watching him every day, even if it's practice or working out. it's one of those things you grow up as a kid and you dream of. I got to do that."

Boudreau said Maroon fits in well.

"He's big, he's strong," the Ducks coach said. "He's got better hands than people think. He competes and the guys love him."

- - -

Ask Hitchcock, he would have loved to play the Ducks on back-to-back nights if Anaheim would have played a different opponent.

"I would have rather played them on a back-to-back if it was after L.A.," Hitchcock said. "Yesterday was a skating game for them. I don't think there was a lot of physical play but there was a lot of skating in the game.

"The game against L.A. was a playoff game to me. It was a very well-played game by both teams. Both teams were really hard on it. They're a lot like us. They've got a lot of depth up front. Sure, they've got top players but they've got a lot of players underneath playing awfully well. They get really good production from their second and third lines. I think you see the emergence of some of those young defensemen. They're really starting to feel it."

Boudreau calls tonight's challenge a different element.

"I think it's two different dynamics," he said. "Size and aggression is definitely St. Louis' forte and they've got the defense now to join the rush and get all the points which is something they hadn't had before. Chicago is speed, skill and the mobility of their 'D' is probably their greatest asset. It's a little different dynamic but same degree of toughness to succeed in either one of the buildings."

- - -

The Blues' probable lineup (with Steen in the lineup):

Alexander Steen-David Backes-T.J. Oshie

Jaden Schwartz-Vladimir Sobotka-Vladimir Tarasenko

Brenden Morrow-Derek Roy-Chris Stewart

Magnus Paajarvi-Patrik Berglund-Maxim Lapierre

Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo

Barret Jackman-Kevin Shattenkirk

Ian Cole-Roman Polak

Jaroslav Halak will start in goal; Brian Elliott is the backup.

Healthy scratches include Carlo Colaiacovo, Adam Cracknell. Jordan Leopold (hand) and Ryan Reaves (hand) are on injured reserve.

- - -

The Ducks' probable lineup:

Dustin Penner-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry

Emerson Etem-Nick Bonino-Kyle Palmieri

Daniel Winnik-Saku Koivu-Andrew Cogliano

Matt Beleskey-David Steckel-Patrick Maroon

Cam Fowler-Ben Lovejoy

Bryan Allen-Sami Vatanen

Mark Fistric-Hampus Lindholm

Frederik Andersen starts in goal; Jonas Hiller is the backup.

Healthy scratches include Teemu Selanne, Alex Grant and Tim Jackman. Francois Beauchemin (upper body), Sheldon Souray (wrist tendon), Luca Sbisa (hand tendon), Viktor Fasth (muscle inflammation), Jakob Silfverberg (hand), Mathieu Perreault (lower body) are all injured.

(12-7-13) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Berglund's 'chinstand' draws laughter from teammates, coaches,

fans; Pietrangelo OK after shot-block scare; Cole strong in lineup again

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Patrik Berglund doesn't normally have to prep himself do interviews of the funny nature. They just come naturally for the Blues' 6-foot-4 Swede.

But after Berglund's face-plant shot against the New York Islanders that drew laughs from fans to his teammates and coaches and even Berglund laughing at himself, it's about all he can do.

"Is this a joke or what," Berglund playfully asked as he approached recorders.

With the Blues holding a 3-1 lead and Berglund on the ice for one of his better shifts he looked to unload a slap shot from the high slot. But as the hitter in the batter's box sees a huge pitch coming down the chute and swings and misses, Berglund came up with a big whiff himself.

Teammates Brian Elliott and Brenden Morrow had the biggest immediate laughs from the bench: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSEm2t_GaMQ.

"It was so surprising," Elliott said. "Morrow was sitting next to me on the bench and it's like the spit-water bit but he spit out his mouth-guard into the boards. I tried to look away and I saw that and I couldn't help myself.

"I laughed right away. I probably shouldn't have. It's just kind of the way it happened. He came back with a smile on his face and then he had a great shift to set up a goal. It's good to see it kind of turn around from that one. He said the whole arena was laughing at him. Those things happen ... you don't want them to happen to you, but they definitely happen out there."

Added Morrow: "I mean, I've seen some funny (stuff) I guess, but that was ... he was playing so hard. It was at the end of his shift and I think he had two or three opportunities. It was just priceless. I was trying to contain the laugh but it came out strong."

Berglund's explanation isn't believable, if spoken in a serious tone, but of course, even Berglund couldn't talk himself into believing his explanation.

"I was going to tee it up and obviously there were some ice problems, stuff like that," Berglund said with a grin. "Maybe my skates were broken or something like that.

"I obviously wanted to shoot ... it was really funny. I mean, 20,000 people were laughing so it's kind of hard not to."

Berglund was able to get an assist later in the period on fellow countryman Magnus Paajarvi's goal.

"It was funny," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It was a Happy Gilmore moment, but it was a Happy Bergy.

"It's good he laughed about it. I thought when that line went together, they played very well. They had a lot of pursuit on the puck, hounded it hard like we needed it done. I thought they were really effective for us."

Of course Hitchcock was talking about Berglund, Paajarvi and Maxim Lapierre, who gained traction in the game that the Blues won going away thanks to three power play goals.

"I think we played really well," Berglund said. "We had a really good cycle, which I think we had a really good second, which we really needed to get going. The first period wasn't good. They're two hard-working guys that can forecheck and hold the puck. It's kind of easy to read off of them."

* Pietrangelo OK after scare -- There was a collective holding of the breath when Alex Pietrangelo fell to the ice to block a shot by Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald.

MacDonald's one-timer from the right circle caught Pietrangelo flush on the helmet, but the Blues' defenseman immediately left the ice to the locker room.

Pietrangelo was bleeding from the head but would return to the game after getting stitches and cleaning up the blood.

"That's why we wear helmets, why we have protection," Pietrangelo said. "I feel OK today, just a little bit stiff. ... I came back in, got stitches in, cleaned up the blood. When I came off the ice, I grabbed my head and felt the blood. It kind of scared me at first ... you never know. The doctors kind of talked me down."

Hitchcock felt everything would be OK when head athletic trainer Ray Barile did not come back to the bench to talk to the Blues' coach.

"Usually when the trainer doesn't come and talk to you, then it's a good thing," Hitchcock said. "When he comes and talks to you, it's a bad thing. He didn't talk to me so I was hopeful. But man, to see a guy get a shot like that and you hear the helmet's smashed and everything. (If) that thing was six centimeters either side, we're dealing with a lot different injury today, so we caught ourselves a break yesterday."

Goalie Jaroslav Halak is also fine after taking a shot high from John Tavares early in the second period that split Halak's lip open. Halak will get the start Saturday when the Blues host the Anaheim Ducks.

* Cole back strong -- Defenseman Ian Cole, a healthy scratch Monday at Los Angeles, was back in the lineup Thursday.

Cole played 16 minutes, 10 seconds and assisted on the Blues' first goal of the game and made several strong defensive plays that broke up potential high-percentage scoring opportunities for the Islanders.

"Yep, played well again," Hitchcock said. "Just hit the reset button. Tomorrow will be a different challenge for him. He's going to get a lot of weight and a lot of size and a lot of speed at him tomorrow. It'll be a big challenge.

"I just think with younger players, you've got to be careful. You put them in tough situations and then sometimes just getting a chance to catch your breath is a good idea. We're lucky we've got an experienced player (Carlo Colaiacovo) who can come in and take his place."

* Duck hunting -- The Blues (19-5-3) will face the Ducks, who played at Chicago Friday night, for the first time this season. It's the triangle of California teams the Blues will look to snap a skid against. Three of the Blues' five regulation losses have come at the hands of the San Jose Sharks and Kings.

"More speed, but the same thing ... big bodies, hard on every puck," Hitchcock said of the Ducks, who were 18-7-5 prior to facing the Blackhawks. "It's going to be a challenge for us.

"There's a debate who's better out of those three teams. One week it's Anaheim, next week it's L.A. and next week it's San Jose. When they play against each other, it looks like a one-game playoff game. I just finished watching the L.A.-Anaheim game (from Tuesday, a 3-2 Kings victory in a shootout). It was a tremendous hockey game. We're going to get the same push. This is a real good test for us. I don't think we need to worry about the start or whether we're going to be ready. We have no choice. I think our players recognize and know that too."

Weight looks back fondly at 19-year NHL career

Former Blue's only regret: not winning Stanley Cup here with loaded teams

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- With 1,238 regular season games and another 97 playoff games under his belt, Doug Weight wouldn't change a thing about his NHL career.

Well, sort of.

Weight, who was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Monday along with former Blue Bill Guerin, Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, former college coach Ron Mason and women's hockey player Cindy Curley, has been to the pinnacle of all levels in the NHL and representing USA Hockey.

From playing in three World Championships to a pair of Winter Olympic teams (including the silver medal-winning group in 2002) to a trio of World Cup appearances, Weight donned the USA jersey plenty of times and represented well.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Former Blue Doug Weight was indicted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of

Fame on Monday in Detroit.

And over a 19-year NHL career, Weight has 278 goals and 1,033 points as well as 23 goals and 72 points in the playoffs, winning a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

But Weight, now the senior advisor to the general manager and assistant coach of the New York Islanders, had one regret over a very successful NHL career:

"If there is any regret, it's here because I think we were good enough to go further," said Weight, who spent six seasons from 2001-08 playing for the Blues, where he had 295 points. "We had some teams that had our number and we had a couple really great opportunities, like 2003 is something that haunts me getting that (3-1 series lead on Vancouver before losing in seven games) and really having the West open up. Taking nothing away from Minnesota and Anaheim, that would have been our road to the Stanley Cup. That eats me away and obviously we had trouble beating that red and white team (Detroit) down the road."

At 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds, Weight was not your prototypical center iceman of the NHL. He would be out of sorts in today's game, since the average center is usually in the 6-4, 220-pound range.

But for a Warren, Michigan native who played his collegiate hockey at Lake Superior State in his home state of Michigan, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an NHL player when he was drafted in the second round by the New York Rangers in 1990.

"You grow up trying to get to the next year and be a good player and try to get to college," Weight said. "Then I just wanted to make the New York Rangers. Looking back after 20 years, I'm very fortunate and I enjoyed every minute of it. It went by too quickly for me.

"Every game you go home and you think about how you've got to play, how you've got to prepare yourself. It's the fastest game in the world as far as I'm concerned. There's always so much spontaneity and there's always going to be ... I think regret's a tough word though. I don't have any regrets though. Certain parts of your career, you look back and I wish (there) would have been different things at times. That's what makes it whole. You learn from those mistakes and you learn from adversity as well. You can't go back and nitpick. I was pretty fortunate and I loved it. I worked hard and here we are."

Weight spend two seasons with the Rangers before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Esa Tikkanen, another former Blue. Weight would spend the next eight seasons with the Oilers, where he had his only 100-point season in 1995-96 (104 points).

But then came the blockbuster of all trades for then-Blues GM Larry Pleau, who acquired Weight and prospect Michel Riesen for forwards Jochen Hecht, Marty Reasoner and defenseman Jan Horacek in 2001. The Blues would sign Weight to one of the more lucrative contracts in team history at five years and $45-million.

The Blues were loaded and making a run at the Stanley Cup. They already had Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger and also traded for Keith Tkachuk, among others. But when the Blues failed to make any head ways in the standings, a critical time in Weights life would reach a climax.

The Blues came out of the 2005 lockout laboring near the bottom of the league and Pleau, knowing the Blues were going nowhere in 2005-06, gave Weight the option of moving somewhere to win a Stanley Cup. It was obvious it wasn't going to be with the Blues, and it was his choice with a full no-trade clause in tote.

The Blues had a trade on the table with the Hurricanes, and Pleau, knowing Weight had a no-trade clause, wanted to run anything by the center before attempting to move forward.

The move to Carolina turned into a blessing in disguise, as Weight waived his no-trade clause and went to the Hurricanes along with the rights to Erkki Rajamaki for Mike Zigomanis, Jesse Boulerice, the rights to Magnus Kahnberg and draft picks on January 30, 2006.

"Incredible," Weight said. "Larry took me for coffee and let me know that that (offer from Carolina) was on the table. I had a day to mull it over. At that time, there were a lot of other rumors and there were some teams that were high-powered. Ottawa being one, so I'm thinking, 'Jeez! They're playing well but are they a contender?' But after talking to (Hurricanes GM) Jimmy Rutherford, Rod (Brind'Amour) and a couple guys on that team, it was a no-brainer and it was great, great organization. Until you're on a team like that, it reminded me immediately of 1996, the attitude of the World Cup team. It was like, 'We're not going to get beat.'

"It's funny. When you come out of those two times, it's so distinctively different than the teams I was on other times that had good teams and went far but didn't win. That to me was a huge learning experience. Thank God I did it."

After Weight's dream summer of winning the Cup with the Hurricanes, he didn't re-sign with Carolina or look anywhere else. Even with the Blues' transgressions in the standings post-lockout, Weight came back to the Blues after signing a free agent contract in 2006.

"I felt I had more to give to this organization in those years, that's for sure," Weight said. "I was coming off the best hockey I've ever played. It seemed as though for whatever reason, not to get into anything else, I wish I would have had a little more responsibility here. But this is a great place. It was a great place to play. I enjoyed playing for Joel (Quenneville), enjoyed Larry (Pleau)."

The Blues were going nowhere again in 2007, and the team wanted to gain more prospects and/or picks or younger players in the process and Weight was on the move again. But this time, it wasn't his choice.

The Blues, after initially balking at moving Weight, traded him to the Anaheim Ducks for Andy McDonald, told Weight to accept a deal or take on a lesser role with the team. He reluctantly accepted the trade and moved to Anaheim despite his family loving life in St. Louis and kids enrolled in school.

"I was pretty fortunate to spend eight-and-a-half years in Edmonton and go to a city and as you said, go win a Cup and come back (to St. Louis) and I don't have to leave my house and my kids never had to change schools," Weight said. "To that point in my life, I was 37 and pretty fortunate. On the other side now, I realize there are business decisions to be made, but looking back, if you want me to be frank, yeah, that could have been handled a little differently. You're told something and then I responded to it and did what I decided to do and told that was it. Later it was brought back up.

"I was just a little embarrassed by that and a little perturbed. But in saying that, there was no spite involved. There's no lack of professionalism involved. It's a decision that you have to make at certain times. Then they re-thought it and maybe they shouldn't have told me what they told me. But that's it, and it happens. The organization as a whole is well-run. It's a great place. Yeah, you're sour at times because you're leaving and you have to leave. That was a tough time, but I'm completely over it and I still have the utmost respect for everybody."

Weight finished his career with the Islanders and retired following the 2011 season. He was immediately given his roles within the Islanders organization.

"I get to be on both sides of the fence," Weight said. "I get to coach and allow these guys I know and I get to sit in the office with Garth and help him build a team. Really, I'm learning a lot, working with great people. Jack (Capuano's) a great coach. He empowers me and Garth does the same. We're striving to get better. We're not where we want (to be), but we're close. It's fun to come to work every day and trying to win.

"You miss it. There's nothing like playing. It's like having the fuel the day of the game and the butterfly in your stomach, whether it's the 1,000th game or your first. But I'm working with good people and I like what we're doing. it's the next best thing. You're around the game you love. ... They trust me. We're changing some things and we have a John Tavares now and we're moving to a different place. We're going to try and keep building and build a Stanley Cup contender. That's what we want to do."

(Getty Images)

Doug Weight's lone Stanley Cup celebration came after

the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers

in 2006.

Weight had initially planned on taking time off to recover from a back injury which ultimately led to his retirement as a player.

"I was going to take a couple years off. I ended up breaking my back my last year and I was home for the whole year," Weight recalled. "When I was offered the job (with the Islanders), my wife said, 'You should take it. Don't take any more (time) off. You've been home enough.' I said, 'Don't worry, I already did.' We were both happy about it. I didn't want to coach. I didn't want to be on the bench. Garth thought it was important. He thought it was smooth transition and I could help Jack. It's been a good thing. I've enjoyed it. I've gotten better at it. I feel like I've got the fire to do it. I have a lot of ideas about it and it's fun. The video gets extremely long, but at the end of it, I feel like I've finished my paper. It's good and you see what the teams are doing and you find ways to tweak it and most importantly, to touch these individuals, try to get them better. You try to get them confident, get their respect, make them accountable and you have their respect at the same time. That's a great challenge. And the other side of the game's great. I love it too. I've got a pretty good gig."

And Weight's got a permanent place in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame now.

"It was real special being able to do (the hall of fame ceremony) in Detroit," Weight said. "Certainly going in with the class that I went in, where I won my Stanley Cup with Mr. (Peter) Karmanos, who I grew up playing against, and of course Ron Mason and Billy (Guerin) and Cindy (Curley). It was a great time with all my family and friends. It was good."

Power play steps up for Blues in 5-1 victory

Islanders are NHL's worst penalty kill, surrender three power play goals

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Part of the Blues' problem in dropping back-to-back regulation losses for the first time this season at San Jose and Los Angeles was not getting any fuel from their power play.

The Blues were 1-for-10 in the losses to the Sharks and Kings. They needed a spark to get back on track.

Going into Thursday night's game against the New York Islanders, the Blues' third-ranked power play got the necessary tonic: the NHL's worst penalty kill.
The numbers don't lie on paper, and they certainly didn't this night.

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

Magnus Paajarvi (56) scored his second goal of the season Thursday

night in a 5-1 victory against the New York Islanders.

The Blues power play won handily, scoring three times on its first four opportunities, including goals by Derek Roy and David Backes on back-to-back shots in the second period of a 5-1 victory at Scottrade Center.

After back-to-back losses to the Sharks (6-3) and Kings (3-2), the Blues were looking to get back to familiar ground in the win column. They turned to a power play that's been a huge weapon in the first quarter of the season.

"We were very effective on the power play," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We moved the puck, found shooting lanes. I thought all three goals, there was no chance for the goalie on any of the goals."

Jay Bouwmeester and Roy each scored a power-play goal and had an assist, Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists (giving him four points in two games), and T.J. Oshie had two assists for the Blues (19-5-3), who snapped a modest two-game losing streak. St. Louis tied the Boston Bruins with the most home victories; the Blues are 12-1-2 on home ice.

"The thing I'm happiest about is for 30 minutes, we finally saw our game back again," Hitchcock said. "We saw our pursuit game, we got the puck stopped in the offensive zone, created turnovers, we created second and third turnovers, which is our game.

"I thought for 30 minutes, we started to see what we're capable again. It was nice to see."

The loss was the Islanders' eighth in a row on the road; they are winless overall in eight straight (0-6-2).

The Islanders (8-16-5) had the better of the play to open the second period and got a game-tying power-play goal from Andrew MacDonald, who beat a screened Jaroslav Halak. But Roy and Backes scored 2:31 apart to give the Blues the lead.

"Our main goal when we go out there as a power play is to gain momentum for the team, goal or not," Shattenkirk said. "Hitch said it before the game, when we play poorly and we don't execute, that filters over into our 5-on-5 game, and when we're doing it right, guys feed off of that and they start to get their energy going and we saw it tonight."

 Roy, who had the Blues' first shot on goal in the second period at 6:59, deflected Shattenkirk's shot from the right point, stayed with the puck and roofed the go-ahead goal past Anders Nilsson at 7:02.

Roy was determined, since it was his penalty that led to the Islanders' tying goal.

"I was pretty mad about the penalty and they end up scoring on it," Roy said. "I wanted to get on the power play, I wanted to obviously redeem myself and I had a chance to.

 "Net presence was important. We work on it every day in practice and we're just trying to implement that on the power play as well, keep it simple and get guys towards the net. When (the opposition) breaks down, we can make plays towards the net."

 Backes scored his 13th of the season on a wrister from the top of the right circle, with Oshie screening the Islanders goalie at 9:33 to make it 3-1.

"Backes' shot, you could see it from the bench. (Nilsson) had no chance," Hitchcock said. "He couldn't see it. It was a perfect shot. Nothing he could do on Roy's shot either. Bouw's shot was deflected and stuff like that."

(St. Louis Blues/Mark Buckner)

The Blues' Vladimir Sobotka (17) battles for netfront position with the

Islanders' Matt Carkner Thursday night at Scottrade Center.

Magnus Paajarvi scored the first even-strength goal at 14:59 of the second period, taking a Patrik Berglund pass and sweeping it past Nilsson from tight quarters to make it 4-1.

"I think my d-man fell down or something," Paajarvi said. "Two guys went on Bergy and I yelled really hard. He heard me and it wasa great pass."

Bouwmeester provided the lone goal of the first period, a power-play goal on a shot from the point past a screened Nilsson, who couldn't see around Jaden Schwartz at 11:47.

The Blues' 3-for-6 efficiency rating Thursday was a byproduct of doing the simple things.

"We got back to what we do best: shooting pucks and getting bodies to the front of the net and that's usually the battles that we win," Shattenkirk said. "We played against two teams (the Sharks and Kings) that pressured the puck a lot there. We kind of overcomplicated things.

"Tonight, we just got back to simple, point shots, getting pucks to the net and winning those 1-on-1 battles."

(12-5-13) Islanders-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Jaden Schwartz knows a thing or two about Rod Brind'Amour, especially since the two went to the same high school in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, but the two have never crossed paths.

"I know of him," Schwartz said of Brind'Amour, a former Blue, after the morning skate Thursday as the Blues (18-5-3) prepare to face the New York Islanders (8-15-5) at 7 p.m. "I haven't met him personally, but I watched a little bit of him growing up. I know he's a good leader and a good player. I watched him."

Schwartz may have never met his fellow Athol Murray College of Notre Dame high school alum, but they do share one common bond pertaining to the Blues. Former Blues goalie Curtis Joseph is also a Notre Dame high alum.

Schwartz, currently on a seven-game points streak with three goals and five assists, is the youngest player (21 years old) to have such a streak since the 20-year-old Brind'Amour posted an eight-game points streak from Nov. 13-29, 1990.

Only Pittsbirgh's Evgeni Malkin and Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf (nine games) as well as Chicago's Duncan Keith (eight games) hold longer streaks currently in the NHL.

Despite having different physical figures, both Schwartz and Brind'Amour play a similar game: tough, gritty, rugged.

"If I could model anything after him, I'd be pretty happy with it, whether it was his work ethic or his leadership qualities," Schwartz said.

Playing with the two Vladimirs (Sobotka and Tarasenko) has certainly enhanced not only Schwartz's play but his linemates as well.

"They've really earned it," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That line has been terrific, was a great line all three games on the road. It's like anything else, they've earned a right to be thought of as a good line and kept together. I was really, really impressed with the way they played, especially the way they played in Los Angeles. They played great.

"I think they're feeding off each other's effort and determination. They're not big guys, but they play a big game and I think that's where they deserve all kinds of credit. They're on top of the puck, they hound the puck, they get it back, they're determined to stay with it. I've been really impressed."

Look for the Blues to continue to keep that group together, as long as they can continue to make strives forward.

"We're starting to find more chemistry," Schwartz said. "We haven't played with each other too long, but Sobe's such a good centerman. He's good in all three zones. He works extremely hard, but he's skilled, too. He can make those plays after putting the work in. Vladi's a really smart player. We all know that. He can score goals.

"I'm having fun playing with them so far. We want to keep it going. We don't want to be satisfied with anything. We want to be hungry for more, but I don't know if I can explain the streak or anything else. A couple bounces here or there. It's definitely nice to see some goals go in."

- - -

The Blues will make some changes to their fourth line, feeling like it can make a difference in the way they utilize all four forward groups.

Derek Roy will move into the middle and Maxim Lapierre moves to right wing and Magnus Paajarvi gets back into the lineup after missing Monday's loss in Los Angeles with the flu.

With the absence of Ryan Reaves (broken hand), Hitchcock feels like the team is missing an element, particularly along the walls while forechecking in both zones.

"We've missed Reaves," Hitchcock said. "He's been a big factor at the energy level. But we're kind of restructuring that by moving Lapierre onto the wing now, to try and get that tenacity back on the boards that we had before. So we're rebuilding the fourth line today to see if we can get some speed and tenacity back on that line.

"... We didn't have any punchback from the line and we've got to get that punchback. The scoring is a bonus, but getting it in the offensive zone and occupying and building some good minutes is important. I think we didn't build good minutes on our third and fourth lines on the road trip. We did in Colorado, we did a great job in Colorado, but when we played against the other two teams (San Jose and Los Angeles), we just gave up too many scoring chances when we were on the ice."

Moving Roy, who has six goals and 17 points in 26 games, back to center gives Hitchcock and the coaches the comfort level to move Lapierre out wide.

"Well he's a smart player," Hitchcock said of Roy. "At the start of the year, he had to get his level up, and he's got his level up. He's playing very well for us right now. He's tenacious on the puck, he's playing with a real edge to his game. He's obviously helped us on the power play. So I can put him pretty much anywhere now and feel comfortable.

"I think his natural position is center, he can use his speed a little bit more, he can use his smarts a little bit more. But what we need to do, a guy like Lappy, or whether it's (Adam Cracknell) or tonight it's Paajarvi, they've got to get back and put that deep game back in where we can really take advantage."

Lapierre, with two goals and three points in 21 games, is looking forward to the challenge.

"Obviously the first game, you're going to think about everything you have to do," he said. "It's the first time in a while, but I like it on the wing. I can use my size and use my speed well.

"You've got to think a little more at center. I like both. I like playing both. I have been playing center all my life, but when I have the call to play on the wing, I've actually had success. You have a little less to think about and you just think about being a hunter."
- - -

The Blues' probable lineup:

Alexander Steen-David Backes-T.J. Oshie

Jaden Schwartz-Vladimir Sobotka-Vladimir Tarasenko

Brenden Morrow-Patrik Berglund-Chris Stewart

Magnus Paajarvi-Derek Roy-Maxim Lapierre

Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo

Barret Jackman-Kevin Shattenkirk

Ian Cole-Roman Polak

Jaroslav Halak will start in goal. Brian Elliott is the backup.

Carlo Colaiacovo and Adam Cracknell are the healthy scratches. Jordan Leopold (hand) and Ryan Reaves (hand) are on injured reserve.

- - -

The Islanders' probable lineup:

Thomas Vanek-John Tavares-Kyle Okposo

Michael Grabner-Frans Nielsen-Josh Bailey

Pierre-Marc Bouchard-Peter Regin-Cal Clutterbuck

Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Colin McDonald

Andrew MacDonald-Travis Hamonic

Thomas Hickey-Calvin de Haan

Aaron Ness-Matt Carkner

Anders Nilsson starts in goal. Kevin Poulin is the backup.

Healthy scratches include Brock Nelson, Radek Martinek and Eric Boulton. Evgeni Nabokov (groin strain), Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) and Brian Strait (upper body) are out with injuries.

First bit of adversity hits Blues

Team heading into game with Islanders coming off first

back-to-back regulation losses of season; Halak starts, Cole back in

By LOUIE KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- Before they headed west to face a pair of familiar foes that had given them issues in the past, particularly the Los Angeles Kings, life was good for the Blues.

The Blues (18-5-3) hadn't been faced with playing multiple games with regulation losses. When they would lose, the team has done a sufficient job at nipping them in the bud.

The Blues have earned points in 21 of 26 games this season but came away empty-handed in consecutive losses at San Jose (6-3) and most recently at Los Angeles (3-2). And for the first time, it's time for the Blues to deal with some adversity. How does this team handle it is the big question moving forward.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Kevin Shattenkirk (middle) celebrates with teammates Vladimir Tarasenko

(left) and Jaden Schwartz after scoring Monday in Los Angeles.

"You can't dwell on it. We have a good team here," defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. "If we play the way we can, more often than not, we're going to get results. That's just the focus. You don't need to drag things along and make it too painful on yourselves."

Which is why when the Blues host the New York Islanders Thursday night, they'll do what they've always done: move on and tackle the next challenge.

"We have to realize that it has been 26 games since we've been through our first test, so this is it," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "This is our first time going through adversity of this magnitude. How we handle it is going to be important. It's going to be the team we are at the end of the year, so it's more of now just rallying together, trusting what we have in here and trusting the game plan and everything is what's going to work at the end of the day."

When the Blues took the ice Wednesday at St. Louis Outlet Mall's IceZone following a day off, they tackled some of the areas most glaring that the Sharks and Kings took advantage of: checking, particularly in the defensive zone corners as well as clean exits out of the d-zone.

"I think that's just understanding what the opposition did more than anything," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They popped us right in the schnoz ... they gave us a good one right in the nose.

"Both teams came out in different ways. One came out with physicality and nastiness and the other one came out with speed and numbers. Both times we were a little bit overwhelmed by some of the checking that went on and weren't ready for it. It was the highest level of checking we had against us all year. It's learn your lesson. We regrouped in both games, but it was 20 minutes before we regrouped again and it's too late. On the road, you're down 2-0, 3-0 ... it's too late. I think our team learned the lesson of the other level out there, especially when you get out to the West Coast. Hopefully we learned that lesson and move forward."

The troubling aspect of both losses is that the Blues know both teams and know how they want to attack them. Yet, the Sharks attacked the Blues with speed and bodies in building a 4-0 first-period lead before the Blues pulled within one when they woke up, and the Kings attacked with a forecheck that helped them to a 3-0 lead before the Blues again woke up and made it a game.

"You always have to learn from it. Those are two good teams," Bouwmeester said. "We knew going into the games what they were going to be and we didn't respond. We beat ourselves the first period of both games. You learn from that, but the good thing about this year is you have a lot of games in a short amount of time. That helps. You just kind of move onto the next one. Yesterday was a write-off. You get home late, then today you practice and tomorrow you're back at it.

"The third period in both games was a lot better, more of the way we can play. It's just a matter of doing it right from the start."

If the worst if losing two games in a row during the course of an 82-game season, the Blues will have many nights that will result in two points. Some teams sustain such skids that it takes a plethora of days and games to recover from. If this is the worst, as Shattenkirk put it, "We'll take it. We have plenty of guys who have been through it before. It's not hard to turn the ship around.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Vladimir Tarasenko celebrates after scoring Monday in Los Angeles

but it was too little, too late in a 3-2 loss, the Blues' second straight.

"We've been through worse in the past, and if we can limit this to two games and move on and keep moving upward from here, we'll be fine. When you get in these sort of low points in the season, it's important to remember what it feels like to win again and what it feels like to play the right way."

In the Blues' five regulation losses, they've been outscored 17-5 in the first two periods and 10-1 in the opening period. It's safe to say when the Blues play even or have a lead, they tend to get stronger as the game goes on.

"These are lessons to be learned. I think we started poorly (in both games)," Hitchcock said. "We were on our heels and that's not the way we play. Credit to both teams. They dug in and put us on our heels. In both games we mounted comebacks, but I think when you're on your heels, it's not a good way for our team to play. We talked about we take pride in being ready to go and I thought we were tentative at the start of both games and our play reflected it. We tried to play around their checking rather than through it and I think that's a lesson learned and I hope we take advantage of it."

* NOTES -- Winger Magnus Paajarvi, who sat out the loss to the Kings Monday with flu-like symptoms, was back at practice and feeling well again Wednesday.

Paajarvi joined Shattenkirk, who also missed a game, Nov. 25 vs. Minnesota, with the flu. Chris Stewart played through the flu when the Blues were in Buffalo.

"I guess I was the (next) victim," Paajarvi joked. "You try to prevent it, but it's that time of year and I got it. It's over now and I'm over it. I got all the energy back. I didn't have a whole lot of energy when I got it. It's almost I feel like a new man."

Paajarvi, who has one goal in 10 games, missed nine games earlier in the season with a shoulder injury suffered Oct. 26 in Nashville.

Paajarvi, 22, seems to gain traction when inserted into the lineup, then had to regroup after an injury and now being sick.

"It's been like that. It's been a fact," Paajarvi said. "I got going early on and then I got the injury that kept me away 3-4 weeks. Then I got going again now and got the flu.

"Hopefully I can be more consistent because I've never been away from games ever in this league before. I missed maybe one game in three years, so this is really new for me. I'm not known as a player that's usually gone. It's new for me, but I'm going to do everything I can to stay consistent."

. . . Jaroslav Halak will start in goal when the Blues host the Islanders Thursday, and Ian Cole, after being a healthy scratch in Los Angeles, will come back in. Carlo Colaiacovo, who played against the Kings, will sit.