Blues found their foundation to build with win

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Now comes the real test for the Blues.

Finally shedding that ginormous gorilla firmly implanted on their backs following a franchise-record eight-game losing streak in regulation when they defeated the San Jose Sharks, 5-3, on Thursday at Enterprise Center, the first piece of the building block is always the toughest to start with.

Now that they have accomplished that to improve to 4-8-0 on the season, climbing those steps becomes the challenge.

And going against the hottest team in the league in the Vegas Golden Knights (13-2-0), who have won nine in a row and sit atop the league standings, will certainly grab anyone's attention. If the Blues want to build, might as well do so against some of the league's best.

"Yeah, I think it's great for us," coach Craig Berube said. "We're going to have to go in there and play a solid hockey game against them, just like when we went (against) Edmonton twice where you have a little fear factor because you've got (Connor) McDavid and (Leon) Draisaitl over there, you better pay attention to how you play. This will be similar. In Boston, I thought we were pretty solid and conscious of a very good team. This will be no different tomorrow.

"They're a very good team. Obviously they've been a good team for a number of years. I know they never made the playoffs last year, but it's all the same players and they're good, they're deep. They've got a real good defense back there that defend well and move the puck well. They're deep up front. They're pretty good down the middle of the ice. (Jack) Eichel makes them better there down the middle. It will be a good test for us."

And if the Blues are able to build another block towards good play and winning another game, then the defending Stanley Cup champs loom next on Monday.

"It's a great feeling, but you said this right, it's just one game out of nine that we won, but if we just keep working, I think we'll be really successful because we got Vegas and Colorado next," forward Ivan Barbashev said. "Those are top teams in the league, really good players. This is going to be a really tough challenge for us, but I think we're ready. We've still got to improve, but the mood has been really good in the locker room."

The mood Friday at practice at Centene Community Ice Center was certainly lighter, and why wouldn't it be? It had been 19 days since a Blues win.

"Yeah I think so. It was definitely a big relief to get that win," center Robert Thomas said. "You could feel it in practice, the energy and the confidence is growing in the group. Very exciting.

"The last couple games, we did a lot of good stuff, just not for the full 60 minutes. Even last night, we weren't there for the whole 60, but just the fight and to stay in the game like that when they keep tying it up. It's promising and I think you've just got to keep on going from there."

Captain Ryan O'Reilly added, "It's been a while since we felt like this actually, ended a game and felt good about it, to actually win. Winning has obviously been very rare this season, but it feels amazing. There’s still some things to clean up, we still weren’t our best, but we did improve on a lot of things. I think we stayed in it, when they did tie the game up, we didn't break, you could tell that guys just kept working, kept sticking with it. And that's what we had to do and we did it for that game and found a way to win, so a lot of good lessons in there for us and it's gonna be a tough challenge for us next game."

And what did it take to get to that point, where the team finally stuck with it and didn't veer into a bad direction?

"I think we just kind of realized that, here before, you just feel like, just every goal every time they scored, the weight would add to us, where last night I feel like it didn't," O'Reilly said. "I just felt like everyone just shifted their mindset a bit and it was just like, 'Oh, well find a way, find a way, we'll keep going, just keep our heads down, keep working,' and yeah, we got some good bounces and guys made some great plays that allowed us to find a way, so it was good."

Vegas is third in the league averaging 3.80 goals per game and No. 1 in goals against at 2.27.

"I think it's a great test for us," Thomas said. "I think it's something where everyone should be really excited for. They're both awesome teams. It'll be a really good challenge for us. I know everyone in here's really looking forward to it."

Despite the five goals scored Thursday, which matches their total the previous four games, the Blues are still last in the league at 2.33 goals per game. The law of averages would suggest Vegas has a tremendous upper hand, but what was evident against the Sharks was the Blues were building good minutes with sustained pressure in the offensive zone that was a solid building block.

"The offensive side of things, I thought we were really on the attack, working the puck down low, our forecheck and relentless work down there," Berube said. "... The game in general was coming. Boston was a good start. I liked that game for the most part, then Philly, in the first period, we could have had three goals that didn't go in. We've just got to bear down more a little bit and the goals will come.

"On the other side of things, we were a little bit nervous in the third period, I thought, and we just need to play better d-zone. We just need to kill more plays in our own zone. ... I don't know if they're nervous, but we weren't assertive in the third period is a better word. Not making plays ... keep playing. You've got to keep making plays, you've got to keep playing because if you don't, you're going to play too much in your own end, which that ended up happening in the third."