(3-12-15) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Michalek progressing towards Blues debut; Bouwmeester, 

Jokinen could return Thursday; Tarasenko bobblehead against Flyers 

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The sweat dropping off the face of Zbynek Michalek is another indicator that one of the Blues' newest defensemen continues to be on track for action.

When will that be? It only seems like a matter of time -- and some full practices with his newest teammates -- but for the 32-year-old Michalek, each day on the ice without symptoms from a concussion sustained on Feb. 14 is a step closer full-time action.

"Oh yeah, definitely I'm getting closer and closer," Michalek said after an optional skate at Scottrade Center on Wednesday. "I've been skating for a while now. I feel good. It would be nice to get a full practice in, too, but I'll take whatever. It's tough practicing right now with a lot of games. I'm just happy to be on the ice and shooting on the goalies.

"... I'm doing a lot of work on the ice every day. I've been on for almost one hour and I'm feeling pretty good."

Now it's just a case for Michalek, who had two goals and six assists in 53 games with the Arizona Coyotes this season before being acquired by the Blues along with a 2015 conditional second-round pick for prospect Maxim Letunov, to get some full-time practices with his teammates.

"I think so," Michalek said. "Take a few rushes and play in the zone when the guy is on you. Just the physical aspect of the game, too. Timing will come with time. Overall, my conditioning is getting where it needs to be. It's going in the right direction."

Coach Ken Hitchcock agreed that Michalek needs to practice with the team and taking some bumps and hits before getting cleared for game action.

"Unfortunately for him, he feels good, but he's had no team skates," Hitchcock said of Michalek. "So we're having to do more endurance skates with him and more work, but mostly it's been individual (work). He's really been on the ice with the whole group once. It's pretty unfair. If he can get a couple more team skates, whether it's pregame skates in the morning or do some 5-on-5 battle drills because all he's been doing is working with two or three other guys here. It's not ideal, but it's the time of schedule. It's what we're dealing with. We can't afford to put our whole team on the ice right now."

Michalek, a 10-year veteran with the Minnesota Wild, Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins, doesn't feel like it will take long to get acclimated with a new team, a new system and a new style.

"From what I've noticed and I've been in all the meetings, I don't see the 
system being really, really any different from what we did in Phoenix," Michalek said. "It shouldn't be a big adjustment for me hopefully. Until I go on the ice and play in the game, I won't know. I'll just wait and see."

Michalek, who has who has 38 goals and 167 points in 696 NHL games, has been injected with a dose of excitement after playing for a team looking at a rebuild and into the future (Arizona) to one in St. Louis is that will make the playoffs and compete for a Stanley Cup.

"Yeah, definitely," Michalek said. "You don't know how many chances you're going to get playing for a Stanley Cup. I'm 32 and who knows if I ever get another chance. I take it as this is it for me and I want to do my best to be prepared and I'm ready and hope to help this team make a long run. It's a good situation for myself. I'm a free agent after this season. I'm playing for my livelihood and a new contract. It's important for me; it can benefit both sides."

And with Kevin Shattenkirk (abdomen), who didn't skate with the handful of skaters on the ice Wednesday, improving every day and getting closer to returning, there will be tough choices for Hitchcock to make when filling out his lineup every day having nine bonafide defensemen to choose from.

"I think you've got to be careful because you might get a guy's name back, but you don't get the player back when you get long-term injuries," Hitchcock said. "You've got to be prepared for that. When Michalek comes back in or when Shatty comes back in, we've got to be careful on our analyzation right away because it's going to take them some time to get up to speed also. You look at (Paul Stastny), 'Stas' comes back off that injury; he's out 3-4 weeks and it takes him another two weeks before he's up to speed. We've just got to be prepared to manage (Michalek's) ice properly and make sure that our expectations don't exceed where his actual play's at."

Michalek is ready for the competition.

"It's going to be a good group of guys and just competition to get into the lineup," he said. "You take a look around this room, you have nine defensemen that can play on any given night. You have to play well and play hard to deserve your spot in the lineup. I think that's great. Having a lot of 'D' especially in the playoffs, it can go a long ways because injuries and stuff. It's nice to have definitely. It's going to be a battle just to get into the lineup for sure.

"I've just got to be myself. I don't want to change my game and try to be somebody I'm not. I just want to be hard to play against and basically be a good defender and move the puck well. I think I can move the puck pretty well and get it to our forwards definitely. There's a good group of forwards here, good skilled group of forwards. We need to play with a lot of speed, just play my game and be hard to play against, play my best every single night."

* More reaction to Jackman's crazy game-winner -- Those Blues players that talked to the media were still smiling at the way they defeated the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday when defenseman Barret Jackman fired a 74-foot wrister from just inside the center ice line past Ondrej Pavelec, who lost sight of the puck, in a 5-4 victory.

Robert Bortuzzo, playing in his third game since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, couldn't have gotten an easier first point as a member of the Blues. 

"Nope, but I'm gonna take that one," Bortuzzo said. "I didn't do too much. I actually don't think I made a great pass over to Jax. Me and (goalie coach) Jim Corsi were joking about that one today. I'm going to take it and happy to get the win."

After taking David Backes' faceoff win, Bortuzzo turned and passed to Jackman. The puck came off the boards and Jackman wasted little time throwing the puck towards the goal. There was a delayed celebration at first.

"I was more watching 'Jax' and I just saw him throw his arms in the air and the guys running over," Bortuzzo said. "At that point, it turned into excitement."

Said Backes: "For a floater to go in from the red line ... we're not going to complain about it. The fate just seemed to be. We stuck with it, we found a way to get two points, so we'll just put those in our pocket and concentrate on the game tomorrow night."

"I've seen some fluky ones and it happens," veteran left wing Steve Ott said. "I'm sure it's hard on Pavelec today waking up seeing it all over the place, but to be honest, 'Jax' is pretty deceiving on the play on the dump-in. You lose it in the glass; everybody makes mistakes and it happened to be a pretty costly one with a minute left."

* Tarasenko bobblehead -- The first 15,000 fans to enter the gates of Scottrade Center for Thursday's home game against the Philadelphia Flyers will get a Vladimir Tarasenko bobblehead.

It's the first of such a kind for Tarasenko, who said bobblehead giveaways were not part of the culture in the Kontinental Hockey League when he played.

"It's pretty cool," Tarasenko said. "I'm so proud Blues make my bobblehead."

Tarasenko, who leads the Blues in goals (33) and points (66), hasn't received his yet.

"Where is my one, like my own one," he asked. "Where's my bobblehead? I'll probably get one tomorrow ... hope so."

Vladimir Tarasenko bobblehead

Tarasenko said if he can get his hands on multiple ones, he'll send some over to his family in Russia. But in the meantime, does it look like him, though?

"I think so," Tarasenko said. "You can ask people on Twitter if you want. 

"It looks like Jay Bouwmeester more."

Tarasenko's linemates don't think the resemblance is there either.

"Not really, no," Jori Lehtera said before joking. "Only thing you can know that it's Vladi is the celebration. I told him I'm not gonna get one of those."

Added Jaden Schwartz: "I don't think the hair does, but the celebration does, and I think the smile a little bit. But I think the hair's too dark maybe. 

"Eh, its alright. I won't say no completely. It's OK."

* Revenge -- When the Blues (42-19-5) host the fading Flyers (28-27-13), the Blues will have some payback on their minds.

It was a week ago Thursday that the Blues did everything right for 50 minutes at Wells Fargo Center against the Flyers. They held a 1-0 lead before Philadelphia scored three goals in the last half of the third period (Michael Del Zotto, Wayne Simmonds and Michael Raffl) to defeat the Blues 3-1.

Philadelphia, which is clinging to playoff hopes, as they trail the Boston Bruins by nine points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, has not win since, going 0-2-1.

"A game were we played a pretty solid 50 minutes in their building, but you need 60 in this league to win," Backes said. "They scored three goals ... I don't know if they stole two points, but they took two points that we really wanted and the result is we're here looking for revenge in our building."

The Blues hope to get defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who's missed to games because of sickness, and forward Olli Jokinen, who left the game last Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury, back to the lineup. Both skated on Wednesday.

"He says he feels really good today, so that's a good sign," Hitchcock said of Bouwmeester, who saw his NHL ironman streak come to an end at 737 games earlier this season. "I would say for us for sure, if he (had) a good day today, he's going to play tomorrow. Same with (Jokinen); if he (had) a good day today, he's going to play tomorrow."

Brian Elliott will start for the fourth consecutive game against the Flyers. He made 28 of 30 saves against Philadelphia last week. Ray Emery is projected as the starter for the Flyers.

Jackman's game-winner gives Blues crazy win against Jets

Defenseman scores unusual goal with 1:03 

remaining after Winnipeg rallied from three-goal deficit

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues had the Winnipeg Jets right where they wanted them.

A third period lead, a comfortable third period lead. Two points were all but  given

It was a collective sigh of relief in the St. Louis Blues' locker room after a 5-4 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on one of the stranger goals to deues cide a game.

Barret Jackman's long-shot goal with 1:03 remaining in the third period enabled the Blues to defeat the Jets on Tuesday and salvage two points in the most unconventional way.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

The Blues' Barret Jackman (left) and Alexander Steen celebrate Jackman's

third-period goal in a 5-4 victory on Tuesday night.

Jackman shot the puck from just inside the red line, and it somehow fooled Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec to give the Blues a win after Winnipeg rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third period to tie the game.

David Backes won a faceoff back to Jackman's defensive partner Robert Bortuzzo, who immediately passed to Jackman. The veteran Blues' defenseman was aiming to throw the puck into the offensive zone and let the forwards go to work and found a better result.

"I just tried to get the puck in and give our forwards an opportunity," Jackman said. "It so happened their (goalie) lost track of it. We'll take it any way we can. 

"When I threw it in there, I thought (Pavelec) was just kind of surveying the play and was just going to grab it and flip it to the side. It just kind of floated over the glove. He obviously didn't get a good look at it."

Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had a good look at the play.

"We were on the bench; we could see it," Pietrangelo said. "All I was saying was, 'Go in!' We knew he didn't know where the puck was. I thought it was going right in his glove. Lucky enough it changed direction. We'll take it.

"It's an interesting way to win a hockey game, but we'll take it. Not a good way to finish in the third period; I think we can all agree with that. Fun to watch."

The Blues (42-19-5, 89 points) trail the Nashville Predators by two points for first place in the Central Division and have two games in hand.

St. Louis scored goals on four consecutive shots in the first and second periods.

The "STL Line" had six points, giving it 17 in the past four games. Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera each had a goal and an assist. Pietrangelo and Backes each had two assists for the Blues, and Brian Elliott made 12 saves.

Elliott was as happy as anyone when Jackman's shot went in.

"I would like to say I called it," Elliott said. "I've never really screamed for a goal that we got. That was a quick, girlie, high-pitched scream I had. Not pretty, but we'll take the two points and move on, that's for sure. ... I guess my high-pitch scream tells you I didn't expect it to [go in].

"Sometimes you lose the puck in the stands and you're expecting one thing, especially from 'Jax,' who's kind of a get it deep kind of player and you don't expect a shot from there. If you lose it in the stands, it's tough to gain it again. It's coming pretty fast. I'm assuming that's what happened. It's a tough break for him. You never want to get scored on like that."

The Jets (33-22-12, 78 points) entered the game three points in front of the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference; the Kings played at the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. It was the second of a four-game trip for the Jets, who won Saturday at Nashville.

Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist, and Michael Frolik, Lee Stempniak and Blake Wheeler also scored. Michael Hutchinson, who started in goal, was pulled from the game after giving up four goals on seven shots; Pavelec made 19 saves in relief.

The Jets, who were 0-17-4 when trailing after two periods, scored three unanswered goals in the third to pull even at 4-4.

To see it end for them in that fashion was painful, especially so late in the season when points are precious.

"That's hockey man, you know," said Wheeler, whose shorthanded goal in the third tied the game 4-4. "They outplayed us in the first two periods but it was an opportunity for us to build some momentum going down to Florida regardless of what the score ended up being. It was a great effort by our team.

"That's hard. That's so hard coming into the middle of the game. You're stone cold, and he made some big saves to give us a chance to tie the game so no one feels worse than (Pavelec)right now. We need to rally around him and get his back up because we don't tie that game without him. It's a crazy game, stuff happens."

Ladd and Stempniak scored 11 seconds apart early in the period to make it 4-3. Ladd's power-play goal at 1:34 ended the Blues' streak of 17 straight kills, and Stempniak took an Adam Lowry pass and beat Elliott under the crossbar at 1:45. 

The Jets tied it 4-4 on Wheeler's shorthanded goal, a slap shot from the high slot that beat Elliott high to the glove side with 5:28 left but lost in gut-wrenching fashion.

"It's a tough loss," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "They were clearly better in the second and we were better than they were clearly in the third. We didn't skate in the second and they didn't skate in the third."

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who win his 699th game in the NHL, was not displeased with his team after frittering away a 4-1 lead. He called Jackman's goal, "Justice. 

"Play that good for two periods, deserve a good fate. I was really happy with the way we played in the second and third period. The hockey gods took care of us. Good for him; I'll go to church tomorrow."

"I don't think it got away from us at all," Hitchcock added. "The first period, they were really on us. Their press-up game, we practiced for two days against it and showed video but we weren't ready for how intense it was. And then we played a great second period and played even a better third period. The two goals they scored to make it 4-3 were both flukes. Broken stick, defenseman can't defend and it ends up being 5-on-3. [Paul] Stastny does a great job on the backcheck, gets over top of the top and it hits a skate. Those are two fluky plays, and after that, we played great. We had all the scoring chances, we played great. What are you gonna do? They scored on their three scoring chances, they got them and that's the way it was."

Hitchcock did say the only mistake the Blues made was on the shorthanded tally by Wheeler.

"We made a back-checking mistake," Hitchcock said. "First of all, we turned it over on the power play, we kind of made a casual play in-zone and then we turned it over and didn't have the proper coverage coming back. That's the one goal that we made the mistake on, but man, we did a lot of good things."

Frolik opened the scoring and extended his point streak to seven games with his 16th of the season off a flip pass from Ladd. Frolik beat Lehtera to the puck and took a wrist shot that beat Elliott five-hole 8:50 into the game for a 1-0 lead.

It was the ninth straight game in which the Blues have allowed the first goal.

Schwartz scored with 5:40 remaining in the period to tie the game 1-1. Then the Blues got goals from Tarasenko 31 seconds into the second to make it 2-1; Ott scored to make it 3-1 at 10:08 and Lehtera ended Hutchinson's night after finishing off a tic-tac-toe play 1:01 later to make it a 4-1 game.

The points are starting to rack up for the "STL Line" again.

"Puck was finding our sticks," Schwartz said. "We were moving our feet and creating chances and checking the puck back when we had it. We had chances and they seemed to go in.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Vladimir Tarasenko (right) reaches for a puck defending the Jets' Jacob

Trouba in t. Louis' 5-4 victory.

"That was pretty crazy. Everyone's pretty excited. Not really sure what happened, but that was nice. Relieved to see it go in. Couldn't happen to a better guy to win it for us."

The Blues got the two points at the end of the night, and that's what they'll hang their hat on.

"Two points out of first place," Pietrangelo said. "That's a great accomplishment right now. We've got two games in hand still. Couple more home games before a really long road trip, so these next two games are really important for us."

However ... 

"It's good, but it's also kind of a check yourself in the mirror time," Elliott said. "You've got to preserve those leads. We built up a good one, had a great second period, but kind of let it fall away. Took an early penalty in the third period. That's the stuff you want to get away from. With a finish like that, you kind of have to take the two points and not worry about it too much."

* NOTES -- The Blues announced on Tuesday afternoon they have signed prospect Colton Parayko to a two-year entry level contract.

Parayko, 21, a 2012 third round draft pick, will report to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

Parayko has spent the past three seasons at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. This season, the 6-foot-4, 224-pound defenseman appeared in 34 games and ranked third on the club with 23 points, including six goals and 17 assists.

In 2013-14, he was named a WCHA First Team All-Star while earning the League’s Defensive Player of the Year honors. In addition, he was chosen as a NCAA Second Team All-American.


Overall, Parayko dressed in 104 collegiate games and had 66 points, with 17 goals and 49 assists.

(3-10-15) Jets-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who's missed the past 16 games after an abdominal injury that had him have surgery, took the ice along with fellow defenseman Zbynek Michalek (concussion) for the team's morning optional skate.

Shattenkirk, who was injured Feb. 1 against the Washington Capitals, took part in line rush drills and has been on the ice for a couple weeks now. His status is still week-to-week, but the recovery seems to be progressing nicely.

"They've felt good," Shattenkirk said of the recent skates. "I guess about a week ago now, the scar tissue released and that kind of spooked me a little bit. They say if that happens, just take some time, take a day off, let it rest and it's going to feel better, and it has. The groin is still something that I need to work on and strengthen and then once that gets back, hopefully I can jump into real team practices and then get my conditioning back and ready for games."

Shattenkirk got tangled up with the Capitals' Alex Ovechkin in the first period. He went down immediately and crumpled over in the corner before skating off the ice crunched over.

"It was a weird play," said Shattenkirk, who tore his right groin and the ab off the right and left side of his pubic bone . "I just kind of bumped Ovechkin and fell down. Really, it was I tried to get up, as I was sliding, my toes seemed to get caught in the ice and open my leg up as my body was still moving. I just felt a pop and instant pain in my belly and in my groin. I knew right away something was really bad. I've had little tweaks before, but this one felt instantly like it was something was wrong.

"That's the thing, I didn't really know what to expect, what it could have been. Once they gave the MRI, they showed the MRI and said that it was essentially torn off the bone at both spots on the right side and then on the left side in the ab as well. It was pretty amazing to know that that little play caused so much damage."

Shattenkirk said the injury came at a bad time. He was in a race with Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano for most points among defensemen (Shattenkirk has 40 and he was first in power play points at the time with 24).

"Yeah, it was very tough to swallow," Shattenkirk said. "I think right away I knew that it was going to be something major. It wasn't like I had to sit around for a little while, wait to see if it got better and then get something done. I kind of had it in my mind the whole time that this was going to be something that needed to be repaired. Once I found out that it was only going to be a six-week, seven-week recovery, and you look at the schedule and you see that you're going to be back in time for the last final stretch and the playoffs, I think that as a player really motivates you and doesn't allow you to really get down on yourself and think about the 'what-ifs.'

"My doctor in Philly, Dr. (William) Meyers, is someone who is very confident in knowing what the injury is, how to repair it and has been pretty progressive in repairing these things and become the go-to guy in this stuff. When I went there, I just felt comfortable that he knew how to handle it and what to do. He kind of kept me calm and kept me at ease. For that week that stayed there, I was very active in my rehab. About 2 hours or so, an hour after surgery, I was upstairs walking and working on it already. So it was crazy."

Shattenkirk said there's no target date for his return, but he's getting close.

"Yeah, it feels on track," he said. "We're kind of taking it on a week to week basis. This Thursday, I believe, will be five weeks out. It's just going by the protocol and following it. I think as I talk to the doctors, and we kind of see how I'm feeling and what next steps we can take, that's all you can really do. But I'm pushing for the six-week mark and I want to make that mark. But I also want to come back and be 100 percent and obviously every knows that. I wouldn't be helping the team out coming back any less than that, I think."

- - -

Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (illness), who missed Saturday's 6-1 win at Toronto, is "available for selection," according to coach Ken Hitchcock. Bouwmeester skated this morning. Center Olli Jokinen (upper body), who departed in the third period Saturday, also skated.

"Jokinen won't play tonight, but he'll be ready for Thursday," Hitchcock said. "We want him to have one more practice with us, so he'll be good to go. He could have played tonight, but we'd like to see him participate in a full practice so (Marcel) Goc will take his place today."

Goc will take go back in after being a healthy scratch Saturday.

"I guess sometimes (it's good to rest), but I wanted to play last game," Goc said. "I hope I'm in tonight and stay there.

"We have a very deep team, especially the forwards. We just got Olli. He's not a first-year guy; he's been around and knows how to play the game. I think it was an emotional game for him as well playing against Toronto. I'll take it day by day and see what happens."

Bouwmeester, who held the NHL's longest ironman streak (737) until it broke earlier this season with a groin injury, made it sound as if he would be good to go.

"I think so. We'll see," he said. "It happens. There's nothing you can do. We have very capable guys. If you can't play, you can't play.

"We've dealt with some injuries and different things throughout the year fairly well. We have lots of depth. There's always guys sitting out that probably on other teams are regular players. Kind of tough sometimes for guys, but it's a good problem for a team to have.


Hitchcock likes Jokinen's professionalism.

"Really good," he said. "I like the fact that those old guys get in the same time the coaches do, so they're keeping everybody honest. They beat three of our coaches in, so we're going to speak to the coaches about that.

"Olli's the type of guy who's looking at this as a great opportunity to really help the team. He's winning to do anything and everything to help our team win hockey games. It doesn't matter how much he plays, where he plays, what position he plays. He doesn't care. Just what can I do to help. The same attitude that 'Z' has, which quite frankly is really refreshing."

- - -

The implications are slightly different, but the common denominator for both the Blues and Jets is two points.

The two Central Division rivals will square off against one another Tuesday, and for the Blues (41-19-5), it's another chance to chase down the division-leading Nashville Predators, who lead St. Louis by four points (91-87). However, the Blues have three games in hand.

"I don't spend too much time looking at it, but we can't control what happens to them," Blues captain David Backes said of the Predators. "We've played our games against them and we can control what we do and that's two points on the line when we're playing our games and we move forward to the next two. If we take care of our business, play our brand of hockey, things will just work themselves out. Regardless of playing in the playoffs, if you wanna reach the goal that we have in mind, you're going to have to play each team or the best of the best and find a way to win. We're going to take that mentality moving forward."

The Blues have had success against the Jets (33-21-12, 78 points), who are three points clear of the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues are 6-0-1 against the Jets since Winnipeg's move to the Western Conference last season, but five of those seven games have been one-goal games and the other two were two-goal games.

"I like these games," Hitchcock said. "They're real barometers of your team. They're fun to coach in. I think the players enjoy playing these games. Really for two years now, every game's been really close. There's not much difference between the two teams. I like them. I think they give you great evaluation post-game of what you like, what needs to get worked on. We looked at the game in Winnipeg. They were better than us in the first half and we were probably better than them in the second half; it was that even of a game. Their games with us are great barometers of what your team is play, your strengths and weaknesses are."

The Jets are doing all they can to stay ahead of the pack of teams trying to chase them down, and starting the four-game road trip against Nashville with a 3-1 victory was a good start for them.

"The effort was as good as I've seen in an awful long time," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "They played hard, too. We're going to expect that kind of game tonight. We expect that from ourselves. It's not always an easy level to get to. That's our challenge."

The Jets feel a win against the Blues could go a long way. They've been on he wrong side of the final result the past two seasons but don't feel like they're far off.

"For an awfully long time, they've been really, really tight games," Maurice said. "I don't think we've walked away from too many games against St. Louis and felt that we didn't play well, play hard. They have to. They bring that out in your game. Just one more of everything, and it's the extra shot on goal, the extra blocked shot. There's not going to be any major system changes or line changes that shake anything loose. It's a battle for every inch on the ice and you've just got to win one more of everything."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Alexander Steen-David Backes-T.J. Oshie

Jaden Schwartz-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko

Dmitrij Jaskin-Paul Stastny-Patrik Berglund

Steve Ott-Marcel Goc-Ryan Reaves

Carl Gunnarsson-Alex Pietrangelo

Petteri Lindbohm-Jay Bouwmeester

Barret Jackman-Robert Bortuzzo

Brian Elliott will start in goal. Jake Allen will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Chris Butler and Chris Porter. Olli Jokinen (upper body) is day to day. Kevin Shattenkirk (abdomen) and Zbynek Michalek (concussion) are on injured reserve.

- - -

The Jets' projected lineup:

Andrew Ladd-Adam Lowry-Michael Frolik

Drew Stafford-Mark Scheifele-Blake Wheeler

Jiri Tlusty-Jim Slater-Lee Stempniak

Chris Thorburn-Eric O'Dell-Anthony Peluso

Toby Enstrom-Tyler Myers

Mark Stuart-Jacob Trouba

Jay Harrison-Adam Pardy

Michael Hutchinson will start in goal. Ondrej Pavelec will be the backup.

The healthy scratches are TJ Galiardi and Paul Postma. Dustin Byfuglien (upper body), Bryan Little (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (lower body), Ben Chariot (undisclosed), Grant Clitsome (back) and Matt Halischuk (lower body) are out with injuries.

(3-10-15) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Time to re-establish home swag for Blues, set 

sights on Central; Shattenkirk, Michalek improving

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- The Blues obviously fixed a few ailments on a road trip that saw them go 3-1-1.

It was split up in two, but taking seven of a possible 10 points is impressive considering the difficulties of winning in the opposition's building.

As the Blues (41-19-5) get set to host the Winnipeg Jets (33-21-12) to start a three-game homestand, fixing what ails them on Scottrade Center ice would be beneficial since the schedule is, as David Backes put it, down to the "dog days."

When the Blues last played at home, they were losing a disheartening 5-2 game to the Montreal Canadiens that finished a 1-3-0 homestand and all but left them out of a chance to win the Central Division. But with Nashville reeling -- they lost six in a row before playing at Arizona on Monday, the Blues can use a good dose of home cooking.

"We had the one homestand which wasn't very pleasing, but I think it's our overall game," Backes said. "Whether that changes from the road to home, I hope that's not a huge factor. In the playoffs, you've got to win games in both venues and making sure that you're digging in and finding ways. We need to get back to that sort of mentality. It's no easier at home than it is on the road and vice versa.

"That sometimes does get hard, middle of the season, dog days of bringing your 'A' game, being 100 percent engaged. I think you saw that a little bit in that homestand. We were a little bit on our heels. We weren't quite as hungry as a team that would say is fighting for their lives for the playoffs. Now we're in the last home stretch here of games. You see light at the end of the tunnel and we should be ramping up every night to be playing our best. ... You get past that trade deadline, you know who your group's going to be and you see a light at the end of the tunnel. It's do-or-die time. Get your game in order, get where you're going to be in the standings and then roll into the playoffs."

The Blues are 22-8-2 on home ice, which is certainly respectable. But with the postseason right around the corner, it might be a good idea to be the intimidator on home ice again and already put the opposition in a hole from a mental perspective.

"I just think we've got to narrow our focus down to one game at a time," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think we got too far ahead of ourselves when we were here. We got too loose in our game and it affected us. I think we got too comfortable in our game, we got too comfortable staying in town for such an extended period of time and got sloppy. We've got to grow our game back where we've got to put details back in it; doesn't matter whether road (or) at home. 

"This is one of the toughest parts of the schedule for us. We've got nine in 15 nights with a lot of travel coming up and it's going to be a very difficult challenge. We need to keep our focus as narrow as we can. Rather than the homestand, I'm preparing for Tuesday night and whatever goes from there, we'll deal with it. But to me, this is the perfect time of season to really live your live, go at it day-to-day and not worry about anything else because these games, pretty much every team's got the same amount of games left over the same amount of time. It's going to be really challenging for everybody."

* Goal of winning division -- Five games ago, the Blues were nine points behind the Predators for the Central Division title. For all intents and purposes, it was over.

The Blues were two points out of first before Nashville's game Monday with two games in hand. It could still be two with three games in hand, or even three points or four points with three games in hand. 

No matter what, it's very realistic for the Blues to win the division now.

"I don't spend too much time looking at it, but we can't control what happens to them," Backes said of the Predators, who were 41-19-7 before Monday. "We've played our games against them and we can control what we do and that's two points on the line when we're playing our games and we move forward to the next two. If we take care of our business, play our brand of hockey, things will just work themselves out. Regardless of playing in the playoffs, if you wanna reach the goal that we have in mind, you're going to have to play each team or the best of the best and find a way to win. We're going to take that mentality moving forward."

Hitchcock feels like if the Blues worry about gaining points, the results will fall into place.

"I know I've said this to people before, (and) everybody talks about playoffs, but I really prefer to look at it from the standpoint that it's going to ... our goal is that it's going to take 100 points to get in the playoffs," Hitchcock said. "Whatever the numbers are, there's still a lot of points out there that we've got to get. Whether we catch Nashville or not, I think it's piqued everybody's interest with what's happened, but we've got to continue to play well to get points. To me, every night is about points. 

"That was what was so disappointing in the Philadelphia game (Thursday, a 3-1 loss). In that game, we've got to get points. We got (a point) in the Vancouver game, kept playing and we played very well against Toronto, but we've got to get points. However they come, whatever Nashville does doesn't matter but we've got to get points too to get up into that air where everybody else looks they're going to go to right now because the teams that are in this mix, the 10 teams or so that are in this mix, nobody's losing. Or if they lose, they lose one and win three in a row. Looking at it, you've got to go with the assumption that people are going to win three-quarters of their games and we've got to adjust accordingly."

* Injury update -- Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who missed the win against the Maple Leafs after falling ill, and center Olli Jokinen, who left the game in the third period with an upper body injury, were not on the ice for practice Monday. But Hitchcock expects they'll be available for selection to play against Winnipeg.

Also, defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk (abdomen) and Zbynek Michalek (concussion) did not skate with the team but did so on their own.

Hitchcock was encouraged.

"Yeah, they both had real good days today, so they both worked like crazy," Hitchcock said of Shattenkirk and Michalek. "I would say the next evaluation where you can start asking questions and I'll give you the right answers will be when you see them on the ice with us either in a skate or a pregame skate or whatever, an optional practice. But they're getting really close that way, so it's a good sign."

Shattenkirk has been out since Feb. 1 and Michalek has not played since Feb. 14. Both accompanied the team on the past trip.

"I expect everyone that was on the ice and the guys that weren't available (Monday) to be available (Tuesday)," Hitchcock said. "So the only two guys for me that won't be ready tomorrow will be Michalek and Shatty. Everybody else will be ready to go."

* Bortuzzo making a mark -- New Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, acquired at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins for fellow defenseman Ian Cole, has made an impressive mark on his new team.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Thunder Bay, Ontario native played 16 minutes, 30 seconds in his Blues debut against the Flyers and had six shots and played 17:19 against the Leafs.

"I kind of want to play with that edge but always being under control," Bortuzzo said. "I think that's the best thing. If you can be physical, be physical, but if it's not there, don't force it. Positionally, I think it's having a good stick. In terms of that abrasiveness and being hard to play against, that's something I think helps myself. I want to stand up for teammates and make it hard on the other team's top-end players.

"I think the staff and team's done a great job of communicating some of those differences. Whether it's through video or just questions on the bench or guys communicating in between periods. It's been an easy transition."

Hitchcock will have a tough time pulling Bortuzzo from the lineup if he continues to play at this pace.

"I think his game is solid," Hitchcock said of Bortuzzo. "He's just solid. He's heads-up, he's alert, he's into the game and he makes a good first pass. I didn't watch him that closely in Pittsburgh, but he's an effective player for us. He looks like a guy that in a couple years can really impact in a positive way. He's a young guy; he's just learning the game. He's had a real positive impact in our locker room."

Bortuzzo has been Barret Jackman's partner on the third defensive pairing, a spot Hitchcock said is the best fit for Bortuzzo.

"He is right now, but there's going to come a time when Michalek and Shattenkirk come in ... we're going to have a multitude of right shots for the first time in this franchise's history," Hitchcock said. "We'll see where it goes."

Bortuzzo called the trade tough but said it's easy when you go from one contender to another.

"At the end of the day, we're in this to win hockey games and that ultimate goal is to be a championship hockey team," Bortuzzo said. "It was tough being traded. It was something I've never gone through, but when you find out it's an organization and a team like the Blues, that definitely raises your excitement level. You hear a lot of great things from an outsider and when you get here right away, those things are reinforced. 

"I can't say enough about working with Barret. So far, even in practice if I'm a little lost on a couple drills, he'll communicate and then in the games, he's doing everything he can to talk and communicate. Obviously a very experienced guy who I want to learn from."

* STL Line finding its mark -- They were hot at the beginning of the season and leveled off some in the highs and lows of an 82-game season, but it seems the line of Jori Lehtera, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko is heating up offensively again.

The trio accounted for seven points in the 6-1 in against the Leafs and have 11 points in the past  three games.

"I think there's games before that we were playing well and had lots of chances they didn't go in," Schwartz said. "This time of the year, you're not going to score every single game, but you want to contribute as much as you can and try to stay positive when they're not going in."

"On the road, their line was terrific," Hitchcock said. "For a while now, that line's been fine. It's been fine for us for really five games now. ... Their puck support's way better. They're closer to each other, and when they have puck support at close proximity, they're very effective offensively. That's what you're seeing now, you're seeing little give-and-go plays, short pass support. When they play like that, they're really effective."

Check to score seems to be the best mantra for the unit, as it does for all the lines. But the "STL Line" seems to perfect the strategy when they check well.

"We've been inconsistent in that area still," Hitchcock said. "When we do it like we did against Toronto ... I think what you see when we get chances off the rush, it means we've checked well. So when you get scoring chances in this day and age off the rush, it means you've created an odd-man break by the way you check. So when our rush attack chances are very limited, it's a sign we're not checking well. But when they're in that seven, eight, nine, 10 chances, that means we've checked well, we've created turnovers and we've created odd-man rushes because of it."

* Blues look to stay perfect against Jets -- The Blues, who have three game remaining with Winnipeg on the schedule, have two wins this season against the Jets.

They won 4-2 and most recently, 2-1 in a shootout on Feb. 26 at MTS Centre. The Jets are holding the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference and will bring a heavy game to Scottrade Center on Tuesday despite being without key players Dustin Byfuglien (upper body), Bryan Little (undisclosed) and Mathieu Perreault (lower body).

"They play physical because they skate," Hitchcock said of the Jets. "Winnipeg doesn't get enough credit because of how fast they are. They're fast. They're on you fast, it looks like to me the only time they rest is when they're on the bench. They work. So I think it's their work that forces you to play. If not, you're going to get steam-rolled. They're a team that plays a very honest game. If you're not prepared to dig in physically, emotionally, whatever, you're going to get run over. I like the challenges. To me, every game we play against Winnipeg feels like a playoff game, looks like a playoff game. There's a lot of good play on both sides of the puck by both teams. I don't know what Paul feels like, but I feel like I can pull 30 clips out of this and show things in our game that are really relevant. It's two teams that are pretty honest hockey clubs that go at each other."

Brian Elliott will start in goal on Tuesday.

Mixed emotions for Cole after trade to Penguins

Defenseman excited to join Cup 

contender, disappointed not ti fulfill goal with Blues

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- When the Blues and general manager Doug Armstrong traded for Arizona Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek at the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday, Ian Cole saw the writing on the wall.

Cole, one of three first-round picks (18th) for the Blues in 2007 (Lars Eller 13th and David Perron 26th being the others), makes it a clean sweep. The Blues are now without any of their three top picks from that year.

Eller was traded as part of the deal that brought goalie Jaroslav Halak from Montreal in 2010, and Perron was  traded to Edmonton in 2013 for Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second round pick (that turned into Ivan Barbashev).

Cole, who was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday for fellow defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who coincidentally was the Penguins' third round pick in 2007.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues defenseman Ian Cole (28) fights off San Jose's Barclay Goodrow in

a game earlier this season. Cole was traded to Pittsburgh on Monday.

It marked the end of what was a very adventurous five seasons for Cole with the Blues. There's always a high upside for first round picks with the hopes that the team that drafted the player hit a home run. 

The experience with Cole, who had nine goals and 31 points in 167 career regular season games with the Blues, didn't appear to fully develop.

In the past two seasons, Cole was finally given more of a top six role on the blue line after being relegated to more of a seventh or eighth defenseman. There were many recalls from the American Hockey League, then assignments back to the AHL, mostly in Peoria.

But this season, Cole had already played in a career-high 54 games with the Blues. But with Kevin Shattenkirk, who is rehabbing from abdominal surgery, and Michalek now in the plans, the writing appeared to be clear.

Cole had conversations on multiple occasions with Armstrong about his role. There was no animosity. Just straightforward honesty. Cole's desire was to get a role in the top four. 

With Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Shattenkirk and Carl Gunnarsson this season and others before this season's crop, that opportunity never presented itself.

"I told him if I'm not gonna play here, then I need to play somewhere," Cole said by phone Monday night. "Making the move to get Michalek, fine, no problem. I just didn't want to sit here by the wayside and do nothing. And that's fine, but (Armstrong) said if that was going to be the case and I was gonna sit and not play, then he would trade me. He did. He's a 100 percent man of his word and followed through and I can't thank him enough for saying he was going to do something and actually do it. It's rare to have someone say they're going to do something and to actually follow through and do it. I have the utmost respect for him. Obviously the job he does without a doubt one of the best, if not, the best in the league. He's a great GM on not a huge market team, puts together a fantastic team every year. Can't say enough great things about Doug Armstrong. I have a ton of respect for the guy, a really stand-up guy and a really great guy."

Cole's Monday was chaotic. The Blues, who had a late Sunday game in Vancouver, didn't arrive in St. Louis until roughly 6:30 a.m. Monday morning. By the time he got to bed at 8 and getting the call from Armstrong that he'd been traded, it was hard to process.

"Absolute whirlwind," Cole said. "... Hearing you get traded and find out you get traded to an absolute contender in Pittsburgh, it's crazy. It's exciting, it's a whole bunch of emotions. It's all crammed together. It's one of those things where it's never happened before. I didn't really know what to expect when it was going to happen, but it's been a very exciting day and I'm definitely excited to continue this journey to the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh."

But flip the coin, and Cole is saddened. The Blues drafted him, nurtured him, groomed him and the players he called teammates were the only ones of his professional career.

The majority of them called or text Cole to offer best wishes.

"This is the only organization I've ever played for," Cole said. "These are the only teammates I've ever had professionally. It's really strange to be leaving all these guys, the only guys I've ever known as teammates. There's definitely a lot of apprehension in that fact. And then, on the flip side of that coin, going to such a great team and great organization in Pittsburgh, it's really exciting. It's going to be another team very capable of winning a Stanley Cup. We saw firsthand a week ago. An extremely good team that can beat any other in the league without a doubt.

"... It's been a great stretch of years here, a great experience here in St. Louis. Definitely grown as a person and as a player. ... I love these guys. It's family. It's tough leaving family. I'm looking forward to seeing them, especially in two weeks." 

Cole, who left St. Louis on Tuesday to fly to Denver to meet his new teammates, where the Penguins will face the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, he gets the opportunity to play with a team more offensive-oriented and playing with superstars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin offers a different element.

But Cole, quickly quipped he also gets to be reunited with, "David Perron and Max Lapierre. And I get to play for (former Blues assistant coach) Gary Agnew again. I don't know a ton of guys there, but I know a few. I'm sure it'll be a smooth transition. From everything I've heard, they have a great locker room and great bunch of guys. I'm really excited to get going."

Cole touched base with Penguins GM Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Johnston but didn't go into too much detail.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Robert Bortuzzo, shown here playing against the

Blues recently, was acquired for Ian Cole Monday.

"Didn't get too much into expectations," Cole said. "Talked to them all, talked to Bill Guerin, which was pretty cool and was able to touch base with all of them and say hi. I'm sure the expectations are going to be the same as they were here: win games, put a great product out on the ice and win a Stanley Cup. For any good teams, that's what the expectations are." 

Cole's biggest regret is not winning a Stanley Cup in St. Louis but feels the Blues will continue that march forward.

"For us in St. Louis, our goal is to win the Stanley Cup," Cole said. "My first year, it was to get back in the playoffs. For the past two, three years, it was to win the Stanley Cup and we haven't done that. 

"It is a little sad in that we weren't able to do it while I was here. I would have liked to bring the Stanley Cup to St. Louis, parade it down Market Street. It would have been fantastic, but it didn't happen for whatever reason. We weren't able to pull it together in the playoffs. St. Louis Blues are another fantastic team this year, another very talented team, another very, very good team. That opportunity is most certainly still there, but the same can be said for Pittsburgh too."

Blues trade for injured defenseman

Team acquired Zbynek Michalek from Arizona for prospect Letunov; 
trade Cole to Penguins for Bortuzzo, add Jokinen for Lindstrom, pick

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues bolstered their defensive corps by acquiring Arizona Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek and a conditional 2015 third round pick for prospect Maxim Letunov.

However, Michalek is currently on injured-reserve, and the condition on the third round pick has been reported as being how many games Michalek plays with the Blues.

(Arizona Coyotes photo)

The Blues have acquired Arizona defenseman Zbynek

Michalek at the NHL Trade Deadline.

Letunov, the Blues' second round pick in 2014. Letunov is currently playing with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League. He is committed to playing at Boston University next season.

The Blues weren't done, as they acquired defenseman Robert Bortuzzo from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Ian Cole and added veteran winger Olli Jokinen from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Joakim Lindstrom and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2016 that, according to reports, can become a fourth round pick in 2015 if the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Final and Jokinen plays a role in it.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, who clarified that the conditional pick goes back to Coyotes once Michalek plays a game and becomes a player for player trade. He said the Blues had interest in Michalek before his injury and it slowed the process, but had to assume some risk with the trade deadline approaching.

"Working with (Coyotes general manager Don Maloney) and getting the doctors and trainers in touch with each other, we had to get to a decision point last night that we were ready to assume some risk on an injured player," Armstrong said. "... Michalek brings us a player that has played against the other team's top players now for a number of years. He plays in all the key situations. ... He's a guy that can give us minutes, and he's a guy that is comfortable defending against the other team's best players. It gives us a deeper group of players to play against."

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Michalek, 32, has not played since sustaining a concussion on Feb. 14.

"It's another step in the recovery and I'm hoping it won't be too long before I'm back on the ice playing," Michalek said. "It could be a few more days or weeks, you just never know with this type of injury."

A right-handed shot, Michalek has 73 hits and ranks 12th in the NHL with 130 blocks in 53 games this season. He’s in the final season of a five-year, $20 million contract.

ESPN and TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported that the Coyotes will retain 50 percent of Michalek's salary the remainder of the season.

It is believed that once he joins the Blues, Michalek, who averaged 21:05 ice time with the Coyotes, will be paired with Barret Jackman on the Blues' third defensive pairing. He arrived in St. Louis on Monday night and will skate Tuesday for the first time.

With Kevin Shattenkirk (abdominal surgery) sidelined week to week, the Blues felt they needed to fortify their blue line, but Armstrong said Shattenkirk will accompany the Blues on the remainder of their road trip to Philadelphia and Toronto to see the specialist in Philadelphia who performed the surgery on him. 

Shattenkirk was injured Feb. 1 against the Washington Capitals but has since started skating on his own. His return is still to be determined.

Michalek is a minus-6 on the season but was one of the top Coyotes defenseman with a 51.87 SAT percentage.

Michalek said he's looking forward to helping the Blues in a deep playoff run after speaking with Maloney.

"It means a lot," Michalek said of the Blues taking a risk on him. "I appreciate that somebody took a chance on an injured player and I just hope that I can be back soon and prove that they didn't just waste their draft picks or prospects for nothing. I want to repay them and do whatever I can to get back on the ice soon.

"... I have to move on and right now, I'm really excited to join a really good team and getting healthy and hoping to help them make a deep run in the playoffs." 

Michalek has two goals and six assists this season and 38 goals and 129 assists in 696 games over 11 seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins and Coyotes.

The addition of Michalek likely spelled the end of Cole's tenure in St. Louis. 

A former first round pick by the Blues in 2007 (18th overall), the 6-1, 219-pound Cole, 26, played in a career-high 54 games this season after spending the past four seasons getting in and out of the lineup.

Robert Bortuzzo

He had a career-high four goals this season to go with nine points and has nine goals and 31 points in 167 games in five seasons.

The 6-4, 215-pound Bortuzzo, 25, gives the Blues a physical, abrasive edge to his game who is known more for his physicality than his scoring and is another right-handed defenseman, something the Blues were lacking. He was a third round pick, coincidentally, in the same 2007 draft with Cole.

Armstrong said he talked to Cole on a couple occasions throughout the season and that Cole's goal was to play in the top four on defense, and if not, he'd welcome a trade.

"His goal was to be a top-four player here and get those type of minutes," Armstrong said of Cole. "The feeling was if we couldn't find the proper fit, he would accept a move to a different organization for a fresh start.

"Ian was a great pro here. He was a healthy scratch at times. He might not have gotten the ice time, but he showed up every day to work. It was a good opportunity to give Ian a fresh start and also bring in a player that we felt is a dimension that we don't have in our back-end."

Bortuzzo has two goals and four assists with 68 penalty minutes in 38 games this season and four goals and 20 points in 116 games in four seasons.

"Bortuzzo is another right-shot guy, brings a physical element certainly on the back-end," Armstrong said. "... That was a win-win for all the parties involved."

Both players' salaries were similar, but Cole made slightly more and the Blues retained a portion of his salary to even out the dollars for each player.

Jokinen, 36, will be playing with his third NHL team this season and 10th in all. The 17-year veteran, who started this season with the Nashville Predators before being traded to the Leafs, had three goals and seven points (three goals, three assists in 48 games with Nashville, one assist in six games with Toronto) this season.

"Jokinen just brings us an experienced player," Armstrong said. "When I look at our roster, I like our group of 12 very much, but our ability when a top-nine player gets injured and has to come out of the lineup, the guys that we have ... we really didn't have a player that can consistently play in that top nine. I think Jokinen coming in is a player that's comfortable. He's played in that environment before and he has experience in those areas." 

Jokinen, the third overall pick in 1997 (Los Angeles Kings) has played in 1,223 regular season games and has 320 goals and 747 points. But Jokinen has only been involved in one playoff series (2009 with the Calgary Flames) and had two goals and three assists in six games.

(file photo)

Olli Jokinen (left) will join his third team this

season after being acquired by the Blues. Here he's

playing for Nashville in a game against Toronto,

who he also played for.

"In talking to Olli, I really got the sense he's excited," Armstrong said. "He said he knows what it feels like to win the lottery. ... He hasn't played in many playoff games. He wants to play deep, he wants to win the Stanley Cup and he told me he's willing to take whatever role, if it's a daily basis or platooned in. He's 100 percent committed to doing whatever hecan do to be a great teammate and also give us the depth if necessary."

Lindstrom, who was signed to a one-year, $700,000 contract, was brought in to play in the top-nine and played in 34 games. However, the offensive production was limited to three goals and three assists and had been a recent healthy scratch. With the emergence of Dmitrij Jaskin, it would have been tough for Lindstrom to find his way back into the lineup.

"He had lost his roster spot to Jaskin recently and was a player that wasn't getting a lot of ice time on our team," Armstrong said of Lindstrom. "Hopefully he goes to Toronto and he may get an opportunity to play there and earn himself an NHL contract for next year also."

The Blues did option (paperwork-wise) Petteri Lindbohm to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League for the purpose of having him on the AHL roster by the 2 p.m. (CT) deadline to be eligible for the playoffs. He was immediately recalled back to the Blues.