BLUES “You saw the game. We can’t play like this… It’s unacceptable and we should fix it.”
Those were the words of Vladimir Tarasenko after the St. Louis Blues lost 7-4 to the Montreal Canadiens at home on Saturday. It was the Blues’ fourth consecutive loss after beginning the season 3-0.
The team finally found some offense – the Blues’ previous three games featured only a combined three goals – but Jordan Kyrou scored twice, Noel Acciari recorded his first as a Blue, and Tarasenko scored his third of the season, but defensive struggles ensured that four goals wasn’t enough against the Canadiens.
“We’re not simple right now,” Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said. “We complicate things. It was a good first period, I thought, and from then on, like in the second, we’ve got complete control in my opinion and then we let it slip away.”
The Blues will still be without forward Brandon Saad (upper-body) for Monday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Kings. Berube said after a team practice Sunday that Saad was still “a ways away.”
KINGS The Los Angeles Kings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Saturday to complete a three-game homestand (2-1-0) at Crypto.com Arena in LA.
The team is .500 to begin the 2022-23 season, going 5-5 in its first 10 games. The Kings’ 10 points ranks fifth in the Pacific Division.
The Kings are looking to build on last season’s performance, which saw a third place finish in the Pacific and an appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Los Angeles acquired forward Kevin Fiala from the Minnesota Wild in June and signed him to a seven-year contract. Fiala had a career-high 85 points (33 goals, 52 assists) with Minnesota last season.
Other things have remained the same…Anze Kopitar still serves as the Kings’ captain and continues to perform at a high level, defenseman Drew Doughty is back after an injury-plagued season and Jonathan Quick has gotten the majority of the starts between the pipes, playing seven games compared to Cal Petersen’s four.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 2-0-1 against the Kings last season, winning both games at Enterprise Center. The Blues are 4-1-2 in their last seven games against Los Angeles at home and have not allowed a power-play goal to the Kings in the last four meetings overall, going 13-for-13.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Jordan Kyrou, who had a slow start to the season but managed to light the lamp twice on Saturday against Montreal. Kyrou posted a career-high in goals (27), assists (48) and points (75) last season.
KINGS Gabriel Vilardi, who has points in three straight games for Los Angeles. Vilardi leads the Kings in points (11) and goals (seven).
BLUE NOTES
Vladimir Tarasenko is set to play in his 614th game with the Blues on Monday, moving ahead of Al MacInnis and into a tie with Barclay Plager for 12th on the all-time franchise list… The Blues did not allow a power-play goal through the first five games of the season, their longest streak to open a season in franchise history… The Blues are 3-2-0 when scoring first… The team’s power play has scored in five of its seven games this season.
