Penguins dictate pace in decisive victory over exhausted Blues
ST. LOUIS -- On Saturday morning, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock warned that his team would be in trouble if it let the speedy, skilled Penguins dictate the pace of the game.
Pittsburgh proved him right from the opening faceoff, sending St. Louis to a 4-2 loss that wasn't really that close. An up-and-down game rarely favors the Blues, especially against opposing forwards such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
"When you play a team like that, that's what they want," defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. "They've got arguably two of the most skilled guys in the game. You don't want to get in a track meet with them and let them trade chances."
Fatigue from a hard-fought win over Boston the night before made it even more of a challenge for the Blues, who are at their best when they control the puck and spend sustained time in the offensive zone. Hitchcock said they looked out of sync all night and made too many errors, despite a pair of goals after many fans had already left.
It's not that St. Louis doesn't have any skilled players, and the line of Vladimir Tarasenko, Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz can be one of the league's best in transition. They showed it Saturday by creating the Blues' best chances through two periods, but backup goaltender Thomas Greiss made a solid stop against Schwartz early and the best save of the night on a one-timer from Tarasenko on a rush in the second period to maintain a 1-0 lead.
But a lack of possession once again showed up in St. Louis' offensive output, as it failed to reach 30 shots for the third straight night. Hitchcock said the support simply wasn't there and poor structure exposed some weaknesses.
"For us to win, we don't rely on individual performances," he said. "We rely on really good team play and when our team play is off a little bit, we suffer."
When that happens against an opponent with superior individual talent, the effects can be disastrous.
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• Not-so-friendly confines. Another sellout crowd couldn't bring back the decisive home-ice advantage the Blues seem to have lost since the start of February.
St. Louis still holds the second-best home record in the Western Conference at 22-7-2, but they've lost three of six since losing Kevin Shattenkirk to an abdominal injury in a 4-3 win at Washington on Feb. 1. That record could easily be worse if not for outstanding performances by Brian Elliott in a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime win over Tampa Bay and by Jake Allen in a 2-1 victory over Arizona.
The Blues have been outscored at Scottrade 15-13 during that stretch, which included two of the league's top eight teams in Chicago and Tampa Bay. But Pittsburgh had lost two straight to fall to fourth in the Metropolitan Division, and Dallas sits only three points out of last in the Central despite two wins in St. Louis this season.
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"We've just got to step up and just play with some fire, especially out of the gate, especially in our own barn, in front of our own fans," forward T.J. Oshie said. "Other teams are bringing it and we're not, so we've just got to improve in that area."
Despite their home struggles, the Blues have mostly kept rolling thanks to six wins in seven road games since the All-Star break. It might just be the perfect time for them to play 11 of 14 away from Scottrade after a visit from Montreal on Tuesday.
• Penalty issues. One night after an impressive special teams performance, penalties caused nothing but problems for the Blues.
Pittsburgh snapped a streak of 20 straight power plays without a goal in the second period, when Patric Hornqvist's shot found the net with some help from the skate of David Backes. Brandon Sutter scored just as Tarasenko came out of the box in the third period, and the Blues hardly threatened on their lone power play.
Elliott said St. Louis blocked a lot more shots the night before, when the Bruins failed to score on five power plays, including a minute of five-on-three play. Tarasenko added a power-play goal against Boston to help the Blues improve to 13-0-1 this season when they win the special teams battle.
• Porter returns. St. Louis made a new addition to its game-day lineup to replace a forward who welcomed a new addition to his family on Saturday.
Hitchcock said earlier this week Chris Porter would play for the first time since he suffered a broken ankle in late December. The decision of whom he would replace became an easy one when Steve Ott joined his wife for the birth of their son Saturday morning.
It may take a bit of time for Porter to shake off some rust, but Hitchcock expects the veteran forward to provide a much-needed boost.
"We've missed his energy," he said at the morning skate. "He's after it. He's on the puck and he's not fun to play against and that's exactly what we need right now."
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
