Their first encounter against the Edmonton Oilers proved to be a microcosm of the season for the St. Louis Blues.
Up by three goals late in the second period, the Blues were cruising until the walls caved in.
It's been that way all year. There's been the good, the bad and in the case of the teams' first meeting less than two weeks ago, just ugly.
"We haven't been able to put a stretch of games together," said Blues winger Paul Kariya. "We've won one, lost one, lost two, it's been back and forth all season long. Our power play has been horrendous all season long, we've had trouble scoring goals.
"We've gotten great goaltending, our goaltending has given us a chance to win every game, but our offensive game and our offensive players have to get going."
The Blues went into last night's game a point up on the Oilers, who sat last in the Western Conference standings. They did, however go into the contest off an impressive 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks Sunday night.
GM Larry Pleau had addressed the club prior to the contest, which seemed to provide extra motivation.
"I've been here three years and that's the first time he's come in and addressed the team," Kariya said. "Obviously we know the significance of that. He's not a man that says a lot and when he does talk, people listen."
The club has been unable to string more than two wins together this season.
And after a 6-3 loss at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pleau decided to say his piece.
"I didn't talk to Larry about speaking to the team at all, that was a decision of his," said Blues head coach Andy Murray. "But he has talked to our team before and he's talked to the Blues in the past. That's the way Larry is, he's a passionate guy.
"Larry talked to our team, and then I talked to our team about Larry's talk before the game in Vancouver and why Larry had to talk to our team after the last game. It was something that he felt was necessary. I have so much respect for him, it was just a matter of showing the team that he cared and he expected more of our team, as we did. I think it was more of his idea of saying the same things that we were saying, but it was coming from management as opposed to the coaching staff."
The biggest issue for the Blues this season has been scoring, or lack of it, especially on the power play.
They are currently ranked 29th out of 30 teams.
Despite having offensive talent, the Blues went into last night's game having scored the fewest goals in the league. David Perron and David Backes lead the team with nine goals each on the season. Five of those goals for Backes have come in the last five games. He scored a pair in the win over Vancouver.
"If I could figure David Backes out I wouldn't be a coach, I'd be investing in the stock market or something," Murray said.
"It's the same story with him every year -- you can write off the first 25 games and then he gets it going. He's a great kid, a great guy. He's going to be a great player on the silver medal U.S. team at the Olympics."
Yet despite their struggles, the Blues are still just a short winning streak away from getting back into playoff contention.
"We know we're a lot better team than (the way) we're playing right now, so it's a positive to be in the position we're in and that we can still make a run at it," Kariya said.
DEREK.VANDIEST@SUNMEDIA.CA
