Blues give younger players long, hard look in 4-3 OT loss against Stars

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- It was perhaps one last chance for some of the younger St. Louis Blues to leave a lasting impression on a coaching staff that has some important decisions to make as far as their immediate futures are concerned.

Saturday's game against the Dallas Stars at Cable Dahmer Arena, home of the Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL, proved to be a good lesson on one hand, and a hard, valuable one in the end.

There were a number of younger players in the Blues' lineup in the game and performed well at times, but when push came to shove, the Stars offered a valuable lesson that this league is not as easy, overcoming a two-goal third-period deficit before winning 4-3 in overtime.

The Blues (2-1-2 in the preseason) inserted Zachary Bolduc and Zach Dean in the lineup for the third time this preseason, and both played well; defensemen Matthew Kessel and Leo Loof had their moments where they looked really good, but like many of their teammates in the third period, succumbed to the pressure in learning lessons.

Forward Keean Washkurak and the Bitten brothers, Will and Sam, got valuable minutes; Hugh McGing had a strong game, throwing his hat into the mix, and Mathias Laferriere and defenseman Tyler Tucker got into the game.

Bolduc scored his first preseason goal in his bid to make the opening night roster and continues to build good chemistry playing with Dean, who along with McGing made a nice play at the blue line to set Bolduc up for a one-timer at 13:07 of the first period to give the Blues a 3-1 lead, coincidentally the last goal of the night for St. Louis.

Blues coach Craig Berube has been looking for Bolduc to play on the interior more and it was evident in this game he's getting the message.

"I've been doing a bit more, but I still have to do it more if I want to create more offense for sure," Bolduc said. "I'm happy with the way I played, but it's tough leading a game 3-1 and come off the ice with a loss. I think we played two solid periods and in the third one, we've got to fix that.

"[Dean's] a really good player. I played against him four years in the Q. He's an awesome player, awesome person. I feel lucky to play with him."

Assistant coach Steve Ott liked the duo.

"I really liked Dean and Bolduc," Ott said. "I thought they were very consistent throughout the night, strong puck plays. 'Boldy' looked to be a shooter all the time, which is great, and his details continue to improve. Both those guys were on pucks and we saw some great things from them. They continue to grow through training camp."

Kessel, who came up and played in two games last season, skated with Loof on one d-pair, and the duo were thrust into key situations.

"Every time you can get a chance to play in a preseason game like this, it's definitely an opportunity," Kessel said after being a plus-2 in the game. "Everyone's watching you and you just try to play your game. Anything can happen. There's always spots open if you're playing the way they like. Every chance is a good opportunity.

"It's definitely a game I can take some things away from, but yeah definitely a good learning experience and that's all I can ask for and just keep growing every day."

Ott said, "'Kess' is a big body. I thought he was physical, closed out a lot of good pucks. He's very steady back there. There's a little bit to improve and we're going to keep building him as well.

"He has a lot of great swing-ins and closes out plays with his long stick and he's physical as well. He's a player that likes to play tight in his d-zone, I thought he did a tremendous job closing out plays. He's continued to push his own envelope to get better throughout camp."

Kessel had an assist on Brayden Schenn's second goal of the game, quickly taking a puck and wristing it to the net knowing Schenn was in a scoring position in front to tip a puck home at 4:19 to give the Blues a 2-1 lead.

"It's definitely always a good first look to put it to the net, but I was up in the play a little bit there and I think [Brandon] Saad gave it back to me and I saw a lane with 'Schenner' going to the net and he had a very nice tip on it," Kessel said.

Loof, who was plus-1, also was a beneficiary of also having a puck at the point and getting it to the front with a shot that created a rebound for Schenn to score at 1:04 of the first.

But there were learning lessons, especially knowing how to close games out.

"They came with some speed and we should have managed that a little better," Kessel said. "We've got to be able to bear down, especially when they're coming, we've got to be able to settle in and take what they're bringing and then be able to transfer it in their end too."

"I think we were on our heels a bit," Bolduc said. "I think we were too confident and we let them play. At the end of the third period, we were putting the puck deep and working hard, so that was good for us. I think we should have done that more in the third period.

"For most of us, it's our last game to show what we can do and what we deserve in the league. We've got to practice hard, play hard and keep going."

Through hard lessons are learning lessons, and the Blues can definitely show these young guys that through Saturday's video. And it may not have looked like it, but goalie Colten Ellis, who relieved Jordan Binnington for the third period and OT, was very sharp, and according to Schenn, was "hung out to dry" by his teammates.

"You've got to play with the lead the right way," Ott said. "That's getting through the neutral zone, putting the pucks in deep, obviously establishing a forecheck three-quartering the ice on them. I thought Dallas did that to us and we didn't have a response to it.

"You're giving them great opportunities playing up the lineup in certain situations. If it's power play, if it's penalty kill, all that gained experience from training camp has really built these guys. A lot of them, you just continue to see that growth pattern and that foundation gets a little stronger."