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COLUMN: Blues respond to blowout loss with win over Chicago
Friday afternoon’s 8-3 loss was nothing short of a beatdown for the St. Louis Blues.
The Nashville Predators cruised by their Central Division rival behind a four-goal second period.
The mood in the locker room after St. Louis was bleak, but they felt they could respond.
“I think sometimes we just don’t stick with the game plan,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “We get away from it when we get behind and there’s no reason for
it. The game plan will work.”
Whatever the game plan was heading into Sunday’s contest with the rival Chicago Blackhawks, worked.
The Blues cruised by the struggling Blackhawks who were without Taylor Hall and Corey Perry.
St. Louis scored two goals in just over two minutes when Jake Neighbours scored his sixth of the year and Kevin Hayes picked up his fourth.
Chicago would get a goal back courtesy of Ryan Donato but Pavel Buchnevich quickly restored the two-goal lead to give the Blues a 3-1 lead after the first period
of play.
For the Blues, this type of response was crucial. November has been a relatively successful month for them but as November closes, a spiral would have been
demoralizing.
What could have made it more demoralizing was a loss to their longtime rival Blackhawks.
Neighbours added his second of the game in the third period to make it 4-1 Blues on the way to a 4-2 win.
Up next for the Blues is a road matchup with the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
In order to keep the train on the rails in the State of Hockey, the Blues will need to stick to Berube’s game plan and the defensive system implemented by assistant
coach Mike Weber.
“It’s when you try and overplay stuff that the middle opens,” Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said following Friday’s loss. “It’s not a systems issue.”
The Blues will close out the month of November at 7 p.m. on Thursday when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to town.