The St. Louis Blues returned to Southern California this week for their first Anaheim-Los Angeles swing since mid-October, a pair of games in which they were outscored 9-2 two weeks before Davis Payne was fired as head coach.
After Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Ducks in which they failed to protect three leads, followed by Thursday's physical 1-0 shootout loss to the Kings, there may be some reasons to temper some of the highest projections for the President's Trophy contenders before they get some of their road issues sorted out. Though backed by a voracious forecheck and one of the most bought-in teams since November, the Blues are just 17-16-5 away from the Scottrade Center and have won once in their last five games, never mind a strong effort in Los Angeles.
"We're soft in our own zone, soft with the puck. We've been doing this for a little while and paying the price now," Ken Hitchcock said after the loss in Anaheim, the fifth stop on a season-long seven-game bi-coastal road trip they'll conclude on Sunday in Phoenix (9 p.m. ET/FOX Sports Midwest/FOX Sports Arizona).
While there have been recent bouts with inconsistency in the largest challenge the team has faced under Hitchcock, there's still substantial optimism projected in the present and near future as the team is expected to re-introduce Alex Steen, Matt D'Agostini and Andy McDonald to the lineup before the start of playoffs. Those additions will force some line shuffling within a group of players who have earned their minutes and have executed their roles well under their head coach.
"I try to not dream about the guys that are out," Hitchcock said. "If they all came in together one day, it'd be great. We'd find a way for it to work. I just don't think at this time of the year that you can have enough good players. I think the game changes maybe in the third and fourth lines, but if we were able to get some of these guys in sometime before the end of the year, I think the decision is how many minutes they can give us, quality-wise, and ‘can they make us deep?'"
The locker room has also gotten younger and more crowded in the past week, as former Colorado College star and two-time Canadian World Junior participant Jaden Schwartz signed an entry level contract on March 12. The 19-year-old selected 14th overall in 2010 scored on the first two shots he took in the NHL before shooting wide in his first shootout attempt Thursday against the Kings. Schwartz looks to add to the roster competition on a team already boasting one of the league's stronger work ethics. He has two goals in three games.
"It's different. I've never done it before," Schwartz said about joining a top-of-the-standings team so late in the season. "The team's doing so well, they've got a lot of good players, I just feel lucky and fortunate and honored to be a part of it. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can and have fun and just contribute whenever I can."
Only the Kings and Rangers are within a half a goal of St. Louis' 1.85 goals allowed per game, one of several defensive statistics they lead the league in, including shutouts (13), and average shots allowed (26.4). The forwards have improved their puck pursuit and 200-feet play, as articulated by leading scorer T.J. Oshie in a discussion about differences from previous Blues teams.
"I think I've taken more pride in the way I get offensive chances, which is off the forecheck," Oshie said. "It's off stripping guys of pucks, it's not off making the pretty play at the blue line."
It's an adherence to responsible habits Hitchcock would like to see a return to.
"I've said this before — whatever you are in March, if you think you can dial it up in April when it counts, you're wrong. Because you've got holes in March, you've got holes in April," Hitchcock said.
"For us, we've pounded the drum for two weeks now on better puck management. We're still not where we want to be in puck management."
They'll face another desperate team Sunday in the desert before returning home for four of their final six games. St. Louis has scored 34 more goals at home than on the road this season despite playing in one fewer game.
"We all played together," goalie Brian Elliott said after the narrow loss in LA. "We played for each other for a full 60 minutes. We just have to build on that and we'll get our scoring chances that we'll start to bury again."
BÄR TRACKS
Nineteen-year-old Swiss forward Sven Bärtschi (pronounced: BEAR-chee) was returned to the Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks earlier this week after his emergency call-up to the Calgary Flames resulted in three goals in four games and plenty of additional hype surrounding a teenager selected 13th overall in 2011.
It was quite the surprise the Langenthal native received after busing eight hours up to Kamloops, British Columbia the day before as he looked to continue his two-point-a-game-pace for Portland.
Instead, he was skating alongside Greg Nemisz and Tom Kostopolous while helping Calgary stay afloat during a late-season game with playoff intensity.
"You can't really believe it because it happened so quick," Bärtschi told the Portland Tribune. "To just get a call that said, ‘You have to come down to Calgary, have one practice and play a game,' I was just kind of in shock. It's something you dream of. It was very special there."
Immediate production backed by the scorching pace at which he operated in juniors has Calgary salivating over the thought of injecting his youth and skill into one of the league's most senior teams.
"We are extremely pleased with the way he played during this brief recall," Flames general manager Jay Feaster told The Tribune, "and now we want him to pick up where he left off in the WHL."
He is the third high-profile Swiss player to play for Portland in the last three years, having skated with Islanders forward Nino Niederreiter during the 2010-11 season.
Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa was traded to Portland during the 2009-10 season and missed Bärtschi by one season but had seen enough during informal on-ice sessions to comprehend the level of skill he possessed.
"I know him pretty well," Sbisa said. "I never played with him, but I know him from summer camps and stuff back home. He's an amazing player."
"I skated with him this past summer, and I felt like the guy had all the skills to be a good NHL player right away. I knew maybe the only issue he has right now is his size. That's why I think they sent him back to juniors. But he's too good for juniors right now. . . . He showed in those few games he was up here he can play right now."
Bärtschi and the Winterhawks will look to improve upon their conference championship from last season when they host the Kelowna Rockets in a best-of-seven first round playoff series that begins Friday.
GOALIEWOOD
Jonathan Bernier is once again free to wear his Hollywood sign-adorned helmet in all its glory.
A stick tap goes out to John Hoven at Mayor's Manor, a Kings blog, for speeding up the resolution of the trademark infringement issue stemming from the depiction of the Hollywood sign on the goaltender's mask. It was reported that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce was going to seek a licensing fee from Bernier if he didn't remove the depiction.
Having contacted Christine Sovich of Global Icons, the agency that represents the trust that oversees the Hollywood sign, Hoven was able to gain information on what basically became a non-issue as soon as Global Icons learned the details of the case, as presented by Hoven as well as several dozen Kings fans who had sent in emails.
"This has now been brought to my attention and we've looked into it further," Sovich said to Hoven. "The Chamber has no objection to the use of it in that nature. Therefore, a letter has already gone out . . . that we apologize for the inconvenience of the original letter. The Chamber has no objection to the use. He can continue to use it that way."
At least this minor incident brings some deserved recognition to a goaltender who has provided quality minutes in relief of Vezina Trophy candidate Jonathan Quick. Despite only eight appearances dating back to Dec. 29, Bernier has posted a .939 save percentage and 1.58 goals against average, numbers that are unsurprising coming from the most highly touted goaltender of the 2006 NHL Draft.
GAME OF THE WEEKEND
Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks
7:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, United Center
The Blackhawks received a late-season gift from the schedule makers and will have been off for three days when they welcome the Predators, who hosted Winnipeg the night before, to United Center on Sunday. With a 9-1-1 record in its last 11 games (Corey Crawford has five straight wins), Chicago has been playing tight defensively and will have to weather its 16th consecutive game without captain Jonathan Toews and its first without Duncan Keith. The road-weary Predators will be appearing in their seventh different city in two weeks but will be looking to find some energy in the first game of a quick three-game sprint to face Central Division foes on the road. Locked in a nearly airtight bubble with Detroit and Chicago, any points Nashville leaves on the table at this point of the season greatly reduces its chances of earning home ice advantage in a first round series against one of its equals.
