Ducks At Blues Preview: Blues Need To Avoid Four Game Losing Streak

Ed Szczepanski-US PRESSWIRE

Remember when a win on home ice under Ken Hitchcock was a sure-fire thing for the Blues? Yeah, I do too. Good times.

Ken Hitchcock wasn't happy with the Blues after their 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, telling Jeremy Rutherford of the Post-Dispatch:

"It's based on attitude and concepts. It's not the loss that bothers most experienced coaches. It's the process of building a team. And when you don't look like a team, most experienced coaches, it really bothers us. That's what I'm troubled by. I'm troubled by the fact that we don't act and behave as a team like we need to be. We have some adversity and then we go off on our own.

"That's what I told the players today. That's not winning hockey. Staying with the program, staying on the same time clock is really important long-term if you want to be a good team. We get down a couple of goals and we become a high-wire act. That's not going to cut it."

You really can't argue with that. The team suffers from individual agendas sometimes, and we've seen that against Nashville and we saw that against Detroit. Teams can't do that. Stop trying to be the guy who scores when there's an open lane for a pass and a sure-fire goal for someone else. Stop taking stupid and selfish penalties when you're frustrated, since everyone and their mother knows that the Blues' penalty kill isn't up to snuff this season. Follow Vladimir Tarasenko's lead -- if something is good for the team, bust your ass and do it.

No being out of position for a hit anymore, third defensive pairing. No more standing about when you could be trying, Chris Stewart. Sucks when people call you out as individuals, doesn't it, David Perron? Then stop playing as individuals and start playing as a team.

It'd be a lot better to hear this in reference to a loss: "they played like crap." Well put, Coach Boudreau. Why? Because it was collective. It's not a people problem, it's a team issue, and that's how it should be.

Goalies'll be Brian Elliott and Viktor Fasth. Jonas Hiller got pulled after suffering a lower-body injury in the Ducks' 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Do the Blues absolutely positively have to win this game? Not really, because there are 37 more after this one. But I think for the health of the season that snapping this streak of terrible play now wouldn't be a half bad idea.

Puck drop is at 7:00. Let's do this.

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