St. Louis Blues 21-22

pruman91 · Mar 25, 2022

Blues can't build on win, fall to Flyers 5-2

Blues lose again against one of the league's worst teams

www.stltoday.com

The Blues continue to have the toughest time turning a corner.
The solution to consistent play continues to lie just out of reach for the Blues, who let two points slip away against one of the surest sources of two points in the NHL, the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, who came in having lost 13 in a row on the road, a tidy 0 for 2022. After seeing the blueprint for what they needed to do in their win over Washington on Tuesday, the Blues went off script and lost to the Flyers 5-2 on Thursday before another sellout crowd at Enterprise Center that was able to head for the exits early. The Blues fell behind early 2-0 and never could get out of that hole.
This loss was not good. They are 1-2-2 in their past five, 3-5-3 in March and every time it looks like they’ve figured things out, there’s a convenient wall nearby, waiting for them to crash into.

“I think we just didn’t play our game at all,” said defenseman Justin Faulk, cutting to the chase. “The work ethic wasn’t there, the compete level and intensity wasn’t there from a lot of guys — I’m very much in that group. Didn’t have a good game by any means. But that’s just not acceptable. We’ve kind of had that. It’s been a little bit of a theme, starting slow and thinking we can score our way through in the seconds and thirds and finding ourselves back in games and then win. Sure, certainly at times that’s going to happen. To think that that’s going to continually happen and think you’re going to be at the right side of things more times than not, it’s not true. Every team in this league, whether it’s the Flyers who are out of the playoffs or a Colorado, guys are going to play hard and make it tough on you and we got what we deserved tonight.”

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Husso starts every game if I am the coach..........................................

pruman91 · Mar 25, 2022

Blues notebook: Krug out week-to-week with upper body injury

The defenseman took a hit to the left hand on Tuesday in Washington; Rosen called up from Springfield as seventh D

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
Defenseman Torey Krug will be out at least a week and maybe more with an injury to his hand or wrist sustained Tuesday in Washington.
The Blues are saying Krug is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Krug took a slash on his left hand from Washington’s Nick Jensen at the end of a power play in the second period. Krug finished his shift playing with just his right hand on his stick, dropping the puck for a teammate and then going directly to the bench and to the locker room. He did not return.

“It’s really tough,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “Valuable player for us. It is what it is but it’s a tough loss for sure. … It didn’t look like much, but obviously it is.”

“Big part of our defense,” defenseman Colton Parayko said. “I guess what we’ve done all year is next man in. Down the stretch here we’ve got a lot of games, so it’s going to be a lot of maintenance and stuff like that for us. But tough to lose Kruger, the type of player who brings a lot of value to our team and tough to see.”

pruman91 · Mar 26, 2022

Blues looking for way to put some order in an erratic season

Just when it looks like the Blues are doing well, things go south on them, and vice versa

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
Just when you think you know the 2021-22 Blues, it turns out you were sadly mistaken.
Just consider the past four weeks. An overtime loss to Montreal, the worst team in the league, didn’t bode well going into Toronto two days later, so naturally the Blues beat the Cup-contending Maple Leafs 6-3. After back-to-back losses to New Jersey and Ottawa, two regulars in the nether reaches of the NHL standings, the Blues faced Eastern Conference heavyweight the New York Rangers. Naturally, the Blues won 6-2.
A 7-4 road win against playoff contender Nashville was followed by a 4-3 overtime loss to Winnipeg. A loss to long-out-of-contention Columbus didn’t bode well going into Washington, where the Blues played a solid game almost from start to finish in a 5-2 win. That surely meant Philadelphia wouldn’t be a problem Thursday — interim Flyers coach Mike Yeo didn’t paint the rosiest of pictures about his team pregame — yet the Blues were, by their own description, embarrassed.

If all that spells trouble when the Blues on Saturday face Carolina, holders of the third-best record in the league, you haven’t been following closely.“You put that Washington game together,” Blues coach Craig Berube said, “it’s really a 60-minute, really good game in a tough building against a good opponent that’s been playing really good hockey. Then we come home and go out in the first period and don’t have much really positive out of it. Not a very good period. That’s kind of where this team’s at a little bit.”

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LETS GO BLUES

pruman91 · Mar 26, 2022

Blues notebook: Barbashev, Buchnevich get some one-on-one time with Berube after practice

The Blues coach had private sessions with the struggling forwards on ice after Friday's practice

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
When Blues practice ended on Friday at Centene Community Ice Center, Blues coach Craig Berube skated over to Ivan Barbashev as he stretched, tapped him on the butt with his stick and called him over to the boards for a conversation.
When Berube was done with Barbashev, he skated across the ice to where Pavel Buchnevich was doing some stick work and had an even longer conversation with him.
While there have been plenty of team meetings during the Blues’ present struggles, these on-ice one-on-ones are just as significant.
“That’s just part of the job,” Berube said. “Keep talking to people, trying to get to a level that’s needed to make a real good push here and then a real good push in the playoffs.”

Barbashev played a season-low — by about five minutes — 7:52 on Thursday against Philadelphia and wasn’t on the ice for the last 12:52 of the Blues’ 5-2 loss.

“We all know how’ Barbie’ can play the game with his forechecking ability and physical play,” Berube said, “and things like that drives the team. It did back then, I believe it does now. He has the capabilities of doing that and that’s what we need from him.”

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Blues next game is tonight Saturday 03/26/22 at home against the Carolina Hurricanes

whatahack · Mar 26, 2022

I think tonight's game is really important..a gut check game after the poor showing against Philly

pruman91 · Mar 26, 2022

Canes lead Blues 1-0 , scoring a shorthanded goal...................A SHORTHANDED GOAL ...........................

Blues still look lethargic and slow , falling behind again........Too many games where the opponent scores the first goal......

Frustrating team play.............reminds me of the ..................................................................................................................................................

pruman91 · Mar 26, 2022

now down 3-0

Blues on power play ice the puck........................WHAT ??

I'm done for tonight..........................................

pruman91 · Mar 26, 2022

Blues lose 7-2

Glad I turned it off when it was 3-0...
Double yuck

pruman91 · Mar 27, 2022

The Blues game last night must have been hard on more than me.....I have searched the STL Today website 3 times this morning and not found any article on the 7-2 embarrassment by the Blues last night .......

I will search once more now..............................Still no write-up on their games last night , just some photo's........

It was a bad performance , but in 20 + years of reading that website , i can't remember not seeing an article before on the next day .....

pruman91 · Mar 28, 2022

Blues lead the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 after 1......................

Blues scored the first goal tonight for a change......They are playing 1000 % better than they have in the last 3-4 games ....playing like they did against the Capitals.........husso looks very sharp in goal also ......I like that they are attacking the Canucks as they try to advance into the Blues zone and not skating backwards like the last few games......

LETS GO BLUES

pruman91 · Mar 28, 2022

Blues still lead 2-0 after 2.........................

Blues started out slow in the second period as Vancouver had the first 10 shots on goal , but then the Blues got back to their grinding style of play and finished strong for the last 10 minutes of the second period ................

Husso is playing excellently and further enhanced his position as the # 1 goalie , at least for me .........

LETS GO BLUES

whatahack · Mar 28, 2022

Need to play the 3rd period like the first

whatahack · Mar 28, 2022

Like I said...

pruman91 · Mar 28, 2022

Blues win 4-1........

best game by the Blues in a while ......great energy and Husso was a stud in goal .........

LETS GO BLUES

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Mar 28, 2022

Tarasenko got his 500th career point on an empty net goal he scored late.

They mentioned during the 1st period of the radio broadcast how he was only like the 5th player to get all those points with the Blues. Considering some of the greats that have played for the Blues over the years, it's more surprising that there aren't more players on that list.

pruman91 · Mar 29, 2022

Husso to the rescue as Blues beat Canucks 4-1

The win is just the second in the past seven games for the Blues; Tarasenko scores two

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
The Blues were looking for a game to try to snap them out of the March morass they have found themselves in.
So is their No. 1 goalie.
Both took some steps on Monday night, as Husso stopped 35 of 36 shots he faced in a 4-1 win over the Canucks at Enterprise Center. It was a significant win for the Blues, who had lost five of their previous six, as well as for Husso, who was 3-3-2 in March — including allowing five goals in two of his previous three games, including the 7-2 loss Saturday to Carolina.
Monday was the Husso the Blues saw earlier in the season.
“He’s a force back there,” said defenseman Marco Scandella. “He makes those big saves.”

“It was nice to get a win after that Carolina game,” Husso said. “It wasn’t good enough from myself and it was a good bounce back.”
The Blues still have a lot more bouncing back to do. In the constant state of flux the Central Division is in, the win bumped the Blues back into third place, one point ahead of idle Nashville, which has played one more game than the Blues. But by the time the Blues take the ice again, against the Canucks in a return meeting in Vancouver in Wednesday, they could be back in fourth again. That’s the nature of the division at this point.

pruman91 · Mar 29, 2022

Hochman: One small step for the Blues, but now they need giant leap back into division race

The whole month of March had been embarrassing, as the Blues didn’t just lose game, but their identity, too.

www.stltoday.com

OK, now do it again.
Monday was fun — the Blues played actual cohesive hockey and won a much-needed game.
But I’m not going to anoint them funk-free until they get on a little run. And that’s quite an ask, considering the daunting task of the next three games on the road. The Blues first play at Vancouver — the team they defeated 4-1 at Enterprise Center on Monday — then against the Oilers, who employ the two best players in hockey. And then finally at Calgary, the top team in its division. Oh, and it’s a back-to-back nights of games.
But the Blues are supposed to be Cup contenders, right? A Cup contender finds ways to collect points on the road.

Still, considering the Blues of late deserved boos, it was impressive to see how they came out on Monday. The losses to the Flyers and Hurricanes were abominations — combined score, 12-4. The whole month of March had been embarrassing, as the Blues didn’t just lose games, but their identity, too.

pruman91 · Mar 29, 2022

Blues notebook: With Saad behind the wheel, Leddy getting used to St. Louis

Leddy quickly logging lots of ice time with Blues; Bortuzzo gets a day off; Blues acquire a minor-league defenseman

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
Defenseman Nick Leddy has been with the Blues a week now since being acquired at the trade deadline, and he credits former teammate Brandon Saad and training partner Justin Faulk with helping the process.
“I’m joking that I’m his Uber driver it seems right now,” Saad said. “I live near him, so I’ve been riding to the rink, chatting to him about whatever he needs. Had him over for dinner once or twice. It’s been nice to see an old friend for sure.
“He’s getting settled in, I know any time you go to a new team it’s good to have guys you’re familiar with, so it’s been a good process so far.”
Leddy has logged significant ice time for the Blues since they got him from Detroit . He had more than 20 minutes of ice time in all four of his games, helped along by three-plus minutes on average on the power play in each of his first three with the team before having 2:37 in the Blues’ 4-1 victory over Vancouver on Monday night.

“He’s a pretty predictable player,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “He’s been around a long time. He doesn’t panic. He has composure out there and so far he’s done a pretty good job for us.”

pruman91 · Mar 30, 2022

Having gone back to square one, Blues now look for square two in Vancouver

Their win over Vancouver on Monday was a first step, but many more steps lie ahead as they pick up playoff run

www.stltoday.com

Tom Timmermann
One game does not a recovery make.
The Blues are the proud holders of a one-game win streak, which beats the alternative but otherwise is not indicative of being out of the woods. Only one of their previous four wins has led to another win, and the fact that those four wins are spread out over a month of hockey is an entirely different, and maybe more painful, predicament.
The Blues take their act on the road for a trip through western Canada that starts Wednesday in Vancouver and will see them play three games in four days, facing two playoff teams in Edmonton and Calgary and the aspirational Canucks, for whom every loss, like Monday’s, puts them one step closer to the brink.

“We’ve got to get ready,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “We play Vancouver again at home. It’s definitely going to be a tough game and a tough road trip. Those three teams, Edmonton’s fighting and Calgary’s a great team this year and Vancouver’s fighting. There’s no easy games.”

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The Blues are on an important 3 game road trip with games as follows :

03/30/22 @ 9 pm CT vs. Vancouver Canucks

04/01/22 @ 8 pm CT vs. Edmonton Oilers

04/02/22 @ 9 pm CT vs. Calgary Flames

LETS GO BLUES

pruman91 · Mar 31, 2022

Blues hang on for 4-3 win over Vancouver

Blues sweep season series against Canucks.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
VANCOUVER – The best cure for whatever ails the Blues this season continues to be the West. To wit, the Blues have dominated the Pacific Division, and that continued to be the case Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
After spotting the Canucks leads of 1-0 and 2-1, St. Louis kicked into gear by scoring the next three goals and then hung on in the closing minutes for a 4-3 victory and a season series sweep against the Canucks – three games to none.
“It was a good game all the way around,” said David Perron, who had two assists. “I thought (Vancouver) played a pretty good game. I don’t know how they feel over there. But they took it to us pretty good.”

Well, at least in the opening five minutes and the last five minutes. Pretty much the rest of the game belonged to the Blues.
“We played more our game, the way we want to play to be successful,” Perron said. “I felt at times that we were four lines just going one after another, doing it right.”
The head coach agreed.
“A very good effort, pretty much all game,” Craig Berube said. “I didn’t like giving that third goal up – just got a little loose in the slot area. But a solid effort by everybody tonight.”

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Great start to the 3 game road trip.........................................

LETS GO BLUES

pruman91 · Mar 31, 2022

Blues notebook: Rosen gets another look

Called up from Springfield last week, Rosen has been thrown right into playoff race.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
VANCOUVER — The quirkiest thing about the Blues’ defensive line pairings this week against Vancouver isn’t that Niko Mikkola played Monday and then was replaced Wednesday by Robert Bortuzzo.
No, it was that Calle Rosen was in the lineup for both contests against the Canucks.
If you don’t know much about Rosen, join the club.
Wednesday’s contest at Rogers Arena marked only his eighth of this season for the Blues and just his second since his latest call-up from the Blues’ Springfield (Massachusetts) affiliate in the American Hockey League.
“He’s an intelligent player,” coach Craig Berube said following Wednesday’s morning skate. “He’s got good feet, and he can move the puck. I haven’t seen him a lot. He was up here before earlier on in the season; he played well. So let’s give him another look tonight.”

The height of the playoff race seems like a strange time to get a look at players. But that’s where the Blues are. The hand/wrist injury to Torey Krug, plus the trade of Jake Walman to Detroit as part of the Nick Leddy trade, has limited the Blues’ blueline options.

pruman91 · Apr 1, 2022

Blues Notebook: Blues glad to be done with March

Even with two victories over Vancouver to close the month, team sagged in all areas in March.

www.stltoday.com

Jim Thomas
EDMONTON — Even with a couple of victories over Vancouver to soothe the discomfort, March was a month to forget for the Blues.
A team that checked all the boxes at the end of February sagged in every area in March. It wasn’t just one player or one unit. It was contagious.
For example, in the month of March the Blues got just one goal from Jordan Kyrou, two goals apiece from Brayden Schenn and Pavel Buchnevich, and three goals from Ivan Barbashev.
(Granted, Kyrou and Schenn both had lots of assists in the month — 12 by Kyrou and 11 by Schenn — but we’re talking goals here.)
In goal, Ville Husso had a 3.11 goals-against average and a save percentage of .898.

And on defense, plus-minus king Justin Faulk was minus-3 in goal differential.
As a team, the Blues ranked 23rd in goals allowed (3.58), 22nd on the penalty kill (73.7%), 17th on the power play (23.1%) and 16th in goals scored (3.29) in March. Maybe it all stems back to that pregame warmup March 2 at Madison Square Garden. Every Blues player came out on the ice without a helmet that night, with hair neatly coiffed. It was Buchnevich’s idea. Without their helmets on, perhaps some talent oozed out into the atmosphere.

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LETS GO BLUES

whatahack · Apr 1, 2022

Put a fork in Binnington

pruman91 · Apr 1, 2022

Send him down and bring up Lindgren

pruman91 · Apr 2, 2022

Blues rally after trailing 4-1, but fall in OT of game in which Binnington is yanked

Binnington gives up four quick goals

www.stltoday.com

EDMONTON, Alberta — After the Blues’ second win in three days over the Vancouver Canucks, veteran David Perron consciously pumped the breaks. The Blues needed to put together four or five consecutive wins, Perron cautioned, before they could start to feel like they had something going.
Well, they’re not there yet. Their winning “streak” ended at two games Friday at Rogers Place. With leading scorer Jordan Kyrou still out of the lineup because of illness, and Jordan Binnington struggling mightily in net, the Blues rallied from a 4-1 deficit only to lose 6-5 in overtime against the Edmonton Oilers.
At 37-20-10 and adding their 84th point, the Blues still have work to do to clinch a playoff berth. They finished their season series against Edmonton (39-25-5) going 1-1-1. They close this trip and play their final Canadian team of the regular season Saturday in Calgary.

For the Oilers, it marked their ninth straight home victory, tying a franchise record. Connor McDavid’s second goal of the evening — and 39th of the season — was the game winner, at the 1:11 mark of OT.
"Obviously not really the start we wanted, going down 4-1," said Colton Parayko, who had two assists and was plus-2. They came out hard, pressured us hard, got to the net, got pucks to the net."
And got pucks in the net.

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Binnington was awful last night as he has been for the last 4-5 games he has played...........Looks like it's Husso or bust , unless they do as I suggested and send Binner down for seasoning and bring up Charlie Lindgren , who made Blues history by winning his first 5 starts as the Blues netminder.......

JMHO