Blues drop two before finishing on a high note

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ST LOUIS, Mo – After a successful road trip to Western Canada prior to Christmas, and a poor showing on home ice proceeding, one may have thought highly about an upcoming West Coast road trip through the Golden State.  With unsuccessful stops to San Jose and Anaheim, St. Louis found themselves in quite a predicament.  Yet a solid win over a formidable foe in Los Angeles on Saturday would offer the Blues some foundation in which to build.  The Blues continued to play their opponents tight all week never once losing by more than couple points.  Despite their ill fortunes, the Blues manage to pick up three points in the standings thanks to a win and an overtime loss.
Schedule Results of the Past Week:
January 6, 2010 San Jose 2, Blues 1 OT (17-18-7) San Jose, California – The San Jose Sharks challenged St. Louis all night with constant pressure and puck movement by placing 44 shots on goal.  However, the St. Louis Blues did not back down and held their own all night against the number two team in the Western Conference.  In the final minute of the overtime period, Dany Heatley beat Chris Mason with a wrist to show the Blues how winning teams find ways to win.  Andy McDonald opened the scoring early in the second period with help from David Backes and Alexander Steen on the power play.  However, Patrick Marleau’s slap shot at the 12 minute mark of the third period would tie the game.  The Blues are now 0-1-1 under new head coach Davis Payne.
1st Period
(none)
2nd Period
06:45 STL PPG – Andy McDonald (14) – Assists: D. Backes (13) & A. Steen (8)
3rd Period
12:51 SJS PPG – Patrick Marleau (28) – Assists: D. Boyle (25) & R. Clowe (20)
Overtime Period
04:06 SJS Dany Heatley (25) – Assists: none
Goalies
StL – Chris Mason (L, 42/44)
SJS – Evgeni Nabokov (W, 28/29)
 
January 7, 2010 Anaheim 4, Blues 2 (17-19-7) Anaheim, California – Barrett Jackman scored his first two goals of the season for the Blues as they dropped their seventh game in a row.  Saku Koivu led the Ducks with two assists in the winning effort for the struggling Ducks who used the win to leap frog the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference standings.
1st Period
05:35 STL SHG – Barret Jackman (1) – Assists: J. McClement (6)
2nd Period
06:44 ANA James Wisniewski (2) – Assists: S. Eminger (3) & D. Sexton (6)
3rd Period
00:56 STL Barret Jackman (2) – Assists: D. Backes (14) & E. Brewer (4)
08:18 ANA Bobby Ryan (20) – Assists: S. Koivu (16)
17:20 ANA Matt Beleskey (2) – Assists: C. Perry (26)
19:17 ANA EN – Todd Marchant (7) – Assists: T. Bodie (1) & S. Koivu (17)
Goalies
StL – Chris Mason (L, 25/28)
ANA – Jonas Hiller (W, 20/22)
 
January 9, 2010 Blues 4, Los Angeles 3 (18-19-7) Los Angeles, California – After a miserable stint where the Blues were constantly coming up a little short, a trip to Los Angeles seemed to place them at ease.  And with St. Louis winning 4-1 midway through the third period, maybe a little too at ease as Los Angeles would score twice in the remaining ten minutes.  Jay McClement and Brad Boyes contributed two assists to the winning effort as Chris Mason made 21 saves for his twelfth win this season.
1st Period
00:14 STL Carlo Colaiacovo (5) – Assists: none
2nd Period
06:09 LAK Brandon Segal (1) – Assists: J. Stoll (18) & R. Scuderi (4)
18:54 STL David Perron (12) – Assists: J. McClement (7) & B. Boyes (20)
3rd Period
01:35 STL T.J. Oshie (8) – Assists: D. Backes (15)
05:21 STL Brandon Crombeen (2) – Assists: J. McClement (8) & B. Boyes (21)
12:19 LAK Dustin Brown (10) – Assists: D. Doughty (24) & R. Scuderi (5)
16:08 LAK PPG – Anze Kopitar (18) – Assists: D. Doughty (25) & J. Stoll (19)
Goalies
StL – Chris Mason (W, 21/24)
LAK – Jonathan Quick (L, 19/23)
LAK – Erik Ersberg (9/9)
 
Upcoming Weeks Schedule:
January 12, 2010 verse Columbus
January 14, 2010 verse Minnesota
January 17, 2010 verse New York Rangers
Team News: On Tuesday January 5, 2010, St. Louis recalled Yan Stastny and Ben Bishop from Peoria prior to their three game road trip.  Bishop has played well for the Rivermen posting a 12-6-2 record this season.  This will be his first stint with the major league club this season.
After a brief stay with the parent club, Ben Bishop was demoted back to Peoria on Friday, January 8, 2010.  The move comes out of lack of necessity as St. Louis will play one more contest against the Kings on Saturday before returning home to play Columbus next week.
After a successful World Juniors Championships and the termination of Andy Murray, many hoped the Alex Pietrangelo would step into the Blues line up.  However management decided to send Pietrangelo to his junior team in Niagara for more conditioning citing six healthy defensemen on the Blues roster and a lack of available playing opportunities at this time.  
Blues Clues: The St. Louis Blues point differential has slipped over the last few games.  For a team playing “even” hockey in the standings and on the scoring sheet, the Blues have much to improve.  St. Louis has been very good at holding most of their opponents to low scores, yet they have struggled to score on all of their opponents.  New head coach Davis Payne has his work cut out for him as he will need to jumpstart this mellow offense.
Quote of the Week: from Head Coach Davis Payne in regards to a letter left by former Head Coach Andy Murray: “I was surprised, and certainly the contents touched me. It was a classy move.  The note he left on the desk in there is something I’ll certainly cherish.”  
You may contact the author at:  John.Strathman@prohockeynews.com  

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