ST. LOUIS -- What's best for teams around the NHL isn't necessarily best for the St. Louis Blues.
It's understandable when chasing the game, Blues coach Craig Berube will put his top guys on a line together to try and catch back up. But for the Blues' success, balance is key.
It's looked good the past two games in wins against New Jersey (4-1) and Montreal (6-3) that saw the Blues' offense finally break out and put them over .500 at 5-4-1.
It's been two-fold as for the reasons why.
First, the line changes have taken affect well for now.
Berube tried to play Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou early together, but like the rest of the offense, it wasn't working. At least not now.
But by putting Kyrou with Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad and putting Kasperi Kapanen with Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich, it's seemed to give the Blues that balance they need.
"It's more balanced for sure," Berube said. "Definitely more balance. You look at those two lines, there's a couple hard workers on each line, getting in there, getting on pucks, forechecking, things like that.
"It's not that Thomas and Kyrou didn't work. It's worked in the past. They've had opportunities. We just didn't score so I mixed it up."
Berube typically has a pretty good pulse for when things need to be changed up. He's even tinkered with the bottom pairs, moving Alexey Toropchenko to the third line with Kevin Hayes and Jakub Vrana, and moving Sammy Blais down to a checking line with Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Neighbours.
"It's all about the feel and who's played well with who and you try different things," Schenn said Monday. "Wins and losses, there's a lot of stuff that goes into it. Chief's a guy that's not afraid to switch a line. You've got to try and find something that works and score some goals. As 12-man forward group up front, we did a good job on the weekend."
The Blues won this past weekend with everyone contributing, and everyone buying in. They certainly did that.
"Chances were there (previously)," said Thomas, who has scored in three straight games. "I think we're a team that we're not going to win with one line, we're not going to win with two lines. We need all four. We need all our 'D' contributing. We need everyone working together. That's what we've had the last two (games) and that's why we've had success."
They've also had the success because the Blues have turned up the heat, playing quicker, faster and with more of a furious, aggressive pace.
It's helped lead to 10 goals in two games.
"We're playing aggressive, we're playing fast, we're playing smart," said Kyrou, who had a goal and two assists against the Canadiens. "You get chances when all that happens.
"Our worth ethic, we're supporting each other, playing for each other. We're playing fast, we're playing quick, we're making plays. "
Teams like the Devils and Canadiens that like to play off the rush typically see opponents back away and allow them the real estate to skate. The Blues didn't and in turn, threw their timing off and put pucks back against those opponents making them defend more than they wanted.
For many stretches in the early season, the Blues haven't been playing with the puck enough, which means they're not shooting it enough, and that's one aspect that's changed with 35 shots on goal in three of the past five games.
"It starts with our forecheck with two men getting in there more aggressively, putting pressure on them and our 'D' getting up with good gaps and keeping pucks alive on that wall, creates turnovers," Berube said. "Any d-man that knows when you're coming hard with two guys, it's tough, it's tough on the D. We're trying to initiate there a little bit more and we're doing a better job of it. Now we're getting the puck more. I think we're doing a much better job of moving in the offensive zone and not standing still so much and winning those battles more.
Jordan Kyrou (left) and the Blues seemed to have found a good formula for winning in weekend wins against New Jersey and Montreal."Maybe tentative and thinking too much (early in the season) and not just playing and going. It feels like they're a little bit more freed up. ... In general, players want to go. They want to pressure and we want pressure. There's times where you've got to be a little more passive and smarter, but for the most part, we want to go."
And in getting more zone time and shots, the forwards are involving the defense more.
"They're making those plays low to high a lot quicker," Berube said. "These teams, they get three people in there right away and they swarm you out like we want to, too. It's tough then, right? When you get those puck touches, you want to get them low to high as quickly as possible so you can spread it out."
The task gets taller this week with two more home games against Winnipeg on Tuesday and Arizona on Thursday, then a return trip to Colorado on Saturday, all teams the Blues have lost to this season.
But the difference right now, "I think all four lines are playing great right now," Kyrou said.
* NOTE: Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich was the line player not on the ice Monday, what Berube said was "personal reasons" and will be back with the team on Tuesday.
Perunovich returned to his hometown of Hibbing, Minn. to attend the memorial service of Adam Johnson, the hockey player tragically killed in England after an opposing player's skate cut his neck during a game playing for the Nottingham Panthers.
Johnson was also from Hibbing and played in college for the University of Minnesota Duluth, Perunovich's alma mater.
