Berube returns, will likely get thunderous ovation from fans; St. Louis looking to end three-game skid
ST. LOUIS -- There will be no doubt the kind of ovation that former St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube will receive tonight.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs (6-4-1) and Blues (5-6-0) drop the puck at 6 p.m. (FDSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM), it will mark the first visit by Berube to coach against his former team since being fired Dec. 12, 2023.
When the first television time out commences, it will be video tribute time, and the appreciation by Blues fans acknowledging the only coach to lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup inn 2019 will be will be loud, and it will be thunderous.
And in traditional Berube fashion, he downplayed it.
"I'm not sure," Berube said on what he's expecting. "I don't really think about that stuff. I'm focused on the game.
"It's special. It really is. I don't look for that stuff and I don't expect it. It's a special thing, it really is. It means a lot."
But make no mistake, it means a lot to the 58-year old who was 206-144-32 in 382 regular-season games over six seasons.
"(Means) a lot," Berube said. "I'm looking forward to the game tonight. I got in town last night and spent time with people and friends and things like that so it was nice.
"A lot of good things happened here. We had a good run here. The teammates, the organization, the players, the trainers. I'm close with all those guys. A lot of goods memories.
"I felt like I wanted to go into the other room and say hi to some people, but I didn't. It kind of felt like it a little bit.
Berube spent time at some of his favorite spots, including Cafe Napoli in Clayton and O.B. Clark in Brentwood. But he wasn't able to get to another one of his favorite eateries: Paul Manno's Restaurant in Chesterfield.
"I didn't make it over there," Berube said. "Unfortunately, because I do like that spot a lot."
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The Blues will look to end their three-game losing streak tonight and do so against the team they last beat: the Leafs, 5-1 on Oct. 24.
They've been outscored 15-4 since in losses to the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers.
The win against the Leafs was arguably their most complete effort of the season.
"I think just commitment from shift to shift on doing the right things," Blues coach Drew Bannister said. "I thought we managed the game well in that game. We kept them to the outside. There was probably maybe a little frustration on their part not being able to penetrate inside in coverage. Their power play wasn't able to convert, but they had some opportunities. That's something that we have to be aware of, certainly tonight, to make sure we're very disciplined in the way we play."
Even in a 2-1 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers in Thursday, the Blues felt they were good in the game and would like to build off the things they did right in that game.
"I thought we were good in Philly," Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. "I thought we had looks and didn't capitalize on some of them. You're in a tight game right until the end and at the end of the day, that's what you want to be a part of. To let one in with three minutes left in the game, that's tough. I thought after the two games we had in Montreal and Ottawa, we came out hard in Philly, got back to that mindset of just being hard to play against, being simple and playing in our structure. Even though we didn't get the result we wanted, I thought it was a step back in the right direction."
But with the lack of scoring of late, Bannister said the mistakes the Blues are making seem to be magnified.
"The mistakes, they seem to be amplified right now and we're kind of fighting an upward battle," Bannister said. "For us, I liked our game [Thursday]. I thought our competitive level was much higher than it was in the previous two. I thought defensively, we did a real good job. We made two mistakes and it winds up in the back of our net and that's where we're at right now. We have to be able to fight through that and make sure we're managing the game in those situations so they don't happen."
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Brandon Saad-Pavel Buchnevich-Jake Neighbours
Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Alexandre Texier-Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Zack Bolduc
Ryan Suter-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
P. O. Joseph-Matthew Kessel
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
The healthy scratch includes Scott Perunovich. Robert Thomas (ankle), Nick Leddy (lower body), Mathieu Joseph (lower body) and Kasperi Kapanen (upper body) are all out.
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Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander
Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Pontus Holmberg
Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves
Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins
Joseph Woll will start in goal; Anthony Stolarz will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Philippe Myers, Matt Benning and Nicholas Robertson. Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Connor Dewar (upper body), Jani Hakanpaa (lower body) and Dakota Mermis (upper body) are all out.
