Break time is over. It's time for the St. Louis Blues to prepare for the stretch run.
After taking eight days off during the All-Star break -- except for Robert Thomas, who was the Blues' representative -- to rest, recoup and refresh the bodies, the Blues (26-21-2) begin a three-game road trip starting with a Saturday matinee, the first of back-to-back day games, against the Buffalo Sabres (22-24-4) at noon (ABC, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The Blues have 33 games remaining in the regular season, and as the day begins, they hold the second wild card from the Western Conference. But it is a logjam of teams.
The Los Angeles Kings hold the first wild card with 56 points, and starting with them, there five teams within four points of each other, and the Blues and Nashville Predators each have 54 but the Blues have two games in hand.
Giddy up!
"There's no question, our backs are up against the wall right now," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "We can't allow games that happen like Columbus to continue to happen. They can't pile up on us. Moving forward, all games are going to be important and teams are going to get tighter. It's going to be tougher to score. Defensively is going to have to be important for us, especially when we go out onto the road here not having any games under our belt coming off the break and other teams being able to play one or two games. There's not going to be any room for error for us."
The Blues were getting the job done with a season-high five wins in a row before a 1-0 clunker right before the break against the Blue Jackets, last in the Metropolitan Division that dropped the Blues' record against last-place teams to 3-4-0.
"I just think mentally last game, you're playing against those teams and you come out, it's a feel-out game," Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. "Mentally you've just got to be ready to play. We know where we're at right now. We're in a dogfight with four, five other teams to make that last playoff spot, right? Or last two anyway. Every game's important and you can't ease into it after the break. You have to come ready.
"We've played well against the good teams this whole year and for whatever reason, we just struggled against the teams below us in the standings. I think that's just a mental thing where you come out and you feel like you can ease into it and before you know it, you're down 1- or 2-0 and all of sudden, it's hard to get back into the game like that in the league like that. We'll be ready for those games. Buffalo, Montreal are below us in the standings and we have to come ready to play. You can't ease into it or feel it out just say, 'I'm going to see how the first period goes.' Just because you're coming off the bye week, you have to be ready to play instantly and if you're not, you're going to be down and it's hard to come back."
Bannister said he wanted the players to feel the lingering effects of such a poor loss, but now's the time to turn the page.
"Today it should be erased," Bannister said after practice Thursday. "We addressed it. Not with video. It's been over a week now that we played that hockey game, so we didn't address it as video, but we addressed it as a team. Those are areas of our game that we have to get better and we have to rise to the occasion obviously against a team like Columbus or any team for that matter. Those are games we have to win moving forward."
And the players know it.
"We're just trying to forget about that Columbus game," Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. "Obviously it's not something we're proud of, didn't have a great effort before the break. It would have been nice to come back with a bit of a streak, but in saying that, we were also playing some really good hockey before the break, last 10-game stretch. Getting back to that, guys are excited to be back, excited to play again and get back to winning some games.
"... It's obviously a big stretch of games. We've got to do more winning than losing if we want to get to where we want to get to and be in the playoffs and compete there this year. It's an exciting time. This is what you want as a player and as a team to play meaningful hockey down the stretch and we have that."
The Blues play the Sabres, Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon and end it against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, so they can't afford to come out of the gates lightly knowing who awaits them to end the trip.
"The games that we're going into here, these are games that we have to get points," Bannister said. "These are must games for us to one, start off the road trip the right way but certainly teams that are below us or even with us, those are games are games we have to be ready to play in from the start and put ourselves in a good position whether we're on home ice or on the road to give us success."
"Every game's huge for us," Blues forward Jordan Kyrou said. "We're in a tight race, we're in a tight division, a tight conference. Every game is legit big points for us."
It will be the difference between on the inside looking out or on the outside looking in.
"Every game is a huge game and every point matters," Blues goalie Jordan Binnington said. "Battle in these games now, learn how to win these hard games now and then later on, we'll know how to do it.
"There's a lot of teams in this league that are playoff teams. It's survival of the most resilient and relentless group. Hopefully before the break there we were building something special and we're continuing to do that.
"I think it's just being in the moment and whatever comes across our desk, handle it the best we can and we're going to have to step up. Everyone's going to have to step up in different ways and compete. We've just got to play together and help each other out there by playing predictable."
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The Blues were able to get away and help the body heal for a week or so, and a number of them took to some warmer climates before returning to St. Louis.
"Took a little trip. Took a family trip to the Bahamas," Schenn said. "There were a bunch of us that went that way. It gives you a mental reset for sure and I think guys are excited to get back now."
"It was good to get away and be (home), but it's good to be back and be here," Binnington said, who hails from Richmond Hill, Ontario, roughly 30-plus minutes north of Toronto.
It's not the usual break in which typically in the past, it's been three days and right back at it. This one was much more appreciative by the players.
"Players love it. It gives you more than the three days to get away and really go somewhere," Schenn said. "It's a long season with players and families. Obviously it's a lot of moving parts. It's a chance for us to kind of have a little reset. Players enjoy it. I think they do a good job of it too where half the league is on bye week and half still plays and still keep fans engaged. It's important to have a break like that."
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Defenseman Calle Rosen, recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Thursday, is expected to jump right into the lineup.
* Bannister confirmed that Joel Hofer will get the start against the Sabres, which means Binnington will likely get the nod Sunday in Montreal.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Jake Neighbours-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen
Brandon Saad -Kevin Hayes-Sammy Blais
Alexey Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Matthew Kessel
Marco Scandella-Calle Rosen
Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nikita Alexandrov and Tyler Tucker. Justin Faulk (lower body) and Scott Perunovich (lower body).
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The Sabres' projected lineup:
Jeff Skinner-Tage Thompson-Kyle Okposo
Zach Benson-Dylan Cozens-JJ Peterka
Jordan Greenway-Casey Mittelstadt-Alex Tuch
Zemgus Girgensons-Peyton Krebs-Eric Robinson
Rasmus Dahlin-Henri Jokiharju
Owen Power-Connor Clifton
Ryan Johnson-Erik Johnson
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start in goal; Eric Comrie will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Victor Olofsson and Jacob Bryson. Jack Quinn (lower body) and Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) are out.
