(5-23-22) Avalanche-Blues Game 4 Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Move on and turn the page.

That's the mindset the Blues have been faced with before, and it will be the same again here today when they play a pivotal Game 4 of the Western Conference second round against the Colorado Avalanche (8:30 p.m.; TNT, ESPN 101.1-FM).

Jordan Binnington is no longer available for the rest of this series due to a lower-body injury sustained following a collision in his crease in the first period of Game 3 with Colorado's Nazem Kadri and teammate Calle Rosen, and it will be Ville Husso's cage now with Charlie Lindgren as the new backup.

There's nothing to do but turn the page and try and win an important game that would make this an even series, after Colorado won Game 3, 5-2, and take a 2-1 series lead.

"Yeah, exactly. There's nothing else there," forward David Perron said. "I understand that you guys have questions, but there's no comment from my part on any of that stuff. You see it happening in other series and all that stuff, the league's there to take care of it if they have to and for us, I think it's just a matter of dealing with our emotions after any losses, any wins, you've got to find a way to turn the page and be better next game. We will do that tonight."

It all comes from a coaching staff that wants and expects the players to turn the page, since there's nothing that can be done as far as bringing Binnington back into the series.

"All good, same. I think our mindset has been in a good spot," coach Craig Berube said. "We know we’ve got a tough battle tonight. Tweak a few things here and there, but good skate this morning ready to go."

The players have been in situations where they have to have a resilient response, and a lot of them can look to none other than Game 3 of the conference final in 2019 when the infamous hand pass that wasn't called and resulted in a Sharks 5-4 win and a 2-1 series lead.

The Blues reacted accordingly and won the next three games. Let's see how they react in this situation.

"Absolutely, it's a great question, something that we've talked about how we dealt with that at the time, we just moved on right after the game," Perron said. "It's over with, there's nothing we can do. We have plenty of confidence in 'Huus' to do the job. He was one of our top players this year as well and obviously we're looking forward to seeing how he plays and we need him to have a great game. But definitely the experience we learned from that year, obviously that was in conference final, that was a harder pill to swallow almost and then we found a way to turn the page on that and we won all three games after that. I'm not saying we'll do that. This team is really solid over there, but we're definitely looking to move on and play a similar way.

"I think it comes from our coaching staff too, just kind of seeing them the next day. We work either in video or obviously we don't skate too much in playoffs, but any time they have with us, they work with us to try and find little areas that we can expose a little bit better and just their attitude the way they are, I think from our leadership group, everyone's been around for many years. Obviously winning helps with that. You have to stay level-headed even more and you move on."

Berube said since a lot of these veterans have been through these things before, it makes it easier on them to keep the players even-keeled.

"Well, a lot of them have been through this a number of times and they understand how playoffs work, the ups and downs, or bounces that you get or don’t get, injuries and all that stuff that plays into it," he said. "So, you’ve got to just stay with it. Things happen. You can’t get rattled and you can’t get too high or too low, you’ve just got to keep battling and staying with it. People in your organization, it’s good to have depth. They’ve got to step in and do a good job for you when injuries happen."

- - -

Now that the job is Husso's, it's time for the Blues to rally around their netminder who started the playoffs for them, the same one who debuted against the Wild and made 37 saves in a 4-0 win.

The same goalie who from Jan. 7-Feb. 25 was 10-1-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average, which was second in the league only to New York Rangers' Igor Shesterkin, and Husso had a .940 save percentage over that period, third in the league to Shesterkin and Ottawa's Matt Murray.

"It started with even last year," Perron said of Husso, who was 25-7-6 during the regular season. "Obviously it was his first year in the NHL, he had a lot of things to learn, just dealing with the schedule, the mental grind, how good the players are in this league at shooting the puck and all that stuff, went home over the summer, you can tell he worked hard and the attitude and his composure was better, his practices were very sharp early in the year and he got more chances to play this year and he did a good job. Every single time, he's build his game, he's build confidence with the organization obviously to the point where he was playing most games towards the end of the year. It's exciting. He's a guy that going back to 2019, he was a black ace, he was around the guys, just a funny guy to be around. Him and I like to go at it a little bit, chirp each other off the ice for many little things. We have a lot of fun as a group and with him."

Husso lost Games 2-3 against the Wild and was replaced by Binnington, who went on a 4-1 tear with a playoff league-leading 1.72 GAA and .949 save percentage, which was second to Dallas' Jake Oettinger.

"Well I think his confidence is high," Berube said of Husso. "In game, we’ve got to keep checking like we are … I think we’re doing a good job checking right now, protecting the middle of the ice and we’ve got to continue to do that. That’s a very good team over there that can really score some goals and create offense. But we’ve been doing a pretty good job of protecting the middle of the ice and doing a good job checking and we’ve got to continue doing that and make sure we’re hard at our net, giving our goalies a chance to see pucks and not allowing second and third opportunities around the net.

"... I’ve had him since he was a kid here, and I had him in the minors. He came in there and did a real good job there, probably not expecting to make the team or play that year, but he did. Then we went into the playoffs pretty deep and he played. So, he’s got a calm demeanor about him, he’s a quiet guy, but he’s a highly competitive guy inside. Like I said, he’s a real good goalie, he’s played really well this year. If you’re not competitive, you’re not going to play well, so he is a highly competitive guy."

When Husso came on for Binnington at thr 6:45 mark of the first period Saturday in Game 3, he would go on to face 23 shots and allow four goals, although the fourth one was as he was trying to get off the ice for a sixth attacker and got caught trying to get back in when the Blues lost possession of the puck.

"It’s a tougher deal for sure (coming in cold)," Berube said. "Yeah, it’s not easy, especially in a playoff game for sure when the intensity is high. But I thought he settled in alright, you know. Other than the (third) goal in the second period, he probably wants that one back, but I thought he played pretty well."

- - -

Defenseman Torey Krug, out since sustaining a lower-body injury in Game 3 of the first-round series against Minnesota, took the ice with teammates for the first time in the morning skate, although he did skate on his own Sunday.

Krug, who has three assists in three postseason games, did not take part in line rushes or any special teams work and obviously won't play tonight, but the encouraging steps of getting closer are being taken.

"Well, it’s good he’s out there, so he’s doing a lot better," Berube said. "I wasn’t sure if he was going to skate today or not. It was good to see him skate and we’ll keep going. Same as (Marco) Scandella (lower-body injury). He’s closer."

"It's good," Perron said of Krug. "I have great chemistry with him on the power play and he's obviously a guy we miss a lot, I miss him a lot; he gives me a lot of good looks all over the ice. He's been a great power play guy his whole career and it's great to see him on the ice."

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Ivan Barbashev-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko

Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou

Alexei Toropchenko-Tyler Bozak

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Calle Rosen-Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo

Scott Perunovich

Ville Husso will start in goal; Charlie Lindgren will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Logan Brown and Nathan Walker. Jordan Binnington (lower body), Torey Krug (lower body) and Marco Scandella (lower body) are out.

- - -

The Avalanche's projected lineup:

Valeri Nichushkin-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen

Gabriel Landeskog-Nazem Kadri-Artturi Lehkonen

Andre Burakovsky-J.T. Compher-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Logan O'Conmor-Darren Helm-Andrew Cogliano

Devon Toews-Cale Makar

Jack Johnson-Josh Manson

Bowen Byram-Erik Johnson

Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; Pavel Francouz will be the backup. 

The healthy scratches include Alex Newhook, Ryan Murray, Nico Sturm, Kurtis MacDermid and Hunter Miska. Samuel Girard (broken sternum) is out for the season.

Blues ready to move on, not focus energy on Kadri

Colorado forward at focus of collision that knocked Binnington out for 

series with lower-body injury; Blues focused on winning, not revenge

By LOU KORAC
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Brayden Schenn had that look in his eye when asked the question.

The veteran Blues center was asked if he felt if Nazem Kadri, at the crux of the collision that knocked Blues goalie Jordan Binnington out of the remainder of the Western Conference second round series against the Colorado Avalanche, knew what he was doing even if there was no deliberate attempt to target Binnington.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (middle) said the Blues are focused on trying

to win, not gain revenge on Colorado's Nazem Kadri.

"You know what you're doing, yeah," Schenn said.

To which Robert Bortuzzo was also asked.

"You ask any player, a guy like that knows what he's doing there," the Blues defenseman said.

For a refresher, it was at the 6:45 mark of the first period when Binnington made a save on Artturi Lehkonen's shot. The rebound lay in the slot and both Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen were converging into Binnington's crease.

Kadri, who claimed after Colorado's 5-2 win that he was pushed into Binnington by Rosen, which clearly wasn't the case, and Rosen went crashing into the Blues netminder, causing Binnington's lower-body injury and unavoidable departure from the game.

The play has received plenty of local and national attention, and rightfully so, and everyone can have an opinion on what exactly happened. Where Kadri, a repeat offender to suspendable offenses throughout his career, including a blatant head shot on Justin Faulk during last year's first-round series against the Avalanche, put himself in line to get scrutinized when he claimed that Rosen pushed him into Binnington.

"I just think from his comments, he said that he got pushed and he’s behind our guy, so I don’t know how that makes sense," Schenn said. "But we’ll move on and worry about winning a hockey game."

The Blues didn't retaliate during the game, as coach coach Craig Berube felt the need to focus on one individual isn't worth it. 

"No. Nope, we're here to win," Berube said. "That's it. Just go try to win.

"It is what it is. We'll move on."

And that's what the Blues, down 2-1 in the series with Game 4 looming on Monday, have to do is move on. They won't have Binnington, who was 4-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in starting the previous five games, including the first-round series against Minnesota.

"Obviously you lose a guy, you know your team's going to be upset about it," Berube said. "... He's not happy. He was playing great hockey and he wants to be in there and help us win. So any time a player gets hurt from a situation, he's not going to be happy about it, but they're competitive guys; they want to play, and now he can't."

The Blues have dealt with adversity before. Remember handpass-gate in 2019 of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against San Jose? The Blues responded with three straight wins to take that series. 

It's a different set of circumstances of course losing a player, but Berube already has the players thinking move on.

“Yeah, it all starts at the top with the leader and he’s our voice in the room," Schenn said. "We respect everything he says. He’s good at channeling energy the right way. Like I said, you can worry about the play and let it frustrate you - who’s in goal and this and that - but at the end of the day it’s about winning a hockey game and that’s all you can focus on."

But it's sometimes hard to overlook the obvious.

"Of course. I'm sure a lot of guys (wanted to retaliate)," defenseman Robert Bortuzzo said. "But our focus is on winning the series. I think that would be kind of misplacing a lot of our energy and I think we like where our groups at, where we’re competing at a really high level. So I think that's where we're going to focus our attention."

Binnington was playing at the highest level he's played at since winning the Stanley Cup in 2019, so it's tough not for his teammates to feel bad for him.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Ville Husso will start Game 4 for the Blues against the Colorado Avalanche

after the injury to Jordan Binnington in Game 3.

"It's a tough loss," Bortuzzo said. 'You know, we're not going to sugarcoat that, but at the same time, we have a guy who has been great for us all year and I'm sure he's excited to get in there and step up for us. As for the play, we're not going to talk about it too much. You ask any player there who's played the game, you assume a guy knows what he's doing. But having said that, we're not going to misplace anywhere the energy moving forward here. We're just trying to win the series."

"He’s playing good hockey for us," Schenn said of Binnington. "Came in and got his mojo back and his swagger back. Feel for him. Obviously unfortunate injury and at the same time we have full confidence in Ville. Both guys have had the net at times this year and both guys are very capable of winning hockey games. We’re looking forward to seeing what Ville can do and when he’s in the net, we’re just as confident with 'Binner' there and just got to play hard in front of them."

Blues lose momentum, game against Avs with Binnington injury

Goalie sustains lower-body injury, speculated to be a knee injury, after 

collision with own defenseman Rosen, Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It was kind of the start the Blues were looking for in front of a raucous home crowd, in Game 3, in a series even at 1-1.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington sprawls to make a save against the Colorado

Avalanche in Game 1 last Tuesday. Binnington was injured in Game 3 on

Saturday after a collision involving Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri (91).

And then, the collision, the injury, the hush in the crowd, and ultimately, the game.

It happened at 6:45 of the first period, when persistent rule breaker Nazem Kadri -- whether he intends to or not, always finds himself in messy situations -- and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen converged on the net and collided with goalie Jordan Binnington.

In the aftermath, a 1-0 lead at the time of the Binnington injury in the end turned into a 5-2 loss to the Avalanche Saturday in the Western Conference second round at Enterprise Center, giving Colorado a 2-1 series lead.

There was a loose puck on the play in front of Binnington after he made a save on Artturi Lehkonen, and as Rosen and Kadri converged on Binnington, both crashed into him in the net. 

Kadri claimed after the game that, "I think their defenseman kind of collided with me and pushed me into him."

Wrong. 

While it can be debated whether there was a penalty there or not, and former league official Don Koharski said on the TNT national broadcast that it was a legal play.

OK, so be it, but Kadri, who has a rap sheet of infractions throughout his career, first of all, told a boldface lie when he claimed he got pushed in by, one assumes he meant Rosen, since it was Rosen that was between he and Binnington, but this has remnants of Nick Kypreos on Grant Fuhr all over again. 

Remember 1996, when Kypreos, playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, was bumped by Chris Pronger and took the chance to flop on top of Fuhr, knocking the Blues goalie out of the game and the playoffs?

Kadri knew there was a moment to push the envelope there, and why wouldn't he? Why not take a calculated risk of knocking a guy out of the series, at the very least, who was throttling the Avalanche in the series?

Binnington came into the game stopping 81 of 85 shots in the series, and he was 4-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and .943 save percentage since taking over for Ville Husso in Game 4 of the first round against Minnesota.

Heck, Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin crashed into Binnington in Game 2 trying to knock the Blues goalie off his rocker and rattle/shake him up. 

Binnington would eventually get to his skates after being attended to by head athletic trainer Ray Barile. He tried to shake the injury off, moving side to side, but then when he went down in a leg bent position, there was obvious discomfort. 

That was it.

As badly as Binnington wanted to remain in the game, the body said no.

"I’m sure he wanted to stay in, and he did the best he could," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "It wasn’t the case."

The crowd, booing Kadri when replays were shown at every angle, became concerned, the Blues were shellshocked, and the game would turn on end.

"It's always tough," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "Obviously Binner's the heart and soul, playing unbelievable, but I think it kind of took the momentum away and took us a little too long to kind of get it back going again. Things like that happened. We're a deep team and we could have done a better job of getting the momentum back and adjusting.

"I'm sure the league will review and see. It's an unfortunate play 'Binner' gets hurt. It's unfortunate."

This was the same Kadri that in last season's first-round sweep of the Blues, cheap-shot Justin Faulk in the open ice and was suspended for it. So although the crimes of Kadri's past were more heinous that this one and can be debated as borderline legal/illegal, the intention was there, on purpose or not.

To make matters worse, or add salt to the wound, Kadri would score a goal and have an assist in Game 3.

"Look at Kadri’s reputation," a frustrated Berube said. "That’s all I got to say."

That's enough.

Husso entered the game, the same Husso that started the playoffs for the Blues but sat as the backup the past six games.

The Blues had to pick themselves up, but it was obvious, their play dropped and their energy-level wasn't the same. And the Avalanche knew it.

They would go on to score three unanswered goals before O'Reilly scored but couldn't make the push in the third before the Avs scored two garbage empty-net goals late to retake the series.

"Obviously I think for us, it's our focus to get back and help out and be an option for those goalies at all times obviously," said Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, who put the Blues on the board at 3:55 of the first period. "They're both good puck-handlers and both move the puck well. Just fortunate to have two good goalies back there."

Husso allowed four goals on 23 shots, one as he was attempting to leave the net for an extra attacker but the timing was thrown off when the Blues lost possession of the puck, but the game seemed to slip away when the Blues' top netminder and playoff rock couldn't hold his fort no more.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit at the start, but then as soon as Ville came in, it ramped right back up," Parayko said. "I don't know, kind of like we touched on it earlier, we have two real good goalies and Husso's been unbelievable for us all year long. More than confident obviously with both of them. That's the beauty of those two. Two great goalies keep us in every single game, gives us a chance to win, and that's all we can ask for."

Berube also felt the loss of Binnington didn't affect the team.

"Not much," he said. "I thought for a little bit but not very long. I thought (Husso) played a good game.

"It’s a tough situation. I thought he did the job. We were right there. We had chances. We had a lot of good looks tonight. We didn’t score enough goals. Good chances, we didn’t execute on our chances.

"Listen, obviously nobody likes what happened. That’s part of hockey and you got other people that need to come in and step up and do that job."

It appears, unless there's a miracle cure for Binnington, that it will be Husso's net for the foreseeable future, and the Blues will have to recall a goalie -- perhaps the legend of 'Chuckie Sideburns' will be cast upon St. Louis again -- to help fill the void.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (right) talks to goalie Ville Husso when

he enters into Game 3 after an injury to Jordan Binnington

Either way, the Avalanche, who lost defenseman Samuel Girard for the rest of the playoffs/season when he was crunched by an Ivan Barbashev check that resulted in a broken sternum, have grabbed the series back in their favor.

All thanks to Kadri, who also claimed he didn't mean to injure Faulk either. Just like when he didn't mean to cross-check Boston's Jake DeBrusk in the face in 2019. Just like when he didn't mean to run Wild goalie Nicklas Backstrom in 2013 that cost him three games. Just like he didn't mean to hurt Edmonton's Matt Fraser in 2015 for a check to the head. Just like when he didn't mean to cross-check Detroit's Luke Glendening in the face in 2016. Just like when he didn't mean to low bridge Washington's Alex Ovechkin in 2017.

Yep, such a misunderstood soul. 

Kadri got eight games for the Faulk head shot. He'll probably skate away from this one without suspension, not that one was warranted. But the job was done, especially if Binnington is done.

After the game when Kadri was doing his interview on TNT, he alleged that Binnington walked by and threw a water bottle at him.

When he was finished, Kadri is likely laughing to the next round.

(5-21-22) Avalanche-Blues Game 3 Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Much like Game 2 when they needed to adjust and elevate their game against the Colorado Avalanche following a loss, the Blues are expecting the same tonight from the visitors.

With the series between and the Blues and Avalanche shifting back to St. Louis starting with Game 3 today (7 p.m.; TNT, ESPN 101.1-FM), the Blues are expecting a much better and more spirited effort from the Avalanche following the Blues' 4-1 win in Game 2.

"We're going to get a real good game, we know that," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "They wouldn't be happy with Game 2 and they're going to throw everything at us. We've got to be ready for it."

"I think it's probably going to be their best game of the series," center Robert Thomas said. "I don't think you're going to take last game lightly and they're going to come up with some adjustments and come out and start hard. So we're going to be expecting their best game and we’ve got to match that."

What the Blues must avoid is their over-emotional reaction to playing the first home game of a series, much like the overreaction to the first round against the Minnesota Wild when they came out in the first period over-emotional and tried to hit their way into the game and fell behind 2-0 in the first couple minutes before eventually losing 5-1.

"Yeah, for sure, I thought so too, and we've got to make sure we don't fall into that same trap," Berube said. "You've got to have emotion, you've got to have energy and there's going to be a lot in the building for sure, but we've got to stay in control. If you get a little bit too aggressive and too emotional, you're going to end up on the wrong side of some things and that's not going to be good against this team."

The players are very much aware of that scenario having played it out like it did.

"Yeah, it’s always fun playing in your own building, right," defenseman Justin Faulk said. "Every turnover, every hit, every shot, whatever, especially the first five minutes, they’re pretty into it so they bring a lot of energy and it trickles down onto the bench. It’s no secret, I think you see teams that are playing at home and have a lot of energy and emotion. It’s something that needs to be in check, especially first game. It whittles out a little bit after that, but to be quite honest, I don’t think we did a good job the last series in our first game, but we learned from that and we know what happens, so we’ll be alright."

What they need to focus on more than anything is the style of play they changed to going into Game 2 when the Blues were more responsible with pucks and had their checking style in order.

"The forecheck was a lot better and that was because we put the puck in the right areas and we made it tough on them breaking out and the less turnovers in the neutral zone, the less they’re going to be able to to transition back on you," Thomas said. "I think you have to take care of the puck, we’re more patient in the D-zone, made more good plays coming out. I think it’s kind of a combination of all three things."

Berube made sweeping changes to the top nine forwards and all in all, was pretty pleased with the results but could see more as well.

"For the most part. I still want to see some more out of some guys, but for the most part, I thought the line combinations were pretty good," Berube said. "We'll just go from there. If I have to tweak something again, I will."

That means the Blues will, for the sixth consecutive game, implement 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

- - -

What the Blues have done well in this series thus far is contain some of the Avalanche's top players, including defenseman Cale Makar and forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri, among others.

Makar doesn't have a point after putting up 10 in four games in an opening-round sweep of the Nashville Predators; MacKinnon and Rantanen each have two assists but no goals, and Kadri has one assist.

"I mean, it’s just the style of play our team wants to play as a whole," Faulk said. "Skating with and without the puck, obviously tight gaps defensively … but then with the puck, putting it in a good spot so we can kind of get in our forecheck and slow them down. They’re a good transition team so we can’t turn pucks over. If we can stop them on their forecheck or our forecheck, that slows them down too. Make them stop in the D zone and that should help.

"... We don’t want to feed their transition and that’s how they play. They play fast and obviously a lot of their guys up front can move and do things with the puck at high speeds so we’ve got to eliminate that as much as possible."

Ryan O'Reilly's line has been given the task of matching up against MacKinnon and have outplayed it thus far.

"Yeah, and the two D, (Nick) Leddy and (Colton) Parayko are out there with those guys, all five of them," Berube said. "I think you've got to have all five guys on the same page against that line. They're tough to handle, big. And they've done a real good job. It's a lot about being on the right side of things and O'Reilly's done a good job of taking MacKinnon away when he can and staying on the right side of him. It's the same as Makar, right? You've got to have good sticks and things like that, so they've done a good job. With any of their lines, it's about not giving them odd-man rushes more than anything. That's where they're dangerous. Their D are very active and they get odd-man rushes from it and it's important that we don't give them that.

"It's really important. (Makar's) a great player, we all know that, him and MacKinnon. It's important you're always getting some contact on them as much as you can and just taking him away as much as you can and staying above him and limit their puck touches and their room to skate. He's such a great skater, Maker, that if you can angle him and get the puck out of his hands quickly, that takes away a lot. We've been doing a good job of it so far."

- - -

The Avalanche could make a tweak or two to their lineup, and one change could include the insertion of Logan O'Connor into the lineup on the fourth line.

Blues defenseman Marco Scandella took part in the morning skate but will not play due to a lower-body injury; he will miss his fifth consecutive game.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Ivan Barbashev-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko

Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou

Alexei Toropchenko-Tyler Bozak

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Calle Rosen-Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo

Scott Perunovich

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Logan Brown and Nathan Walker. Torey Krug (lower body) and Marco Scandella (lower body) are out.

- - -

The Avalanche's projected lineup:

Valeri Nichushkin-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen

Gabriel Landeskog-Nazem Kadri-Artturi Lehkonen

Andre Burakovsky-J.T. Compher-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Andrew Cogliano-Nico Sturm-Darren Helm

Devon Toews-Cale Makar

Samuel Girard-Josh Manson

Bowen Byram-Erik Johnson

Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; Pavel Francouz will be the backup. 

The healthy scratches include Jack Johnson, Alex Newhook, Ryan Murray, Logan O'Connor, Kurtis MacDermid, Hunter Miska and Justus Annunen. The Avalanche report no injuries. 

Blues make right adjustments, even best-of-7 series with Avalanche following 4-1 win in Game 2

Perron scores twice to lead offense; Berube mixes lines up again, 

works to perfection; Blues stymie, kill Colorado's speed, forecheck game

By LOU KORAC
DENVER -- The Blues said all the right things before the game, that they'll be better, that they'll make the necessary adjustments, that they'll be more responsible with the puck, that they'll forecheck better.

Check, check, check, and check ... in a resounding way.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Pavel Buchnevich and David Perron (right) celebrate after a Perron goal in

Game 2 of a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

The Blues bounced back in a big way, following up their overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche with a 4-1 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference second round series at Ball Arena on Thursday.

The series heads back to St. Louis on Saturday tied 1-1.

In their 3-2 overtime loss here on Tuesday, the score wasn't as close it it ended. Jordan Binnington, who didn't have to be as acrobatic and literally standing on his head like he was in Game 1 with 51 saves, made 30 saves on Thursday.

It all starts with coach Craig Berube, who instills the confidence in his players. They knew they had to be better with the puck, they knew they had to be better in front of their goalie and not allow the Avalanche to use Binnington as a shooting gallery, which they did to the tune of 106 shot attempts (54 on goal) to the Blues' 45 (25 on goal). Their overall puck play wasn't good enough, and in turn, there was no sustained offensive zone time. That all, among other things, needed to change.

"He's awesome," said Blues forward David Perron, who scored twice Thursday. "After the game (Tuesday), even the feeling that I had in the meal room, just kind of everyone was still loose and the next day, we come in and we watch video, we saw a lot of the things that we didn't do well and he was pretty vocal about it, did a great job of bringing it to us and saying what he had to say and we responded. It was great."

Berube and the coaching staff pointed things out to the players, the things they did wrong, and there were plenty of issues. Players got the message, implemented a game plan and executed accordingly.

"Well, our forecheck and our offensive zone play. We did a good job," Berube said. "We forechecked hard tonight. We put pucks to good areas, we were on it, we had numbers on it all night and made them play in their own end. Then, when the pucks over or they get possession, we reloaded well and I thought we did a good job coming back in our own zone, protecting the middle of the ice and our D did a hell of a job defending the rush, defending in our zone.

"Way more connected all over the ice. Puck support, making plays, we did a much better job of that.

"I've seen it all year, we're a good team. We played good hockey all year. It's a good group of guys that want to win. They know Game 1 they didn't do well enough and all year they've responded. You go over things, and you tell them why and you show them why and they respond."

Berube is a master at knowing what buttons to push and when to push them, and he mixed the lines up in order to get some more balance offensively, like moving Pavel Buchnevich up to play with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron.

"We were pretty comfortable," Perron said. "We made some good plays. We also can be even better, which is a good sign when you play a good game. It was exciting to play with 'Buch'. I haven't had the chance really and I've seen so many of his passes this year, goals, plays defensive awareness, all that stuff. To be on the ice doing it with him is a good feeling."

It was evident the Blues were going to be in the battle from the drop of the puck. They outshot the Avs 14-9 in the opening period and even left some scoring chances on the ice by not shooting the puck. But overall, it was trending in the right direction.

"Yeah, exactly. It was for sure just from the first shift playing down in their zone a lot more," Perron said. "There's going to be shifts, our line playing against those guys (Nathan MacKinnon line) were just in the zone for a bit. We've got to stay composed, under control and kind of minimize the chances they had and try to find that momentum the next shift because they just keep coming at you and it's all five of them with Makar and Toews. They do a great job. I thought we were pretty composed. We did a great job, and from the get-go we had a good start."

Jordan Kyrou got the scoring started when he took Samuel Girard on 1-on-1, and with the puck on end, his shot caromed off Girard's stick and over Darcy Kuemper's right shoulder on the short side for a 1-0 lead at 5:45.

But another key move from the coaching staff came late in the second period when the Blues had a 5-on-3 two-man advantage for 1:03. Berube called a time out to set up the plan for execution, and for the first time, the Blues implemented five forwards on the ice, and Buchnevich running the point for the first time in his career. And with no Torey Krug, out with a lower-body injury, running it, it gave the unit a different look that worked with Buchnevich running it.

He helped set up the first of Perron's two goals, a one-timer off the heel of Game 1 overtime hero Josh Manson's blade and through Kuemper for a 2-0 lead with 33.8 seconds left in the period.

"Well, he's got great vision and a good distributor of the puck," Berube said of Buchnevich, who had two assists in the game. "You've got Perron on one side, Vladi on the other, shooters, you know. Before that, the play he made to Robby Thomas was like high-end. That's the stuff he sees. He can run it up top there. He's reliable, too."

Buchnevich and Tarasenko played catch with the puck before Buchnevich put the puck on a tee for Perron to one-time.

"He did a great job. He was awesome," Perron said of Buchnevich. "We talked about that setup with 'Kruger' not being available right now, kind of what was going to be our 5-on-3 setup. We've seen that in the past, like five forwards go there, but I thought he made a good play early on to 'Tommer' through the seam that kind of backed off their defenseman and probably set up a little bit of room for me on the next one.

"I think only 'Buchy' was out there and 'Tommer' (before the 5-on-3). Vladi, 'O'Ry' and I were on the bench, so we were fine. Obviously just kind of collecting ourselves, making sure it was a big moment, a chance to go up 2-0 at the time. Got to find a way to score when you have that much time on the 5-on-3.

"We talked about a lot of things and when 'Kruger' went down whenever that was several games ago, the next pre-scout we had, Otter brought it up. This is the setup we're going to go if there's a 5-on-3, depending on the time, if there's 10 seconds, maybe it's not the same way. That was the reason."

The 5-on-3 came as a result of Valeri Nichushkin's goalie interference running over Binnington, who seemed upset at the time, but afterwards claimed, "Nothing really happened there."

Despite allowing an early power-play goal to Gabriel Landeskog at 1:49 of the third period to make it a 2-1 game and the Avalanche coming back with a push to tie it, Perron's timely goal at 10:31 to make it 3-1 silenced the 18,117 in attendance and put the Blues on virtual cruise control.

The play came as a result of a Andre Burakovsky turnover on a miscommunication play with Cake Makar that resulted in a 2-on-1 with Perron and Buchnevich. Perron kept it when Devon Toews didn't commit to the shot and he beat Kuemper off the bottom of his glove and in.

"Yeah, it was a tough break on the (Avs) power play goal they got," Berube said. "I thought we defending it overall, but things happen. It was a good response. Big goal (by Perron) for sure."
Perron spoke pregame of wanting to get Buchnevich a goal so bad and looked to pass but in the end, made the right play when Toews didn't make a commitment.

"I actually thought about it. It's funny," Perron said. "All the things we can think of in 2-3 seconds, it's pretty amazing, but I just kind of took a step to the middle and the D didn't really come my way. If he did, I probably just slide it over there to his stick to 'Buch' hoping that he scores, but it went in and it was a big goal for us and that was important."

The Blues kept the foot on the defensive front, blocking shots (17) and killing the Avalanche forecheck and puck possession. Colorado never really threatened to tie it or get within one after Perron scored, and former Avs forward Brandon Saad, who scored three goals for Colorado in the four-game sweep of the Blues last season, iced the game with an empty-net goal at 18:10 to make it 4-1.

"I think we played a connected hockey game," said Binnington, who is 4-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in the playoffs. "We were all supporting each other and you know the depth we had today, that was good. We just trusted our game. We talked about just controlling the puck and tracking back hard and trying to out-number them all over the ice."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Blues forward Brandon Saad (20) looks on after Avalanche goalie Darcy

Kuemper makes a save in front of teammate Bowen Byram Thursday.

Which the Blues did.

"From the get-go, it seemed like we got on our forecheck way more," Perron said. "We made them defend. That definitely will slow them down a little bit. chipping away at their bodies so that they can't get the speed they want. We did a good job in the first two periods and in the third, Binner held the lid for us. He had a good push and it was a good win."

And Berube pushed the right buttons again, making adjustments when necessary.

"Yeah, I was happy with it all," Berube said. 'I think that we got really good use out of everybody tonight. I thought 'Bozie' and 'Torp' gave us really good minutes. Barbashev gave us really good minutes. I mixed lines a little bit with only going 11, so you get some different looks here and there and different line combinations at times. But overall, I thought the 'Tommer' line was good tonight. 'Tommer' had a real good game, I thought, overall. Big goal by Kyrou. He was skating and attacking and he had a couple other good looks, and Saad, he's just Mr. Consistent for me."

(5-19-22) Blues-Avalanche Game 2 Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
DENVER -- The formation will remain the same, but Blues coach Craig Berube is moving parts around his top nine to try and gain a spark against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

The Blues are sticking with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the fifth straight game in Game 2 of the Western Conference second round against the Avalanche today (8:30 p.m.; TNT, ESPN 101.1-FM) but Berube is mixing up his collective group of top nine forwards.

The Blues coach is splitting up Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko and putting Buchnevich with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron, Thomas back with the kid pairing with Jordan Kyrou along with veteran Brandon Saad and Tarasenko will be reunited with Brayden Schenn as his center, a combination often seen when Jaden Schwartz was in St. Louis, but it will be Ivan Barbashev on that wing.

"More balance," Berube said, "like, you know, going from the first series and then to one game here, we need more balance, so to get that, I moved some guys around to see if I can create some balance throughout our lines to score, get some opportunities to score and more attempts. 

"Saad with the kids, they scored a goal in Minny and they’ve played together before and been a good line. Then a little bit of a heavier line with Schenn and Barbashev and Tarasenko. The (Nazem) Kadri line (with Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen) is pretty heavy and it’s a good line, so I need some heaviness there. Schenn and Tarasenko have a good past. They’ve been together before with Schwartz, so there’s some familiarity there. Basically, 'Buchy' hasn’t scored a goal yet, so I’m going to try something new with him."

That's the intriguing trio that we haven't seen before, or often, this season.

O'Reilly and Perron have been a staple, but Buchnevich with them is unfamiliar territory but one that can work for sure.

"Well, he can make plays for sure, and he's a very good defensive player," Berube said of Buchnevich, who has four assists in seven playoff games but no goals. "He's got a great stick and things like that. I think they forecheck well, O'Reilly and Perron, that’s a big part of their game, and that's going to drag 'Buchy' into the fight a little bit more there."

Perron recalled perhaps playing with Buchnevich once in Calgary or perhaps on the power play but other than that, it will be a fresh look for himself and O'Reilly.

"Yeah, I think one time maybe in Calgary when that game was out of hand in the third period, we played with him a little bit," Perron said. "But that was it really. I think for 'O’Ry' and I, it’s a lot similar every single night. We want to go play deep, hang onto the puck make the other team defend more than they did the first (game), and I think 'Buchy' can really add to that the way he hangs onto the puck, the way he makes plays, and trying to get that goal that he’s talking about a lot."

When Berube and the coaching staff typically make changes or tweaks to the lineup, it typically works in their favor.

"There’s a reason usually when he does it," Perron said. "One of our first times we’re going to start a game with 'Buchy' – 'O’Ry' and I. So we’re excited about that. He’s a heckuva player. He does everything well on the ice, just passing the puck, defensive sticks, all that stuff. So we’re excited.

"Yeah, there’s times that (Berube) bounces things off our guys. But not this time. I think the coaches have such a good feel, pre-scouting the other team, all that stuff. They’re doing a great job."

Thomas and Kyrou tend to make things happen when they're together, and Saad scored his lone goal of the playoffs in Game 5 of the first round playing with that pair.

"They played together a lot in Traverse City and the rookie camps and things like that, so they’ve been together for quite some time … and on the power play together and they look for each other," Berube said. "It seems like Kyrou gets a lot more engaged in the game when he’s with Thomas."

- - -

There was a spirited group on the ice for the Blues, despite being down 1-0 in the series following a 3-2 overtime loss here at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

The Blues were outshot badly (54-25) and out-Corsi'ed 106-45 in the game, and they know why. But that doesn't mean they dwell on it.

"Yeah, we have to turn the page obviously on what happened, and I think we did," Perron said. "That’s what the days in between will do and we’re ready to go for tonight."

As Schenn said on Wednesday, the Blue were "chucking" too many pucks away and that enabled the Avalanche to continuously come at them in waves. 

"Just getting in their way," defenseman Robert Bortuzzo said. "Anytime you can, take away some of their speed, swing with them in the neutral zone. You're going to have to manage the puck. They create a lot offense off of the other team’s turnovers. And ultimately, the best thing to do is just play in the offensive zone and try and stand over pucks and cycle and have them stop in the D-zone. And you know, hopefully that limits some of those things.

"Yeah, it's exciting. It's an exciting challenge. It's a hard place to win games. You obviously don't want to go 0-2, but the thought of grabbing one on the road here and then going back to St. Louis is something we should embrace here as a group. And I think we will."

Instead of "chucking" pucks, or basically throwing them away, Perron said the Blues have to "play more back of the net for sure. Just simple things. But with their speed, the way they get going, they’re D, you can barely get going on the forecheck and they’re starting to go the other way right away. So we have to be extremely smart with the puck, hang onto it a little bit more. Chip away at their bodies a little bit more on our forecheck, making sure that slows them down. That’s going to help our D, being able to get up on the forecheck as well. And same thing on the back. We’re going to have better numbers, better everything, and that should create more offensive zone chances as well."

- - -

In sticking with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, Berube and the coaches considered going back to the standard 12/6, but with Scott Perunovich doing a good job quarterbacking that top power play unit in the absence of Torey Krug, Berube decided against it. And Berube hasn't minded Perunovich on the defensive side despite not playing much since he injured his left wrist Jan. 15.

"I think he’s held his own," Berube said. "When you dress seven D, them guys, they don’t get a ton of time and last game, with only one power play, he obviously got less time. But I think that he’s played fine."

It also limited the time of fourth-line wing Alexei Toropchenko, but with his ability to drive the puck wide and attack the net with speed and a relentless forecheck, the though of moving the big Russian up in the lineup has been considered.

"Yeah, I have. I could use him more," Berube said. "That’s one area I think I can use more of is 'Torp'. His skating, his size, he’s a good defensive player and he’s on the right side of things, so definitely get him involved more.

"He’s done a real good job for us. Him playing down the stretch for us in a number of games in a row and certain situations, I’ve moved him around and used him up with O’Reilly and Perron at times, and he’s comfortable with all of that."

- - -

Defenseman Marco Scandella practiced again Thursday but will not due to a lower-body injury.

Scandella, who last played in Game 4 of the first round against the Minnesota Wild, was initially injured in this building in the final road game April 25 when he took a knee-on-knee collision with Nico Sturm.

"He's out there skating with us," Berube said. "He's going to have to make a decision at some point when he thinks he's ready to play and he'll play. He made that decision before and he obviously wasn't well enough to play and he tried. That’s what they do. So I don't think he wants to go down that road again, where he puts himself in that position but then can't finish."

As for Krug, who hasn't played since he sustained a lower-body injury of his own midway through the first period of Game 3 against the Wild, he's not even skating, so highly unlikely he plays in this series.

- - - 

The Blues' projected lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou

Ivan Barbashev-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko

Alexei Toropchenko-Tyler Bozak

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Calle Rosen-Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo

Scott Perunovich

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Logan Brown, Nathan Walker and Steven Santini. Torey Krug (lower body) and Marco Scandella (lower body) are out.

- - -

The Avalanche's projected lineup:

Valeri Nichushkin-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen

Gabriel Landeskog-Nazem Kadri-Artturi Lehkonen

Andre Burakovsky-J.T. Compher-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Darren Helm-Nico Sturm-Andrew Cogliano 

Devon Toews-Cale Makar

Samuel Girard-Josh Manson

Bowen Byram-Erik Johnson

Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; Pavel Francouz will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Jack Johnson, Alex Newhook, Ryan Murray, Logan O'Connor, Kurtis MacDermid, Hunter Miska and Justus Annunen. The Avalanche report no injuries.

For Blues to rebound in Game 2, puck play will need to drastically be better

Schenn said Blues "chucked too many pucks away" enabling Avalanche 

to control pace, play throughout a 3-2 win for Colorado in OT of Game 1

By LOU KORAC
DENVER -- It was a simple and succinct assessment from Brayden Schenn when asked about his thoughts about Tuesday's Game 1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Second Round.

"I liked our goaltending, that's about it," Schenn said Wednesday. 

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Brayden Schenn (10) and the Blues will have to be better in Game 2 of their

second round series against Valeri Nichushkin (13) and the Avalanche.

"But I think from a team perspective, guys need to be a whole lot better," Schenn went on to say. "The skaters out there, we know we have to be better in front of him."

Undoubtedly.

It was a one-shot game that came down to overtime, thanks to Jordan Binnington's heroism with a career-high 51 saves, but needless to say, the Blues know it came down to a plethora of ingredients needed to enhance their chances of evening the series on Thursday or even extending it further.

"I think from just defending, last night we chucked too many pucks away, flipped too many pucks out and then you kind of let them keep on coming at you," Schenn said. "That's one way to defend is make better puck plays and you have the puck more, make them defend. I don't think we did enough of that last night, not at all. We know we've got to be a whole lot better with the puck. They come fast at you, they don't give you much time and space but that means the players out there have to be in good support for one another to support each other and gives you an option to make a play."

The Blues, outshot 54-25 in the game, were better in Periods 1 and 3 when they didn't have the long line changes in regards to throwing pucks away. Shots were 22-16 Colorado in Periods 1 and 3, 32-9 in Periods 2 and overtime, including 13-0 in overtime.

"Second period and overtime for sure," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "First period and third period were pretty good. 

"Executing, and composure with the puck and wanting to make a play more than anything. There's always adjustments and things we can do. We'll look at those tomorrow and show our team and things like that, but it boils down to wanting to make a play and using your feet a little bit more and more composure, and being connected. You can't be spread out, especially against this team."

"That was an issue last night with just our puck play," Schenn said. "You throw out pucks, you chuck pucks away, guys aren't able to get off. Obviously with the altitude and stuff like that, guys get tired and all of the sudden they keep coming at you. We got caught in a three-quarter ice game for probably 15 minutes of that second period and you can't do that against a good team like that."

The Blues will have to especially ramp up their forechecking game. It was too easy and methodical for the Avalanche to retrieve pucks and transition them. 

"It starts with the forecheck, 100 percent," Berube said. "Our forecheck was not very good last night. We didn't get numbers in there, we didn't stall pucks and when you don't do that, their D are up the ice and they're up the ice quickly.

"It was probably a little bit on our heels at times, too cautious. You've got to be aggressive still. You've got to be smart, but you've got to be aggressive. You can't sit back. They're going to go right through you.

"You play in our end and you just punt the puck out of the zone and they just look to quick-up it right away. You can't get people off the ice or if they are trying to change in the neutral zone, they catch you and they three-quarter ice you. That's the bottom line. They did that in the second and the overtime. It cost us the hockey game."

The Blues are going to need more from their top-end players, especially on the offensive side. 

Ryan O'Reilly (nine points on six goals, three assists) and David Perron (nine points on five goals, four assists) are doing a lot of the heavy lifting offensively, and Vladimir Tarasenko (five goals, one assist) has contributed although he had a hat trick in Game 5 at Minnesota, but they need more from Schenn (zero goals with four assists), Pavel Buchnevich (also no goals with four assists), Brandon Saad (one goal, two assists) and Robert Thomas (three assists) in seven games just isn't going to cut it.

It's why Berube is considering moving guys around to get some production and going to the customary 12 forwards/six defensemen as opposed to the 11/7 the Blues have been running out since Game 4 of the opening round.

"If you don't play in the offensive zone against them and you don't possess pucks and make them defend, you're going to be in your end all night like we were last night," Berube said. "... We have to play more as a team. We didn't last night. We were too spread out, we weren't connected and when we are connected and we're playing as a team, we're a pretty damn good team. We've shown that, okay. We're a hard offensive team. We forecheck hard, we possess pucks in the offensive zone, we compete on them, and that's what makes us a good team, and that's what I see we need to do."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Vladimir Tarasenko (91) has five goals in seven playoff games for the Blues

but will need to step up more against Cale Makar (8) and the Avalanche.

As for Binnington, who is 3-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average and .944 save percentage since he took over for Ville Husso starting with Game 4 of the first round against the Minnesota Wild, the Blues are getting the goaltending needed to succeed. 

"We know we're going to have to chip away all series long, and we're going to have to respond in Game 2," Binnington said. "... We're in the second round of the playoffs and this is where you want to be, right, out there competing. Like I said, it's going to be a long series. Not happy with that outcome, so we're going to have to respond here in Game 2."