Blues fumble away golden opportunity, lose to Coyotes 3-1

Chance to gain in standings on Jets, 

Predators goes out the window with deflating loss

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Losses are going to happen in an 82-game season, but for the Blues, this one Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes ranked among the worst ones.

Ask Ryan O'Reilly.

Playing a team on the second of back-to-back nights, one that was thoroughly embarrassed 24 hours earlier, 7-1 at Chicago, one that was putting little to no offense in the game and the Blues owning possession of the puck, and having a 76-34 advantage in shots, the Blues rightfully lamented a 3-1 loss to the resilient Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday at Enterprise Center.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues forward Robert Thomas tries to fight off Coyotes defenseman Jason

Demers (55) in a puck battle Tuesday at Enterprise Center.

What makes this loss worse for the Blues (36-26-7), their margin over the Dallas Stars for third place in the Central Division is two points after the Stars and native Ben Bishop blanked Buffalo 2-0, Bishop's third straight shutout, and the Blues missed out on a chance of pulling within two points of Nashville for second in the division and three behind Winnipeg when both the Jets and Predators lost.

"It's embarrassing. It sucks," O'Reilly said. "It's a game we should have won. There's no way those guys should have beat us. I was shooting the puck terrible tonight. I had lots of opportunities where I could have done something. That was embarrassing. That was a game we should have beat those guys."

This one smelled a lot like that 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers on New Year's Eve when Henrik Lundqvist stole two points for the Rangers after facing 40+ shots. Darcy Kuemper faced 40 shots Tuesday, but this just didn't seem like the Blues had that many high-grade scoring shots. The chances were there, but puck management left something to be desired, and there wasn't nearly enough net front traffic after Kuemper left some juicy rebounds laying in the crease and shot area.

Oh, and that old nemesis (missed shots) bit the Blues big time. Missed shots were St. Louis 19, Arizona 1, and the Coyotes (35-30-5) didn't miss their opportunity until late in the third period.

"I think missed net shots, missed the net on a few, I don't think we shot the puck that well tonight to be honest with you," Blues interim coach Craig Berube said. "We had a lot of shots. I think we could have made it harder on the goalie.

"There were rebounds, have to go back and look at the tape. It's not that we didn't have people there. They battled hard in front of the net and cleared a lot of things. Maybe we were late on some of the second and third opportunities that we needed to get another goal or two."

There's no question the Blues missed Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury, but after what just recently happened with Brayden Schenn when he missed six games and the Blues averaging only 1.5 goals per game (nine in the six games Schenn missed), this Blues have scored three goals (1.5 per game) in the two that Tarasenko has missed, and he's going to be out for at least another week. And with David Perron (concussion) missing his 23rd straight game, it was doubly tough.

"Well, it's always a little bit harder when you've got such an elite scorer gone," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "That's why you have depth and we have the players we have. So I'm not worried about that. We've just got to look at it, watch the game, watch some film and find ways that we can get better. Make it harder on other teams' goalies."

The Blues should have made it harder on Kuemper, who was pulled from the loss in Chicago after allowing four goals on 16 shots, but the ones that really sting are the missed shots where players were trying to pick corners or trying to get cute by hitting a corner. And believe it or not, despite the 76 shot attempts, there were players who were hesitant to shoot pucks at times.

"Just trying to pick corners, trying to make the right shot," O'Reilly said. "I guess you've still got to hit the net. I don't know how many shots we threw up. Still, we had the puck the entire game. We've got to finish.

"I don't think we shot the puck well. We had lots of shots, but just didn't shoot well. It started with me. They were panicking half the game. We just moved it around and just didn't beat him."

And then there were mistakes, two costly ones, that ended up in the Blues' net.

The first one, early in the second period, when Jordan Binnington, who made 19 saves, had an egregious error when he went behind his net and tried playing a blind backhand pass to Jaden Schwartz, who scored for the Blues, and instead, Binnington missed Schwartz and right on the tape of Richard Panik, who said thank you very much and deposited it into the empty net for a 1-0 Arizona lead 1:05 into the period.

"Not ideal timing to give that one up," Binnington said. "I've got to be better there. I thought I had 'Schwartzy' on the backside there. I just missed my pass there and unfortunately it ended up in the goal and gave them the lead."

And some life, and if you're going to make that risky play in a 0-0 game, you better be right with the execution, and like many of the offensive chances, that one was so off the mark.

"I think one of our forwards was coming back on that side," Berube said. "I think our forward thought he was just going up the other way and I think 'Binner' probably saw him in the back of his eye and went to pass it to him but he wasn't ready for it. It's just a miscue."

The Blues responded. As they did throughout the game, controlled the puck, pushed and prodded with no results despite Pat Maroon doing his best to fire the team up by pummeling Coyotes defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin.

"I thought we responded well," O'Reilly said. "We got back to the game. We still had some bad turnovers that gave them a little bit of ice, but still for the most part, we put it deep and hunted them. We had the puck, we made plays, possessed it and just still wasn't good enough."

That seemed to be an issue, making crisp, tape-to-tape passes, at times and throwing off timing plays.

"Sometimes we were a little cute, for sure," Berube said. "That happens at times when you have the puck so much instead of just being more direct. We talked about it between periods, being more direct."

All that the Blues were able to do, they had to do at times with guys leaving the ice in bunches. 

Defenseman Joel Edmundson left the game with a lower-body injury midway through the second period and did not return. Forwards Brayden Schenn, Sammy Blais and Oskar Sundqvist all got dinged up in the period but returned to play. Schenn, however left with roughly 7:30 remaining in the game after taking a stick the face (that wasn't called), bleeding from above his left eye and run into the corner glass along the Coyotes bench by Lawson Crouse.

"It's tough," O'Reilly said. "We lose some big guys, but for the most part, we stuck with our game plan and guys stepped up after that.

"I saw the replay (on Schenn), and yeah, for sure (a call should have been made). I thought there were a few calls that should ... we had the puck the whole game. There were plenty of times I thought that there should have been calls that weren't made. We're getting to that late time where things aren't called as much and it's playoff style, but it's frustrating because for how many shots we had, we had a few on the PP and it shows we had the puck the majority of the time. You're going to draw stuff."

Down a goal, the Blues felt good about tying it and even winning, but when Sundqvist fumbled a puck along the wall in the defensive zone and lost it, Vinnie Hinostroza pounced and made it 2-0 just 23 seconds into the third.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

The Blues fired off 40 shots at Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper, including one

by Sammy Blais (9) here on Tuesday in Arizona's 3-1 victory.

Schwartz scored a power-play goal, his 300th NHL point, with 1:11 remaining with Binnington out of goal and a 6-on-4, and when the Blues pulled Binnington again after calling a time out, they gained zone time for perhaps a tying goal but couldn't convert, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson put the finishing touches on a Coyotes win with an empty-netter with 21.8 seconds left.

"We played well, we outshot them," Pietrangelo said. "But again, we can say we had zone time but we've just got to find ways to score goals. One goal, 6-on-5, or just on the power play isn't good enough right now. We've got to find a way to score.

"They seemed like they were fronting a lot of pucks. But ice wasn't great. When you have the puck in the slot. They didn't get a whole lot of good opportunities either. We did miss a lot of chances. But we still put up 40 shots. We might have missed the net a lot but we still had 40, 40 chances that we should've scored."

(3-12-19) Coyotes-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Pat Maroon sat at his locker stall Tuesday as if nothing happened.

But 24 hours earlier, a picture painted a totally different picture.

Maroon will be in the lineup when the Blues (36-25-7) continue their push towards the playoffs when they face the Arizona Coyotes (34-30-5) at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, KMOX 1120-AM).

Maroon was involved what appeared to be a collision with the boards during a battle drill and went down awkwardly and hard. He was putting no weight on his right leg, which suggested some sort of potential knee or ankle injury and was helped off the ice by the team's training staff.

Interim coach Craig Berube suggested to the media after practice that Maroon would be fine, much to the surprise of everyone, unless Maroon felt worse the following day.

As it turns out, Berube was right, and it was more precaution than anything, as Maroon said after the morning skate Tuesday.

"I just got stepped on. I got caught," he said. "I couldn't put pressure on it because we didn't know what was going on. Good thing I had cut-resistant socks. Just a little freak accident when you go down and something happens. I was just cautious at the time. I probably overreacted, but I was just making sure I was OK."

As it turns out, Colton Parayko's skate blade came down on Maroon's ankle and there was some fear that there could be some sort of severed injury. But that was not the case.

"Yeah, it was (scary)," Maroon said. "Obviously for me it was scary. A big man like Parayko's skate comes across you. Luckily I'm OK and nothing came about it. I was just nervous at the time and obviously anyone would be nervous when a skate blade comes across.

"Yeah, it was fine. It was just a precautionary thing. Just making sure I was OK. Just a little freak accident. When you have scary moments like that, a skate blade coming anywhere near you, you just kind of freak out and you kind of panic a little bit. We just didn't know if it was bleeding or what was going on. Just making sure everything was OK."

So Maroon will be on the line he started practicing with Monday, with Tyler Bozak and Jaden Schwartz.

"I'm looking forward to tonight's game, another good test for us in Arizona," Maroon said. "Obviously we know what happened last night, but they're in the playoff mix and they've been playing good hockey lately. They're going to come out and play us really tough, so we've got to be ready."

- - -

The Blues will continue on with line without leading goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss at San Jose and will be out a minimum of another week with an upper-body injury.

"Our line has been playing really well together, we've been generating a lot and starting to find that chemistry," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly said. "At the same time, we've just got to find some different looks. It's not going to be the exact same way but there's still plenty of ways to have success, especially through the power play, having his shot there and how dangerous he is, just suck guys in, he's such a threat, it certainly changes things around that way."

Rookie Robert Thomas will step into the role vacated by Tarasenko and get a crack at the top line for the first time.

"His game's been improving for some time, he had a real good road trip I thought," Berube said of Thomas. "Really possessed the puck on the road trip, did some real good things with it, with Tarasesnko going down, hopefully he can go up there and help that line produce. He makes plays, he's a right-hand shot, it's a little different look up there for those guys. See how it goes."

- - -

The Blues held a full skate that included injured David Perron (concussion), Carl Gunnarsson (wrist) and Alexander Steen, who sat out Monday's practice because of a maintenance day.

As for Perron, there was some confusion outside the locker room, more so among fans, as to Berube's comments about Perron and when he's ready to play, they have a spot for him in the lineup.

Some fans suggested that perhaps Berube was calling Perron out, but that's far from the case. Perron has missed the past 22 games and tonight will be his 23rd as he continues to skate and work towards his way back into the lineup.

"I'll tell you again, when he's ready to play, he'll let us know and we'll have a spot for him. It's simple," Berube said. "We keep talking about him every day and I get it, that's part of it all and that's part of your job, but he's not ready to play. So he's practicing with us, which is great, when David's ready to go, he'll let us know. That's basically what it boils down to.

"I didn't mean it that way and it's unfortunate it got out that way, but there's nothing I can do about that now."

As for Gunnarsson, the news isn't much different. He's missed the past 17 games.

"He skated after practice for a while there. He was sore today," Berube said. "It might take a little time for him to get back to where we need him. I don't know right now to be honest with you."

- - -

Goalie Jordan Binnington will start for the Blues; he is 12-2-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average .931 save percentage and four shutouts in his past 14 starts but has allowed seven goals his past two starts (1-1-0).

Blues forward Brayden Schenn has five points (two goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak, 11 points (three goals, eight assists) his past eight games.

Arizona, which is one points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, is coming off a 7-1 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.

The Coyotes are 8-2-0 in past 10 games, 11-4-0 in past 15 games and have allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of past 15 games.

"We know Arizona and what happened last night, but we can't focus on that," Maroon said. "We've got to focus on what we can control and how we're going to play and dictate the play tonight. I think if we dictate the play and come with our forecheck, breaking out clean and doing the simple things that makes this team a good hockey team, I think we'll be alright, but we know they're going to come out full tilt tonight. Last night's over, but they're a good-working team and young, skilled and fast and we've just got to be ready for that."

The Blues are four points behind Nashville (with two games in hand) for second in the Central Division and five behind WInnipeg for first place while trying to gain more separation from Dallas (four points).

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Brayden Schenn-Ryan O'Reilly-Robert Thomas 

Jaden Schwartz-Tyler Bozak-Pat Maroon

Zach Sanford-Oskar Sundqvist-Alexander Steen

Mackenzie MacEachern-Ivan Barbashev-Sammy Blais

Joel Edmundson-Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester-Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn-Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Jake Allen will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Michael Del Zotto and Robby Fabbri. Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body), David Perron (concussion) and Carl Gunnarsson (wrist) are out. 

- - -

The Coyotes' projected lineup:

Richard Panik-Christian Dvorak-Clayton Keller

Alex Galchenyuk-Nick Cousins-Christian Fischer

Michael Grabner-Brad Richardson-Vinnie Hinostroza

Lawson Crouse-Mario Kempe-Josh Archibald

Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Niklas Hjalmarsson

Jakob Chychrun-Alex Goligoski

Jordan Oesterle-Jason Demers

Darcy Kuemper will start in goal;  Calvin Pickard will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Kevin Connauton, Ilya Lyubushkin and Conor Garland. Derek Stepan (lower body), Antti Raanta (lower body), Nick Schmaltz (lower body) and Kyle Capobianco (lower body) are all out.

(3-12-19) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Marron injured, initial reaction is he's OK; moving on without Tarasenko; 

Thomas moves to top line; Perron status quo; Binnington to start Tuesday

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- As if the Blues haven't had their share of injuries, another one seemed to be worse than originally appeared today.

Pat Maroon had to be helped off the ice with what looked like a right knee injury after crashing hard and fast into the corner boards at the Ice Zone at practice Monday.

Players immediately called for head athletic trainer Ray Barile, and after getting to his skates, Maroon was helped off the ice by Barile and a teammate.

But when asked about it afterwards, interim coach Craig Berube called it "nothing."

"He should be fine," Berube said. "Just a scare, unless tomorrow he wakes up. But I think he's fine."

The Blues have already been hit with injuries recently to Brayden Schenn (concussion), who had since returned after missing three games; David Perron (concussion), who has missed the past 22 games; Carl Gunnarsson (wrist), who has missed the past 17 games, and now Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body), who missed Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss at San Jose and who the Blues said Sunday would be re-evaluated in 10 days.

"That's tough. It's like any injury," Berube said of Tarasenko. "We've dealt with them here for a while now. It's unfortunate for the team and for him for sure. He'll recover and get back when he can. We've got guys that can do the job. We've just got to keep going. There's nothing we can do about it. It happened. It's unfortunate, and we've just got to keep plugging away."

The Blues (36-25-7) host the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday and it will be monitored whether Maroon is able to play or not.

* Thomas moves up -- With Tarasenko out of the lineup for at least the next four games, possibly longer, rookie Robert Thomas will finally get his look with the big boys.

Thomas skated on the top line with Brayden Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly and will play with them against the Coyotes.

"I really like the way he's playing," Berube said of Thomas. "I think he had a great road trip, his vision with the puck making plays. That's kind of how I viewed it.

"As a kid coming into the league, it takes a while to get adjusted and how fast it is and how competitive you have to be and just the all-around game. It's a lot different than junior hockey. He's a smart guy, a hard-working guy and the coaching staff's done a real good job with him bringing him along. Otter and these guys have done a real good job of working with him. He's really picked up the speed part of it. He's skating really well, getting into open ice and making plays. A lot of stuff like that, he's really good at it.

"He's a good kid and he's got a good attitude. That's the biggest thing. He didn't expect that, I don't think. Not that he didn't want it; I'm sure he did, but he didn't expect it. But he worked hard and learned the game as he went along. He's getting better and better and as that happens, his minutes go up."

Thomas, who has 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 56 games this season that includes his first two-goal game in the NHL at Anaheim last Wednesday, is looking forward to it but isn't looking to replace Tarasenko, who leads the Blues with 28 goals.

"I don't think I've got Vladi's shot," Thomas said. "I'm not going to try and do that. I think for me, it's just keep playing the way I am. They've obviously liked the way I've played the last couple games to give me this opportunity. I think for me it's just keep playing my game and try to complement them as much as I can."

Thomas, a center by trade, has adjusted to life as a right winger and feels his game now can complement whichever position he plays.

"I'm always going to be a natural centerman," Thomas said. "That's always going to be my spot, but I think now lately, the last 20 games, I feel a lot more comfortable on the wing. My roots are good, I'm getting the puck with speed, stiff like that. I can definitely be more flexible, but I'll always be a centerman."

What's evolved as much as the position switch is the fact that Thomas, 19, has been figuring out what his role is in the NHL and how he can continue to grow his game.

Playing third- and fourth-line minutes earlier this season helped him gain a true perspective.

"I think I've started to come into who I know I can be," Thomas said. "I'm still not there. I've still got a long way to go to what I feel I'm capable of. I think kind of the whole transition process is kind of getting over with. I feel really good out there."

* Perron still day-to-day -- As for Perron, he skated again in practice Monday and still looked like he was having little to no issues. 

But Berube said he's still day-to-day and is leaving the decision when he's ready to him.

"Just the same. He's skating. He's fine out there," Berube said. "When he decides he wants to play, we've got a spot for him."

Berube was asked if Perron needed any more testing done, and he said he believes Perron has passed all the concussion tests and isn't required to take any more. 

What is believed to be the issue is Perron needs to pass his vision/eye tests and that seems to be the holdup at this point. So until those things clear up, there is no timeline for his return.

When Perron departed the lineup, he was on a career-high 13-game point streak (six goals, 10 assists), so his insertion into the lineup would be vital at this point.

* Notes -- After playing Jake Allen in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 3-5, Jordan Binnington will get the start Tuesday against the Coyotes.

Allen is coming off a shutout at Los Angeles and the OT loss at San Jose, and after the win against the Ducks in which Binnington allowed four goals, Berube is going back to the rookie. 

"We're going to need both goalies and it's going to be Binnington tomorrow," said Berube, who's usually not forthcoming about naming a starting goalie.

What's good about this is both goalies seem to be pushing the best out of the other, and Berube believes that's exactly what's happening.

"Yeah I do, and that's part of it," he said. "The other side of this is we need both goalies to play well. You've got to keep them going and you've got to keep both of them involved."

Blues forward Alexander Steen missed practice with a maintenance day and should be good to go Tuesday, according to Berube.

Schenn expected to return Wednesday against Anaheim

Forward has missed past six games with upper-body injury believed to be 

related to concussion symptoms; part of hottest line in NHL before injury

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- A key piece to one of the hottest lines going at the time is about ready to return to the Blues lineup.

Forward Brayden Schenn, who's missed the past six games with what is believed to be concussion-like symptoms, is expected to return for the Blues when they open a three-game California trip on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues forward Brayden Schenn (10) battles for a loose puck on Feb. 19 vs.

the Maple Leafs' John Tavares. Schenn is expected to return Wednesday

after missing six games with an upper-body injury. 

Schenn has not played since Feb. 19 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Blues went 2-3-1 without him. He's been a regular skater for most of the past two weeks and deems himself fit to go.

"I'm going on the trip, excited to go and join the guys again," Schenn said. "Obviously no fun sitting out, we all know that. I'm looking forward to helping the team.

"... It sucks sitting out, absolutely it's brutal. There's no fun watching the team grind out, especially this time of year. Looking forward to getting back. I'm looking forward to get back. Injury came at a crappy time obviously. With me, 'O'Ry' and Tarasenko, we were playing well together. Hopefully we can get that back together. ... We're going to do our best to get the chemistry back. It hasn't been that long, it's only been a couple weeks. They've been grinding, they've been working hard. Obviously the bounces haven't come in the last couple games for them."

Blues interim coach Craig Berube has been waiting to hear from Schenn that he feels good after looking good and not holding back in any of the drills.

"He looked good today and feels good, so good chance he'll be in tomorrow," Berube said. "We'll see how he's feeling and playing too. He's been out for a little while. That line was really good before he went down. I think they'll be fine. They work well together, they have good chemistry. I expect them to have that chemistry again."

Schenn was skating with Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko, a line that set a blazing trail of points during a franchise-record 11-game winning streak in which it had 45 points (Schenn had 13 with two goals and 11 assists).

"For a while there, we were leading the charge, we were creating," O'Reilly said. "We're obviously a better team with him back in the lineup, but as a group, we have to be better. We have to have a response from the last games. They haven't been great. It's a goof spark for us having him back.

"When we get a guy like that back that impacts the game the way he does, it definitely helps us. We're a better team for it. We have to go and prove it and we have to continue to do things the right way."

The Blues have scored nine actual goals (10 counting a shootout win against Boston on Feb. 23) in the six games Schenn has missed, and O'Reilly, who doesn't have a point the past five games and has just a goal and an assist in six games along with Tarasenko (one goal, two assists) have been impacted the most.

"It's a big help," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "That line was obviously big when they were going, and they were going good too. Whether he plays with them or anybody else, you put guys like that in the lineup, high-end players, it's going to impact you. ... Happy to have him back, that's for sure.

"He's an elite offensive player. We haven't been scoring a whole lot as of late. Any time you add a guy like that in the lineup, it's obviously going to help. He plays the game hard too. I don't think we've played as hard as we need to play as of late and that's not on anybody, that's on all of us. We just have to play hard and he's going to bring some energy back in there on Wednesday. ... He plays harder than people think. He puts up big numbers offensively but he gets in there, he can grind that puck. He's physical, you all have seen that. Impact player in every aspect, that's the way I look at it."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Brayden Schenn (left) reacts after scoring against the Minnesota Wild on

Feb. 17. Schenn is expected to return for the Blues after missing six games

with an upper-body injury. 

Schenn, who has 39 points (11 goals, 29 assists) in 55 games this season, doesn't want to say his absence was in direct correlation to when the Blues' offensive deficiencies started but it's hard not to point at the two.

"I think it's just been a lot of hockey (last) month," Schenn said. "You're playing a lot of good teams. There's no easy games that month. Obviously put a good string of hockey together there. We won a lot in a row. Sometimes when the wins are coming easy, you've got to find a way to dig in and find ways to win hockey games when it's not coming easy. Right now, we've got a tough road trip coming up here, three good teams and obviously very important for us.

"You have to do what it takes to get yourself back as soon as possible. Whether that's staying in shape or doing the right things off the ice, especially this time of year. You want to come back feeling good. It's been a couple weeks now. Starting in with a back-to-back and looking forward to it."

(3-5-19) BLUES NOTEBOOK

Schenn, Perron both skate again, one expected to make trip, one doubtful; 

d-men pitching in on offense; MacEachern lesson learned; Blais to stick around

By LOU KORAC
HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- It was another day on the ice for two of the Blues' top six forwards, David Perron and Brayden Schenn, and while things look good on the surface, there's still no definitive time when to expect them back.

The Blues took an optional, albeit a highly populated one, on Monday at the Ice Zone and it looks as if Schenn will accompany the Blues on their three-game California swing to Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose. Perron, on the other hand, although Berube said was still up in the air, has little to no chance of going.

"Perron's still the same, Schenn's making good progress," Berube said. "I think Perron's still up in the air about (traveling), but the other guy's not."

Perron has missed the past 19 games with what is believed to be concussion-like symptoms, and Schenn has missed six games with the same ailment.

Perron, who was on a 13-game point streak when he last played Jan. 17 at Boston, has been skating regularly with teammates as well as on his own when the team has been on the road, and Schenn has been a regular participant in skates as well. But with concussions, there's no predicting what will or will not happen.

"I like that he's skating with us, with the group anyhow," Berube said of Perron. "I think that's important, it's important that he's around the guys and not getting totally lost. A lot of times when you're injured and you're out on the outside and you're never around your teammates, that's not good. I think that's good that he's skating with us. Hopefully he decides that he's going to come on the road and he gets more practice time, just keep going, and when he feels like he's ready to go, it will be good. I can't answer when he's going to be ready to go.

"It's up to him."

Asked the obvious as to when Schenn returns, if he'll go back to the top line with Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko after the trio had 45 points in 11 games together, Berube joked, "I'll tell you what, if you come to warmup on the day of the game, you'll find out."

Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, out with a wrist injury, has missed the past 14 games but was also a regular participant on the ice Monday. He is not expected back for a couple weeks and probably won't accompany the team on the road.

* Offense from defense -- The Blues' scoring issues the past six games (nine actual goals) has certainly been noticed, but in order to pitch in, the defensemen are doing all they can to help the offense.

Going back to the beginning of February, Blues defensemen have scored in 12 of the past 16 games, and Vince Dunn, who had his third multi-point game of the season in the loss at Carolina Friday, isn't surprised.

"At the beginning of the year, we were more spread out," Dunn said. "Now that we're a little more connected, I'm finding holes for myself. It's not just our first line that's making plays, it's top to bottom. Everyone's kind of contributing and doing their own thing.

"Our D are definitely capable of creating offense, but it's kind of not finding our way right now as a whole. We're struggling and I think it's just maybe we're not working hard enough or maybe not doing the little things right or maybe complicating things a little bit when we shouldn't be. Maybe just simplifying, not passing up shots that maybe we might not think go in right away. Maybe cause chaos in front of the net for someone to tap it in. I think right now, we've just got to simplify it, get back to our basics and when we get back to our detail, we've been a little spread out, but if we get back together here and work as a five-man picture, we'll be able to buy more goals."

The loss against Dallas was a prime example of hesitation in shots from the point from the blue liners that could have created more loose pucks in and around Ben Bishop.

"When things were going really well for us, there were goals that didn't look like they were going to go in but found their way in whether it was a deflection or just a loose puck just sitting in the goalie's pads," Dunn said. "I think we've got to go back to that, get a little bit more hungrier in the offensive zone and not just look for the pretty plays. Obviously our shot totals haven't been there either. When our shot totals and our totals then our goal totals should go up too."

* MacEachern sorry but not sorry -- The only regret rookie Mackenzie MacEachern had with the penalty that he took that led to Dallas' third goal Saturday was that they scored on it, not for the roughing minor he took sticking up for his goalie.

MacEachern was assessed a roughing minor late in the second with the Blues down 2-1, not long after Alex Pietrangelo's momentum-shifting goal that gave the Blues life. 

MacEachern took exception to Blake Comeau taking a few extra pokes at the puck and goalie Jordan Binnington not long after Pat Maroon received the rough treatment by a trio of Stars defending their goalie with no penalties called.

"They were kind of going at it, I think, a couple minutes before at the other side," MacEachern said. "They didn't call anyone on that, so I just saw him go after 'Binner' a bit and first instinct was to stick up for 'Binner', and I think I might have taken it a little too far unfortunately. Part of the game, I learn from that, I don't take it too far and I go from there.

"I didn't want him to get a few pokes at 'Binner', so I just kind of took exception to that. Maybe I stepped a little over the line there. I just have to learn from that and how far I can go."

Jamie Benn, who tallied his fifth NHL hat trick by getting his second of the night on the ensuing power play, made it 3-1 and zapped the momentum right back. But if teammates would tell him as well as the coaches, they have no issue with what MacEachern did.

"That kind of took the wind out of my sails skating back to the bench after that one," MacEachern said. "I don't want to change my game because of that. I want to be a hard-nosed player as much as I can. I don't want to get too down on it, but definitely a learning moment there.

"I don't really think we've had the chance to talk (with the coaches). I'd like to see what their thoughts are, if I took it too far, if I stepped over the line there. I definitely will probably ask that in the next day or so."

* Blais taking up residence in St. Louis ... for now -- The San Antonio Express shuttle for Sammy Blais has been put on hold for the time being.

Getting recalled and sent back and forth between St. Louis and San Antonio, or whatever road city the Rampage were at the present time, has Blais on speed dial for the Blues, especially in the past couple weeks.

But after being called up for the second time under emergency conditions Saturday morning that was eventually changed to a regular call-up, Blais is sticking around -- at least for now.

"He's coming on the road trip with us," Berube said.

The rest of the season remains to be seen.

"We'll see how it goes and see how he plays," Berube said. "We have extra guys so we want to use guys and get certain, different lineups in on a nightly basis. There will be some guys in and out of the lineup, but he's going to get his opportunity. He's done a good job since he's been up here. It's not been easy for him with travel and up and down, but we like his energy when he comes in. He's physical. He's got good puck skills. He;s done it in the minors with scoring and making plays. He's actually done some good stick things with the puck."

* Prepping for Ducks -- After a day off Sunday, followed by an optional on Monday, the Blues will go with the full group Tuesday before heading west.

The idea initially was to have a full practice on Monday to get in some much-needed work in certain areas but coaches changed their minds to give a couple guys a few extra days away from the ice.

"The rest is really important, get the energy back and bumps and bruises this time of year," Berube said. "A lot of hockey. It's a day off, some guys two days off. Not totally off, but I think the day off yesterday being away from the rink was good and then today coming here, we had a good meeting this morning, some good video and then some guys didn't go on the ice but they were in the gym doing stuff."

The Blues have split with the Ducks, winning the lats encounter, 5-1 in Anaheim, on Jan. 23 that began a franchise-record 11-game winning streak.

Blues scoring down, injuries to key players catching up

Schenn absence for past six games has led to dip in scoring from 

linemates Tarasenko, O'Reilly; Perron's 19-game absence also being felt 

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Conventional logic would suggest that one man's absence shouldn't affect an entire team's deficiencies.

However, such has been the case for the Blues (34-25-6), who have dropped two straight for the first time since Jan. 15-17 and first back-to-back regulation losses since Dec. 29-31 after a 4-1 home loss to Dallas after a 5-2 loss at Carolina on Friday.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Ryan O'Reilly (90) and Vladimir Tarasenko talk things over Saturday at

home against Dallas. O'Reilly and Tarasenko's numbers have fallen off

since the injury to teammate Brayden Schenn.

Among the deficiencies for the Blues has been a lack of scoring, with nine actual goals (including one empty-netter) the past six games, and it's no coincidence that is when Brayden Schenn departed the lineup with what is believed to be a concussion.

And specifically, Schenn's absence has affected arguably at the time, one of the top first lines going with Ryan O'Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Before Schenn went out, that line tore it up during a franchise-record 11-game winning streak, collecting 45 points in that time. Tarasenko benefited the most with 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists). Schenn had 13 (two goals, 11 assists) and O'Reilly had 12 (five goals, seven assists). 

But since then, the Blues are 2-3-1, and O'Reilly has just a goal and an assist, including no points the past five games, and Tarasenko has just a goal and two assists, including no points the past two.

Players and coaches aren't going to make excuses, but it's obvious that teams have been able to focus on Tarasenko and O'Reilly, and that a third linemate (Jaden Schwartz for five games and Pat Maroon on Saturday) just haven't had the effectiveness of Schenn.

"He's a huge missing piece for us," O'Reilly said. "When he's in the lineup, he affects us dramatically and helps us. But we also have some opportunities for other guys to get more ice and see more chances. We've still got some great depth but obviously getting him back is going to help a lot."

O'Reilly took the onus on himself after the loss Saturday that more is needed out of his game, including the defensive side that became such a critical asset when the Blues were winning, but the Blues' leading scorer with 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) has been an asset throughout his first season here.

"My play hasn't been where it needs to," O'Reilly said. "Those are the things I have to do night in and night out. The backside, the forechecking pressure, the tracking, smothering them, it wasn't good enough tonight. Yesterday as well it killed us.

"There's some decent things we've been doing. I myself have been terrible these last few games. I have to find a way to create more. Our line has to be one of the lines that plays the most minutes, has to create and change momentum and do stuff. I myself take responsibility for that. I have to be way better than what I've shown this last bit. We have to keep building. This rest comes at a good time."

The Blues, after a day off Sunday, will have two days of solid time to practice before heading for a three-game swing through California against Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose. Working on an ineffective and a season-long inconsistent power play will be among the points of emphasis after an ineffective 0-for-3 game Saturday that had the Blues miss out on two opportunities in the first period to give Dallas momentum.

"I think we've got some days here before we go on the road, get some practice time in, which will be good and some rest at the same time," interim coach Craig Berube said. "It's been a hectic schedule. I think these few days are going to be good for us and just get back to playing hockey the way we can, that's all.

"We haven't had a lot of practice time. ... Work on some things and get some flow and stuff like that and work on some power-play stuff."

The Blues were able to manage getting offense while David Perron, who had a 13-game point streak before departing the lineup after the Jan. 17 game at Boston (19 games) also believed to be due to a concussion and related symptoms, has been out of the lineup. But now missing two key top-six forwards has brought to light the offense that's all of the sudden not coming from secondary scorers.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues center Ryan O'Reilly has no points the past five games and just a goal

and an assist in six games since losing linemate Brayden Schenn to injury.

"Obviously we're missing them," said center Oskar Sundqvist, who scored his first goal in 14 games Friday and added an assist Saturday. "That's two guys that got, what do they have, 45 points each? So obviously we're missing them. I think before we've been good at stepping up. Other guys have been coming in and stepping up. And that's what we need to keep doing.

"We can't (complain) if we're missing a couple guys here and there. It's on us. The guys that are playing are good hockey players and we should be able to win hockey games."

"Any of those guys would obviously be a huge help," O'Reilly said. "But we have to focus on what we've got right now and getting back to our game."

Benn's hat trick dooms Blues in 4-1 Stars win

St. Louis loses two straight for first time in six weeks, two in a row in 

regulation for the first time since Dec. 29-31; Binnington suffers first home loss

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It hasn't been said about the Blues recently, not with all the winning that February brought to them, but the start of March has turned out to be a lost weekend.

The Blues followed up a Friday loss at Carolina with a similar stinker, 4-1 to the Dallas Stars to snap a seven-game home winning streak and a chance to gain some separation on those teams behind them and start tapping those in front of them (Winnipeg and Nashville) on the shoulder.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Stars goalie Ben Bishop (30) makes one of his 29 saves with a host of Blues

skaters and teammates surrounding him Saturday in Dallas' 4-1 win.

Instead, the Blues (34-25-6, 74 points) now have to look over their shoulders again because the Stars (33-27-5, 71 points) are three back (each team has 17 games remaining) for third in the Central Division, and the Minnesota, Arizona and Colorado are all still lurking in the wildcard race.

"It makes a good test for us. It's frustrating," said Blues center Ryan O'Reilly. "We need these points, especially against a team that's behind us. We need those points. It's adversity and opportunity for us to grow and regroup and get to back moving forward."

Among the Blues' issues Saturday stemmed from what has become a growing trend of not scoring goals (nine goals the past six games they've actually scored, including one empty-netter).

"We've got to find a way to get some goals here again," Blues interim coach Craig Berube said. "It's kind of dried up for a few games here now. I think we're getting some looks, but it's not the same. We're not controlling the play in the offensive zone, getting as many looks, good looks."

The Blues had better zone time as opposed to Friday's 5-2 loss to the Hurricanes, but a trend of not getting to the net seems to be an issue again, along with the fact that two of their top six forwards (David Perron and Brayden Schenn) continue to miss games because of concussion-related injuries.

"It obviously affects you, they're good players, but there's no excuses," Berube said. "You've still got to find a way to win games.

"... We had more zone time tonight. They collapsed a little bit more and give you more time. We had some looks, some shots and some zone time, but we didn't really do a good enough job around the net on puck recoveries and things like that."

Blues killer Jamie Benn scored three goals in his return to the lineup for the Stars, who won three of four games against the Blues this season, after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury. Benn has 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 39 games against the Blues.

"He's big and strong," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said of Benn. "When he's out there with those other two guys (Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin), they're a pretty dangerous group, especially on the power play. So you've got to play him hard, and it wasn't hard enough."

The Blues seemed lax on pucks tonight, not nearly dogged enough and relentless as opposed to their 13-1-1 stretch. The Stars seemed more determined on the forecheck and caused the Blues to turn pucks over and not get it in transition cleanly.

"I think it's on us, most of the goals the last two games," Blues center Oskar Sundqvist said. "I think we've got to be better with the puck. Better puck placement and stop turning the puck over. I don't think the other teams are doing anything special or different. I think we can be better.

"I think we can do a little bit more. I think we can go harder to the net. Get more pucks there and get some greasy ones. There haven't been many goals right around the crease. We need to come back to that."

The start of the game was just what the Blues wanted. They got two power plays (they were going to get three but after deliberation, one was called back) but made nothing of it, including little zone time.

"We have to find the consistent effort with our power play," O'Reilly said. "I think we're too sporadic. I'm one of the guys that have to be out there to lead the charge that way and winning battles and creating more. We have to find consistency within it where we're going to outwork the PK and when we have opportunities to shoot the puck, we shoot it. It starts with myself. As a group we have to do that."

The opportunistic Stars struck for two late first-period goals against Jordan Binnington, who lost at home for the first time (7-1-0) and made 17 saves, when Benn's tip-in of Taylor Fedun's shot after the Blues, who were poor on faceoffs winning only 45 percent, lost a key draw to lead to the first goal at 16:52.

Robert Thomas' turnover in the neutral zone near the offensive zone blue line led to John Klingberg's goal from the left circle at 18:44 made it 2-0, a period in which the Blues outshot the Stars 12-7.

"We just gave up to many good chances and they scored on their good chances," Pietrangelo said. "That top line's going to score in those situations. It was a better game than last night, but we've got a lot of work to do. We're only scoring, what, one goal a game here. So it's obviously a big emphasis here moving forward. We've got to be better."

Ben Bishop, who made 29 saves, was going to be tough to beat, and the Blues were already in a tough enough spot down 2-0, but Pietrangelo's goal t 15:40 of the second on a nifty feed from Sundqvist, made it a 2-1 game and the Blues had life.

But for one of the few times since he's come up this season, Binnington allowed a soft one to Benn, his second of the game, on the power play at 17:11 of the second to make it 3-1.

The Blues couldn't get the zone cleared, and Benn whipped a shot from the right circle through Binnington, who immediately looked skyward, to suck the life out of the home side. It all came after a Mackenzie MacEachern in which he was called for roughing for sticking up for Jordan Binnington, who took a couple extra taps after a whistle had blown, a similar situation in which Pat Maroon was jumped when he was in too tight on Bishop with no calls made.

"Big goal, but then they answer," Pietrangelo said. "We were building there as the period was going on, and that helped us just build even more. But we've got to find a way to try and limit them on the power play. Those type of guys like to feed off those opportunities."

There wasn't much punch in the third period, despite the Blues outshooting the Stars 10-4. And Benn completed his second NHL hat trick against the Blues (fifth overall) with an empty-netter with 28.5 seconds remaining.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues defenseman Colton Parayko winds up and shoots a puck during the

game Saturday against Dallas. The Stars won 4-1 at Enterprise Center.

It's the first time the Blues have lost two in a row since Jan. 15-17 and first time since Dec. 29-31 they've lost two in a row in regulation.

Now they get to rest Sunday, then have three days of practice before a California swing that sees the Blues play three times in four days.

"Get a quick rest, obviously get back to practice and back to the work," O'Reilly said. "I think we've had a lot of hockey. It's a good chance to mentally regroup and get that hunger back and keep climbing because these last two games are not nearly what we've wanted. Myself, as well, I have to bring a lot more going forward."

* NOTES -- The Blues recalled forward Sammy Blais earlier in the day to what they deemed emergency conditions. But when Berube disclosed that Blais would replace Robby Fabbri Saturday, the team terminated the emergency recall and deemed it to be a regular recall since Fabbri wasn't injured or sick.

Blais played 12:10 and led the team with four hits.