Allen takes blame for Blues' 5-2 loss to Canadiens

Bad second goal allowed triggers sequence of shoddy 

play; coach calls out players for lack of mental toughness

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The first period was set up as a game in which the Blues would find a way to win.

They were crisp, they were aggressive, strong on the forecheck, they were for the most part clean with their play, even though they came out of Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Saturday at Enterprise Center tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Goalie Jake Allen, who made 20 saves, took the blame for the Blues' 5-2

loss to Montreal on Saturday after allowing a bad second goal. 

Everything was fine, on equal footing, on home ice. Just build on the game and continually get better is the Blues' way.

But then came the "whoops" moment.

A harmless shot -- not even a shot, more like a whipping in of the puck into the offensive zone -- from the blue line that caught the stick of goalie Jake Allen, a shot that appeared to be going wide from the dump-in. But instead, it caromed into the net for a 2-1 Montreal lead.

Ouch. Ugly. A what-the-heck-just-happened moment.

Ryan O'Reilly won the center ice face-off, and Sammy Blais got outworked by Gallagher for the initial puck, then took a swipe at it in an attempt to possibly get it to teammate Colton Parayko, but then Parayko lobbed his stick forward in an attempt to poke-check it away from Gallagher. Instead, Gallagher won that battle too and caught Allen in perhaps an unfocused moment.

Yeah, we've seen this before, a bad goal from No. 34.

Most of the crowd didn't even see it, or knew what the heck happened, because many of them had yet to get settled into their seats yet.

Six seconds is all it took, and the Blues were cooked.

They shouldn't have been, but they were, because we've seen this before. Dejected instead of picking things back up and get on the hop again.

There were still 39 minutes 54 seconds of hockey left to be played, down just one goal, but the defending Stanley Cup champs were defeated, and that's what angered coach Craig Berube most.

"It definitely happens, but we can't allow ... our team, veteran team, we've got to be better than that to let that affect us that much," Berube said. "We've got to be mentally tougher than that."

Can't, and won't, argue with the coach on this one. This is a team that just four months ago went through the most grueling stretch of season it will ever see and made it through as battle-tested as can be.

This shouldn't affect the remainder of this, the eighth game of the regular season that dropped the Blues to 3-2-3 on the season, or in simpler terms, just three wins in eight games to start. Good teams should find a way to motivate themselves even more, stay the course and play the right way, which is what the Blues were doing.

But they've seen this before. After all, this is Allen, who has either been so incredibly good on many nights and so incredibly bad on others. There seems to be no in-between with the veteran. He made some terrific saves of the 24 he faced (20 saves) Saturday, but that second goal is the kind of deflating goal we've been before, and too often.

"I'm going to take a lot of responsibility for that one on that goal," said Allen, who has allowed eight goals on 53 shots in two starts (1-1-0), good for a 4.17 goals-against average and .849 save percentage. "I think it took a lot of wind out of our sails. I thought we had a pretty decent first period ... That's on me for losing that momentum for the boys.

"It hit my stick and somehow hit my shaft and went the other way, but hey, there's no excuses."

Allen is right, there are no excuses, and to his credit, he owned up to it, but this isn't the first time he's had to do that, unfortunately. Goalies will have bad games, even the best of them, but he's had them more often that the Blues would certainly care for. 

However, Berube is right, it shouldn't deflate a veteran-laden team, not at that time, not at that scoreline, not like that. But a lot of these players have witnessed some of those deflating types of goals before, almost as if they're waiting for them to happen, and that's a bad recipe for playing the game the right way.

"I'm sure he'd like to have that back, but it's the other goals he has no chance on," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said of Allen. "If we don't give those up, we win the game.

"I think we had a decent answer to the (following) shift. Again, we shot ourselves in the foot on the (fourth) goal. [Colton Parayko's] playing without his stick. We've got to find a way to protect that and get the puck in and not allow them to come on the rush. It's tough to defend when you don't have a stick. There's nothing you can do about that. So we've got find a way to just keep protecting each other, and keep being simple, especially in the second."

Pietrangelo is speaking of Nick Suzuki's goal, which made it 4-1 for the Canadiens, the one where he walked uncontested down the slot and could have camped out waiting for the puck to arrive. But that didn't happen. 

Why is Ivan Barbashev making a careless play in the neutral zone knowing his teammate has been without a stick for 25-30 seconds instead of putting a puck in deep to protect his teammate and allow him to get off the ice? Why were the Blues, rock solid on the penalty kill the first seven games (16-for-17, including 15 straight kills) allowing two wide gap cross-ice seam passes to help set up two Montreal power-play goals? Why isn't the puck distribution crisp yet? Why are the Blues turning pucks over in the neutral zone? Why this, why that? 

It all seemed like a trickle-down effect to what should have been a simple, harmless dumping of the puck into the Blues' zone.

A second goal that ruined what was a solid 20 minutes of play but shouldn't have.

"It's not a buy-in right now, not enough of a buy-in to team play," Berube said.

Everybody?

"Yeah, everybody," Berube said. "Everybody's accountable. Everybody, you know."

We've used the term 'It's early' already, and it still is, and as David Perron, who along with Jaden Schwartz scored Saturday, pointed out, the Blues just have to find a way to get on the same page.

"We have to find a way to build our game a little bit more and be a little more structured and have the mentality that wave after wave we're going to go on the ice and make a difference and set up the next line for the right success," Perron said. "I think it will come but obviously we're working on that."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Jaden Schwartz (17) scored his first goal of the season, but the Blues could

not find a way against Carey Price (31) and Montreal on Saturday.

This is how the Blues won the Stanley Cup. This is how they swept the NHL by storm last spring and summer. They definitely have some catching up to do. There have been spurts, at times lengthy ones, but this is definitely a work in progress, trying to recapture some of that structured play of a season ago.

"Every team's playing their best against us. We know that," Pietrangelo said. "And we've got to expect that throughout the entire season. Teams are going to keep pushing against us, they're not going to stop.

"Everyone's got to get on the same page. I think everybody is trying to do so much, trying to be a difference-maker. We just got to keep things easy and simple and be able to read off each other a little bit easier."

(10-19-19) Canadiens-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Carl Gunnarsson sustained a lower-body injury in Thursday's 4-3 shootout loss against the Vancouver Canucks and is day-to-day after not practicing for the Blues on Friday before they entertain the Montreal Canadiens at 2 p.m. on Saturday (FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM) in the second of a four-game homestand.

Gunnarsson was not on the ice when the Blues practiced Friday at the Centene Community Center in Maryland Heights and wasn't ruled out for Saturday's rematch with the Canadiens (the Blues lost 6-3 in Montreal on Oct. 12, their lone regulation loss), but it doesn't look like he'll be available.

"He's day-to-day right now, lower body," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "... We'll see how he is tomorrow."

With Gunnarsson not on the ice, the Blues shuffled their top two defensive pairings around, moving Colton Parayko up to play the left side with Alex Pietrangelo and Robert Bortuzzo, a healthy scratch the past three games, paired with Jay Bouwmeester.

"We'll see how it looks," Berube said. "[Parayko] is such a good skater. He does wheel that way a lot in the games. We've got to find somebody that we can fit over there at times in situations like this."

Parayko said he's played the left side before and would look forward to playing with Pietrangelo if called upon.

"I'm not exactly sure what they plan, but if so, he's a good player," Parayko said of Pietrangelo. "Been around for a while. He knows how to play well. He's an elite player. If so, it's obviously an exciting opportunity. Just kind of do the best of my abilities, learn from it and have fun with it.

"... I think sometimes when you're out there too, just with the motion that we have, sometimes you just get stuck out on the left side even if you're playing the right side. Not necessarily on the left side kind of like on paper, but just when you get switched up there. I like it, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be a new challenge, a good way to learn things, and I'm looking forward to it."

If stats are correct, it will be the first time Parayko and Bouwmeester will be split up in a game when both players are playing since Jan. 3 (68 games, including playoffs). Parayko missed the last two regular-season games.

"It's a long season," Parayko said. "I think it's a good chance to do something if you're going to do something. We're playing well. I think we just need to play a full 60. I think the regular season is an opportunity to try different things, to try to find different opportunities. Obviously it's a pleasure to play with 'Bouw', a player of that caliber that's been around forever. I've just been honored to play with a guy like that, to learn so many different things from. I'll just try and take things that I learned and I would assume that we would be back together at some point, if not tomorrow. Jut go with the flow and go out there and do my thing and help the team out."

Berube couldn't recall the last time he split his two tall d-men up.

"It's been a while," he said. "When one of our 'D' is going down here, we need another lefty and we have an abundance of righties, which is kind of unusual. It's the way it is."

- - -

One pair that Berube tried before but didn't last is Justin Faulk playing with Pietrangelo, with each right-hander playing on his off side. 

Faulk has been the steady pairing with Vince Dunn in five of the past six games, including past three, and it looks like that duo will remain in tact.

"I thought they had a strong game in Long Island, especially in the offensive zone, their movement," Berube said. "Their puck play is real noticeable in there. They're both similar type players in a way. They're aggressive guys and they're good with the puck, can get up the ice. It's been a pretty good pair so far. Hopefully it grows and they can even get a little more chemistry. It takes some time, but I've liked what I've seen so far."

Faulk, acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes before the season, is still feeling his way around not only with a new partner but a new system.

"I think it's probably both, right," Faulk said. "We've played four games together? I'm not keeping count on how many games we've played together, but I think it's a process, it takes time. There's definitely things we're doing better than we were game one together probably and get the communication down and get a feel for what each other does in certain situations. It's getting better. I don't want to sit here and say it's been great, but we know there's room to improve and we're going to keep playing together, we'll figure it out and we'll be a good pair."

Dunn, who has a goal and an assist in seven games, said the familiarity continues to grow.

"As the games have been going on here, we've been playing pretty well together," Dunn said. "I think we find each other pretty well on the ice. I think our exits have been pretty good and I think in the o-zone we're very active, we find each other good on high ice. I've really been liking playing with 'Faulky' and I think Mike [Van Ryn's] put us in good spots on the ice to succeed. He knows maybe when there's offensive chances. I think that's kind of how he looks at us. We're the offensive puck-moving pair back there and those are our strengths. We need to be effective defensively too, but obviously our offense can take over."

Faulk, who has just two assists in seven games, shows flashes that the offense will come, and Berube believes it will. The acclimation process simply takes time.

"I think he's still feeling his way, but it's coming," Berube said. "I think it's going to take a little time, but it's coming. Once he feels more comfortable in how we play, it's a new surrounding for him for sure. It's a new team, it's his first time on a new team. It's going to take some time."

- - -

With no morning skate Saturday, the Blues had a full group on the ice Friday, and Berube began the day with a 2-on-2 battle drill in the neutral zone, but it wasn't sending a message but more having players work on the 50/50 battles for pucks that will lead to better puck management.

"It was just a little neutral zone 2-on-2 game," Berube said. "Just get guys going a little bit. Something different.

"It was more situational for me last night. There were a few plays in the second period where it's a little bit too much 50/50. In certain situations we've got to be smarter. Guys are a little bit tired. It's guys being smart, not going for a last rush getting a puck in deep, getting a good line change, putting your teammate in a better spot. But overall, I look at the game and I thought it was a pretty good game. I thought we played a pretty good hockey game; we didn't close it out. That's a little bit of an issue with us this year right now is when we get these leads, closing them out, whether we get the next goal or just making sure we're keeping it out of our net."

- - -

The Blues feel they're building their game in the right direction, and they are, but facts are facts, and there are three losses -- albeit two in overtime and last night in the shootout -- where the Blues lost three points because they've blown a two-goal lead in each of them.

But the fact also remains that they only have one regulation loss in the first seven and the experience factor of last season will help the building process move along.

"I think our puck possession time is good; we're getting better and better," Berube said. "The last two games, I think our puck possession has been a lot better in the offensive zone and overall in the game, but we still have to keep improving. We've got to shore up this 50/50 game. We've got to be 100 percent. That was one of our strengths last year. We were right on top of that stuff defending, not giving teams momentum, and I think we still give teams momentum at times when we don't need to."

So where does the tweaking need to come from?

"We're just not consistent enough," Dunn said. "You see very good spurts and then we kind of get relaxed and maybe we try to get a little too fancy. We're not an overly skilled team. We definitely have our high-end players that can make high-end plays, but overall, I think we're a pretty direct north team. I think our best part of our game is our forechecking, when we're chipping pucks in, we're very good at retrieving them back and working the cycle and then making plays from down there. That's what we need to look forward to is getting it through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.

"There's no panic in the room. The lines are basically the same. We're not juggling too many things around. What it just comes down to is hard work and dedication and wanting to do that every shift."

- - -

Despite going 0-for-4 on the power play, including a failed 5-on-3 for 1 minute 20 seconds, and being at 21.1 percent on the season, Berube thinks the special teams are going well, but the penalty kill (16-for-17, 94.1 percent, including 15 straight kills) is second in the NHL behind only Vancouver (95 percent).

"I think it's been excellent," Berube said of the PK. "I've liked the special teams to be honest with you. I know we didn't score a goal last night, but there were some good looks in that game where if get a goal, it's the difference in the game, but I've liked the special teams overall.

"... We get a 5-on-3, we get a goal there, that probably ends the game."

As for the erroneous goalie interference call on Robert Thomas in the third period that ultimately led to a second minor, a bench misconduct called on Berube after referee Trevor Hanson made the call on Thomas, Berube said, "That's on me. I've got to do a better job with controlling my emotions back there with the referees. ... That's a tough call watching the tape for sure, that's a tough call. But it is what it is."

- - -

Berube wouldn't confirm it, but it looks like Jake Allen will make his second start of the season. Allen, who made 25 saves in a 6-4 win at Ottawa on Oct. 10, was working with the defensemen at the end of practice, a good indication of who starts before leaving the ice earlier than Jordan Binnington, who got in a full practice before staying on the ice for lots of extra work.

- - -

Center Brayden Schenn will carry a six-game point streak (five goals, three assists) into Saturday's game.

Right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has four points (two goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak.



- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko

Sammy Blais-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Robby Fabbri-Tyler Bozak-Alexander Steen

Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist-Robert Thomas 

Colton Parayko-Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester-Robert Bortuzzo

Vince Dunn-Justin Faulk

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

Healthy scratches include Zach Sanford and Mackenzie MacEachern. Carl Gunnarsson (lower body) is day-to-day and will not play Saturday.

- - -

The Canadiens' projected lineup:

Tomas Tatar-Phillip Danault-Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen-Max Domi-Paul Byron

Jonathan Drouin-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Joel Armia

Nick Cousins-Nate Thompson-Nick Suzuki

Victor Mete-Shea Weber

Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry

Ben Chiarot-Christian Folin

Carey Price could start in goal; Keith Kinkaid would be the backup

Healthy scratches include Jordan Weal and Mike Reilly. The Canadiens report no injuries. Cale Fleury has an undisclosed injury and is out.

Blues get a point again, blow third two-goal lead in shootout loss to Canucks

St. Louis has a point in six of seven games, fritter away one for third time this 

season; second straight game PP had chance to build momentum, didn't

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Let's get the obvious out of the way before it gets addressed at some point: it's early.

Yes, it is early. It's known how the script played out for the Blues last season, one that will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them or any NHL squad to duplicate again.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Ryan O'Reilly (left) and Tyler Bozak (second from right) try to put a puck

past Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko on Thursday.

There are multiple ways to look at the Blues' 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Yes, the Blues (3-1-3) collected at least a point in six of their seven games, and they only have one regulation loss. That's a plus. But on the flip side, this marks the third time this season the Blues have lost a game (albeit picked up a point) in which they blew a two-goal lead. 

It's been something that, can't be called a problem (yet), but definitely something that needs to be addressed, and soon.

"It's a staple of our game for years here, right, is closing out leads," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "We've just got to find a way to keep playing the same way. A couple weird bounces the last couple games, not an excuse, but I think we can still do a better job of closing teams out and keeping things 5-on-5, but there's a lot of things we can build off of here, but once you start closing out games, we're going to be pushing things in the right direction."

In what will be polar opposite as far as statistics in the NHL are concerned, the Blues are completely going against the grain thus far. They're 0-0-2 when leading after two periods this season, but 2-0-0 when trailing. 

On Thursday, they led 3-1 against the Canucks (4-2-0) with a chance to put the hammer down on a win, but much like their 3-2 overtime loss against the New York Islanders on Monday, a game in which the Blues blew a 2-0 lead with under six minutes remaining in the game, they failed to take advantage of a man-advantage to not only build momentum, but to all but bank the two points.

Leading 3-1 on goals by Robby Fabbri, Pietrangelo and Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues were in a position to squeeze the life out of the Canucks with a 5-on-3 power-play for 1:20. But instead of extending the lead, Vancouver's J.T. Miller scored exactly a minute later to make it 3-2.

Game on, instead of game over.

It was a similar situation on New York when the Blues were in a position with 8:43 remaining to build on a 2-0 lead, to at least build momentum off a good power play. But instead of building momentum, they simply tried to take two minutes off and allowed the Islanders to build momentum. The Canucks built momentum off their 5-on-3 kill and pounced.

The Blues haven't scored a 5-on-3 goal in the regular season since Dec. 9, 2016, which spans 225 games, which is crazy to comprehend, but here we are.

"You always think you can do more, but we had three pretty good opportunities to score, good shots," said Blues coach Craig Berube, who took blame for Thursday's loss, which will be explained later. "Just didn't pick the corner.

"I think that we can move the puck quicker on the 5-on-3 than we do. Sometimes we probably slow it down too much."

The Blues simply couldn't penetrate or get inside the dots to produce the necessary quality shots.

"We talked lately about plays we want to run. We ran them," Pietrangelo said. "Some were there, some weren't. We had some good looks. I had one good look and so did Schenner. I think their goal was 5-on-5 and they almost went two minutes and didn't score either. It would have kind of been nice to go up 4-1 there, but first one we've had some there were some pretty good looks."

At least the past two games, teams have been given the opportunity to build momentum, and the Blues have succumbed despite building good parts of their game within the game. 

"We do good things, that's for sure, but we're still not where we need to be," Berube said. "We've got to be tighter than we are defensively. I still think our awareness without the puck is not where it should be right now. There is puck play at times, we've got to clean it up. We just turn pucks over too much at times. Those are the two areas for me that we can tighten up for sure."

The Blues did make mistakes with the puck again, and puck management is something Berube has talked about cleaning up, but the Blues coach didn't want to put the onus on the players for blowing this two-goal lead.

That perhaps belongs to referee Trevor Hanson, whose highly questionable goaltender interference penalty on Robert Thomas (who returned after missing five games because of an upper-body injury) with 9:55 remaining, triggered a response from the Blues bench that doubled the penalty minutes and put the Blues in deep trouble with a full 5-on-3 penalty kill.

Apparently Hanson had his feelings hurt when Berube voiced his displeasure for the call, and the Blues technically killed off the entire two-man disadvantage -- they're 16-for-17 on the season, including 15 straight PK's -- but Bo Horvat tied the game with 7:55 remaining on a crazy goalmouth scramble that Colton Parayko nearly prevented.

"It's on me," Berube said, who was surprised it was called.

"Yeah big time. But whatever. That's my fault," Berube said. "At times there will be (a warning) if there's continuous yelling. But it wasn't like that."

Berube said he was offered no explanation on the call against Thomas, which clearly showed the Blues' second-year forward was skating diagonally through his lane when he was backed into by Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers and into goalie Thatcher Demko.

"At that time of the game ... I don't know, what's the point," a frustrated Pietrangelo said when asked about it. "Game's over with now. Whatever."

Bigger picture is that the Blues know they're getting opponents' best games. It comes with the territory of being defending Stanley Cup champions. Now they just have to figure out, as Pietrangelo stated, to close out leads, because they have built some good minutes within games, and as Berube points out, there are things to clean up.

"It's frustrating," said Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, who made 29 saves. "It seems the teams are building momentum off their first goal. I think we have to do a good job at staying composed and getting back to our game."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko (91) battles with Canucks center Elias

Pettersson during Vancouver's 4-3 shootout win on Thursday.

The shootout, always a crapshoot, produced zero goals for the Blues from Tyler Bozak, Tarasenko, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn, who had his five-game goal scoring streak end but extended his point streak to six games (five goals, three assists) with an assist on Tarasenko's goal; David Perron and Alexander Steen.

Binnington was also up to the challenge until Josh Leivo beat him in the sixth round.

"Just continue to stay with our game plan," Parayko said regarding pushing forward. "It's not easy to win in this league. Just make sure we stay focused, just don't take any lead for granted and just continue to push."

(10-17-19) Canucks-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Robert Thomas will return for the Blues against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (7 p.m.; FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM) when they open a four-game homestand.

Thomas missed the past five games with an upper-body injury, unrelated to the left wrist injury that required surgery in the off-season.

"It's real nice to be back," Thomas said. "It obviously sucks sitting out. I'm really excited to get back in there tonight.

"It wasn't anything to do with last year's injury, so that was a positive. Taking it slow. It was taking it a little bit longer than we hoped, but you just have to make sure you're 100 percent before you come back. It's still early in the season."

Thomas will, at least to start, be paired on a line with Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist.

"Two reasons. I liked [Tyler] Bozak's line last game with [Alexander] Steen and [Robby] Fabbri, so just kind of made that switch and wanted to leave those guys," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think 'Tommer,' hopefully with Tommer, Sunny and Barby, it'll be a good line. You have Sunny and Barby who forecheck hard, physical players but have the ability to put the puck in the net too. Playing with a kid like Robert Thomas who's going to get them the puck, transport the puck up the ice for them. That's the look, for now."

Thomas said he isn't concerned that his minutes will be down, and depending on how the game goes, could move up, or stay where he is, depending on how the combinations are going.

"Those guys have been playing so well," Thomas said. "All of last playoffs and last season and to start the year as well. I'm excited to get out there with Sunny and Barby. They play hard, they've got some skill, they make a lot of plays. It should be a lot of fun."

Thomas said Wednesday he needed to speak with Berube and the team doctors before making the decision whether to return or not.

"I'd say it's a bit of both. I wouldn't say it was on one person to make that decision," Thomas said. "I've been itching to get back in the last little while. Just the talk went really well and in the end, decided I was ready to go."

- - -

Blues center Brayden Schenn is on a personal NHL-best five-game goal scoring streak and has seven points the past five games, and all the numbers have come since Schenn signed his eight-year, $52 million contract.

Last season, it took him 17 games before Schenn, who finished with 17 goals in 72 games, to hit the five-goal mark, and it came Nov. 23 against Nashville.

"I'm just trying to play loose, relaxed, obviously getting a few bounces along the way definitely helps that," Schenn said. "It helps build your confidence.

"At the end of the day, you don't really want to worry about the contract. It was contract year, and obviously the Blues came in with a very fair offer."

One area of concern for Berube and the Blues is that Schenn and linemates Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz are an alarming combined minus-12.

"His line, they're doing some good things offensively, making plays," Berube said. "He's shooting the puck well, he's hitting the net, he's picking corners, his shot is good right now. He's scoring. On the flip side of things, they need to manage things better a little bit. I talked to them yesterday about their line in general and said, 'You've got to be plus players,' so that's what we're looking for."

Tarasenko has a goal and two assists the past two games, his first goal of the season was scored Monday at New York against the Islanders, but combined, he and Schwartz have eight assists (four apiece) but just the one goal. 

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko

Sammy Blais-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Robby Fabbri-Tyler Bozak-Alexander Steen

Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist-Robert Thomas

Carl Gunnarsson-Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester-Colton Parayko

Vince Dunn-Justin Faulk

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

Healthy scratches include Robert Bortuzzo, Zach Sanford and Mackenzie MacEachern. The Blues report no injuries.

- - -

The Canucks' projected lineup:

J.T. Miller-Elias Pettersson-Brock Boeser

Tanner Pearson-Bo Horvat-Josh Leivo

Micheal Ferland-Brandon Sutter-Jake Virtanen

Tim Schaller-Jay Beagle-Tyler Motte

Alexander Edler-Tyler Myers

Quinn Hughes-Christopher Tanev

Jordie Benn-Troy Stecher

Thatcher Demko will start in goal; Zane McIntyre will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Loui Eriksson, Jacob Markstrom, Adam Gaudette, Ashton Sautner and Oscar Fantenberg. Antoine Roussel (knee) is out.

(10-17-19) BLUES NOTEBOOK

With White House visit in rear view mirror, Blues can officially turn page on 

championship season, focus on new one; Thomas close; Berube to be honored

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Players have spoken about it for well over a month now, since the start of training camp to be exact, but now, once and for all, they can finally turn that final page on last season's magical run.

After spending the past 10 days, including playing four games, on the road and attending a ceremony at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and presenting the Hall with a Stanley Cup championship ring, the Blues closed the book officially on last season's Stanley Cup title with a visit to the White House and a greet-and-meet with president Donald Trump.

When the Blues arrived home, it was time to finally close the book on the 2018-19 season and move on to 2019-20. 

"It is nice," Blues winger David Perron said. "We're extremely proud in here that we were the first championship team. Everyone pulled on the rope so hard for so many years in this organization but even more so guys last year. It was a long process for this city, but it was cool to win it. It takes a little bit of time to turn the page on that, but now, all the stuff is over and in a way, it's a good thing and we can focus on start winning some more.

"I've turned the page a while ago for me, but definitely it's the last step of it. It's nice that it's over just for that part. No one can talk about that stuff anymore and we can just be viewed as the St. Louis Blues playing this year and we're going to try and do it again and build the same process as we did last year."

The Blues (3-1-2) hit the practice ice again on Wednesday in preparation for the Vancouver Canucks and the start of a four-game homestand after a 2-1-1 road trip.

"We knew going into this road trip that there was a lot of stuff going on," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We were well aware of it and I thought our guys did a pretty good with the trip, handling everything and playing. We got some points, which was good. We would have liked to get that Islander win, but overall I thought getting five out of eight points was pretty good.

"We kept it short today. I think energy's a big thing tomorrow. Long travel and getting back, that first game can be ... you've got to make sure you've got energy for it. That'll be key with the opponent tomorrow."

There were good memories and ones that will last a lifetime for those that got to see The Oval Office and took the tour of the White House for the very first time. 

"That was awesome. It's pretty cool," said Blues forward Robert Thomas. "Obviously I'm not American, so for me just to kind of experience that whole thing and be inside, see The Oval Office and meet the president was a pretty cool day for me.

"When you're standing behind [Trump] listening to his press conference, it wasn't just about hockey, it was stuff that we watch on the news every day. Just standing there listening to it firsthand was definitely a different feeling. When he walked in the room, you can just feel his power and presence."

What caught players and even Berube by surprise was Trump summoning them up to say a few words, including Jaden Schwartz, who challenged Trump to a game of golf.

"You know what, that was awesome," Thomas chuckled. "Schwartzy's good on his feet. He got put in a tough spot there. He found a way to make it funny. That was pretty cool."

Berube added: "No, that was a surprise, caught me off-guard a little bit. I probably would have rather known, but it was fine. 

"Yeah, it did (catch the players by surprise) for sure. I think it caught everybody off-guard, but it was awesome. I thought that was great of him to bring some guys up there and say a few things. I thought it was a real good day for everybody.

"It was a fun day. He was really good with us. Just to be able to go there, it was great for all the guys to go there and spend the day. Good stuff."

Ryan O'Reilly spoke, as did captain Alex Pietrangelo, who president Trump had trouble pronouncing his name, but then again, that's pretty common around the league.

Perron said he was certainly caught by surprise.

"Did it ever. Guys did a good job to go up there, have fun with it," Perron said. "Obviously being the president of the United States, it's really impressive. I'm sure the guys were nervous to go up there. You have a lot of people watching, but the guys did a good job. He did a good job I think too to keep it light and include the guys."

But when the plane touched down in St. Louis last evening, players were glad to be back home.

"It's crazy," Blues forward Ivan Barbashev said. "I was happy just to be home yesterday. A good time just to enjoy it with my family and dogs. It was great. It was a long road trip. Really tired.

"I don't think we were thinking about it, the celebrations or whatever, the things we had to do. But now, I guess it's all over and we've got to get back at it."

* Thomas close to returning -- Thomas could return as early as Thursday when the Blues host the Canucks; he has missed the past five games with an upper-body injury but skated regularly with the team on the trip. He skated Wednesday but ran line rushes with the fourth line.

"I'm feeling really good," Thomas said. "Everything's coming along really nicely and hoping to get back in here soon.

"I've got to talk with Chief but hopefully it's very, very soon. ... I wouldn't say ruling out tomorrow at all. I would say I still haven't talked to the docs or Chief. I think once we have that conversation, then we'll be able to make a decision."

Berube also left the door open.

"It's possible," he said. "He's feeling pretty good. He was fine again today, so we'll see tomorrow. There's a good chance he can play."

Thomas was asked if the injury is related to the wrist injury that hampered him towards the later rounds of the playoffs and subsequent surgery required for an injured left tendon.

"It had nothing to do with anything previous," Thomas said. "It was something that happened in Game 1. I've felt like I've progressed very well. I think I'll be back really, really soon.

"I was hoping it wasn't going to be this long. You've kind of just got to listen to your body and it'll tell you when you're ready. Everything's coming along really nicely and progressing good. Hoping to get back in there very soon."

* Blues OK with start -- Last year at this time, Blues fans were frustrated by the team's 1-3-2 start, and to a certain extend, there has been some concern with a 3-1-2 record to the start of this season.

Perhaps the last two games in particular, a 6-3 loss at Montreal and a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders in which the Blues led 2-0 with five and a half minutes remaining in regulation, are what have Blues fans scoffing a bit, but all things considered, eight of a possible 12 points thus far is not a bad place to be.

"We have some good minutes, we have some bad minutes," Perron said. "I thought our last game was one of our better ones as far as identity, being selfless, changing at the right times. We had a lot of zone time. Maybe we weren't connected enough offensively like that, but definitely a lot of good stuff compered to other games. I think we remember where our level was from last year. It's so fresh on our mind that we want to get there right away. I want to get there too right away, but I just don't think it happens that way. Coaches are doing a good job too to keep on every day bringing new details, bringing stuff that we have to constantly be reminded of. We'll get there and I'm sure we will, but at the same time, it's a process.

"I think if you create a panic situation ...not that we're even close to that, but if you start panicking on things, it just brings negative energy, it drains the positivity out of the group and I think that's what we need in here. We need to be calm, we've done it before, we won and we know how to do it. We've just got to relax a little bit and just focus on our detail and listen to our coaches, trust in our system and we'll be fine."

Berube said the team went over some video Wednesday morning and found a few things that can be cleaned up.

"We've got to do a better job of protecting the slot area in our zone, actually doing a better job in the offensive zone getting in on the inside more," Berube said. "The other night on the island, we had the puck a lot. We created chances but not enough. For that much puck possession, we should be able to create more than that.

"We can do a better job of denying our end a little bit more and forcing teams to turning pucks over. At the other side, we're almost chasing at times in our end instead of just playing at our structure. I'd say maybe a little over-aggressive at times. They're finding some plays and some holes on us. We've got to be a little more structured in our own end."

* Berube to be honored -- The MIssouri Athletic Club announced Wednesday morning that Berube was named the 2019 MAC Sports Personality of the Year.

Berube, who helped guide the Blues to their first-ever Stanley Cup, will be honored at the 50th annual Jack Buck Awards on Dec. 5 at Maryville University .

The MAC has been awarding the personalities of the year since 1970 and Berube will join Vladimir Tarasenko (2016), Al MacInnis (1999) and Brett Hull (1990) on the list of Blues to receive it. Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas (2018) and catcher Yadier Molina (2017) were the last two recipients.

Tickets are available for purchase on the MAC website or by calling 314-539-4470.

Blais taking prominent role and running with it

One of five RFA forwards to sign contracts over summer, get a 

raise, making most of chance to play in top-six role, thriving in it

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- When Blues general manager Doug Armstrong signed five restricted free agent forwards this summer after winning a Stanley Cup, with all of them getting raises, he did so to lay out a plan of how to help younger players increase their responsibilities.

It was predictable considering that the Blues had just won their first-ever Cup and young players were important pieces of it, but in getting those raises, there was one simple message in mind:

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Sammy Blais (left) is making the most of chance to play with David Perron

(right) and Ryan O'Reilly, thriving early in the season in a top six role. 

You got paid, now go earn more ice time, go earn more responsibilities.

If anyone has taken those words to heart more, it's been Sammy Blais.

It's early, yes, but if anyone has grabbed the proverbial bull by the horns, Blais has done so and then some.

But this is no fluke. Go look at the playoffs last season. Go look at Blais in San Antonio of the American Hockey League two years ago when he had 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 42 games. Go look at Blais in Chicago of the AHL three years ago when he scored 26 goals. It's gradually been building up, and it's built up all the way where a spot in the top six was open, and Blais said, 'I'll take that.'

He's not only taken a spot on left wing with David Perron and Ryan O'Reilly, but it's hard to envision anyone taking it from Blais any time soon, if at all.

"He's played real well," Blues coach Craig Berube said of Blais, who is tied with O'Reilly with three points (two goals, one assist). "He's come into camp and he's done exactly what we've asked him to do in the summer time. He looks in great shape, he's strong and he's playing his game.

"He's a confident player even going back to the days in Chicago when I had him, he was a real confident player then too. He's got great puck skills and he plays a hard game. He's physical. He's an effective player for us."

Blais came from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where offense is, well, offense. Blais was good at it (71 goals, 107 assists in 149 games), but progressing up the ladder, the 23-year-old Montmagny, Quebec native would have to learn a few different tricks to the trade. Hitting, physicality, forechecking, the little things that will make one successful.

Blais embraced it, and it's balanced his game quite nicely.

"He's a player," said Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, a teammate with Blais on the Wolves. "It's nice that he's getting his opportunity and continues to work hard. He realizes you've got to be good all the time and consistent all the time and he's doing a great job."

What is helping Blais with confidence is that he had Berube coach him in Chicago, and Berube could see the tenacity and physical play of Blais coming. No nudging was needed but the coach certainly encouraged it. 

"He actually had that, but for sure, you encourage it, because if you can use your body with physical play, it's really going to help your game, especially when you want to go get pucks and you're physical on them," Berube said. "He does a good job of finishing his check with the puck there and getting the puck. That's the key. Talking about physical play, you want to get the puck back, right? He does a good job of that."

Blais was inserted into Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs against Dallas last season, and he stepped into that role with Perron and O'Reilly and scored a goal scorer's goal. It was his forecheck that helped set up O'Reilly's goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against Boston, and not being complacent as a young player winning it all, it was a summer of searching for ways to get better and solidify a spot on the team for the first time in his young career, Blais got back to work, came into camp and has made his name known.

Blais wanted to focus more on his offense, and he's balancing it quite nicely with a physical role.

"After playoff last year, they told me they were really happy with my game," Blais, who has 12 hits in two games, said of the Blues' coaching staff. "They wanted me to bring that again this year. I wanted to bring more offense in my game. I have the chance to play with two real good players, 'Perry' and 'O'Ry', and I'm just trying to make the most of it. It's been working good."

Blais has been used to people working hard getting him pucks in the past. Now he's working hard on retrieving pucks for not only his linemates but himself as well.

"He's obviously made huge strides in the past three or four years," Blues center Brayden Schenn said. "I think you're going to get his best hockey this year. He's kind of St. Louis Blues are all about too. He's physical, he's got skill to him. He plays hard, so obviously he's getting an opportunity right now to play with some good players and he's taking advantage of it.

"I think that's a credit to Chief. Chief had him in the minors there in Chicago and encouraged him to play physical and play hard. Obviously you see when he has the puck how skilled he is. When he's playing hard and playing physical, it just adds another element to his game. Maybe it's not the easiest thing to come out of juniors to go to the hard areas or to be physical, but he's certainly doing a good job of it and it's a huge piece to our team moving forward."

Blais, O'Reilly and Perron have combined for eight points (three goals, five assists) in the first two games of the season before the Blues take their game on the road for a four-game Eastern Conference swing beginning in Toronto on Monday. As veterans, Perron and O'Reilly are taking notice just what their vibrant linemate is providing.

"What's awesome is I think he built that game in the AHL a little bit," Perron said of Blais. "He build that last year coming into the playoffs and making an impact that way. I was talking to a lot of people this summer about him. They see him as a skill guy, and that's one thing that he's going to keep getting better at the NHL level and making those plays like he made on my goal. The way he played in the playoffs opened a lot of eyes to those people that knew him from junior, to people like that.

"I think 'O'Ry' and I, we know what our game looks like and we know what we need to do to be successful. To have a guy like that that's confident, carries the puck, it's always important. Sometimes as a young guy, you play with older guys, I try not to talk to him too much for that reason. I want him to keep playing good. He's confident and it's awesome for us. We're going to need him to keep making those plays."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Sammy Blais (9) has embraced a physical role with Blues, making most of

chance to play in the NHL.

Blais is making $850,000 on a one-year, one-way contract. It's his first one-way contract, and one where the Blues are basically laying the platform for Blais to prove himself and the pay raises will continue to climb. Shouldn't be an issue at this rate, and at this level of dedication.

"When I'm hard on the forecheck, we get the puck back and these two guys are great playmakers," Blais said. "They know how to make plays and I just try to go to the net and help them make plays, and I think that's been working really good."

Blais' play has all but eliminated the St. Louis-San Antonio Extress. Those persistent call-ups from the AHL, getting sent back down appear to be a thing of the past.

Challenge proves beneficial to Blues, who rally past Stars 3-2

Overturned Dallas goal in third period enabled Schenn, Blais to score and 

give St. Louis first win of season; Blais has first multi-point game in NHL

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- When the puck went in the net, there was a hushed moan from the Enterprise Center crowd, one filled with guarded animosity.

Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell had just scored what he thought was a third-period power-play goal just 2 minutes 16 seconds in. It would have given the Stars a two-goal lead over the Blues, and for all intents and purposes, put the final nail in the coffin of a game in which was hotly-contested but with two goalies (Jordan Binnington and Ben Bishop) playing the way they were, goals were at a premium.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues forward Sammy Blais (9) moves the puck past the checking of Stars

forward Rhett Gardner during Saturday's game at Enterprise Center.  

Paging Sean Ferrell.

The Blues' assistant coach and video guru was on the details before the goal was scored. Was it offsides or not? That was the question he would have to quickly answer to himself and get the message relayed quickly down to coach Craig Berube and the Blues' bench.

The Blues challenged it, they won it and turned the momentum of a reprieve into their own benefit when they rallied for two third-period goals and a 3-2 win over the Stars on Saturday.

Lindell's would-be goal from the slot would have made it 3-1, but instead, Ferrell's wizardry saw that the Stars' entry into the zone was offside and relayed that message down to the bench. Dallas' Justin Dowling was in just before the puck crossed the Blue line, and when referee Wes McCauley made his paused, dramatic call that the goal was being waved off, off went the Blues.

They would get goals from Brayden Schenn to tie it and Sammy Blais to win it.

"It's a turning point; that's a game-changer," Schenn said. "Obviously it gives you some confidence, momentum that you need just one to get yourself back into it. Great job by Sean Ferrell. 

"I didn't see it live, but [David] Perron seen it live and he said he thought it was offside right away, so he kind of made the call on that one too."

Perron, who scored 1:21 into the game to make it 1-0, was making the call on the bench.

"I was yelling on the bench right away," Perron said. "... The guy just came back from the o-zone and I was kind of talking about that one that they end up reversing. We saw the replay and definitely a huge momentum swing. It's a tight one and it's one that Chief was talking on the bench, he has to take a chance there. Otherwise it's a 3-1 game and it's a lot harder to come back."

The Blues (1-0-1) were in a position of no choice really. Even early in the third period, had they not challenged, recovering from a two-goal deficit would have been pretty daunting. Dallas would have locked things down defensively pretty tightly, so risking a two-minute penalty again wasn't even in question really.

"It's 3-1, I was pretty ... not confident, but I think it's worth a challenge," Berube said. "They did a good job, Sean and Otter and them, looking at it. They were pretty confident it was offside.

"We looked at it. The referee, Wes McCauley, gave us some time, which was good, so we got a good look at it.

"It shows we're aggressive. I like their input. They were looking at it too. I think we're all in it together."

Everyone had to be on the same page here, and not one person was hesitant. Everyone was in unison: go for it.

"We felt we were pretty sure on that one tonight," Schenn said. "It is close, no doubt about it, but I guess when you can zoom in and kind of see exactly if it's offside or not, Chief ended up making the call, but obviously great job by Ferrell making that call tonight."

And great job by the Blues pouncing on the opportunity. Schenn would score at 4:27 to tie the game 2-2 on a shot off Bishop's arm, up, over and off his back and arm and in.

"I'll take 'em any way you can get 'em," Schenn said. "Great play by Vladi [Tarasenko] taking them wide. When he's skating and driving the D wide and he's able to turn up and make a play, I just called for the puck, put it on net and you never know. I was trying to get the shot off as quick as I can and maybe surprise Bishop a little bit and got a lucky bounce there."

Blais, who had his first multi-point game in the NHL Saturday after he set up Perron's first goal of the season, would benefit from a bounce for the game-winner at 10:25.

Ryan O'Reilly won the offensive zone face-off, and Carl Gunnarsson's shot from the point caromed off Blais' behind, off the glove of Stars defenseman Taylor Fedun and through the wickets of goalie Ben Bishop.

"It was a good bounce," Blais said. "When you work hard, you get some good bounce. I'm just happy to be in the position I'm at right now and just got to keep going."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington makes one of his 28 saves in front of Ryan

O'Reilly (90) and Miro Heiskanen (4) Saturday in St. Louis' 3-2 win.

When it comes to confidence for Blais, Perron quipped, "He scores with his rear end, so I guess it's pretty high. Sometimes the puck finds you."

It was a good bounce back game for the Blues after they blew a 2-0 lead in the season opener against Washington before falling 3-2 in overtime.

"It's not going to be easy," said Binnington, who made 28 saves. "People are going to be playing hard every game. That's the NHL. Every night is a tough game. There's skill on every team. You've got to be prepared, do your best and play hard for each other."