ST. LOUIS -- The Blues make a cameo appearance on home ice today at 7 p.m. against the Vancouver Canucks with the hopes of continuing their goal scoring binge.
The Blues (33-34-6) have been on quite the run since the eve of the trade deadline on March 2, averaging 4.08 goals per game, which ranks fourth in the NHL. That's fourth in the league spanning 13 games. The issue, an ongoing problem this season, has been the ever-going challenge of keeping the puck out of the net, where the Blues are 24th in the same span, allowing 3.62 per game.
But on the offensive end, it's been a blended balance the Blues are getting production from.
"We've got some good players that can make plays and that can put the puck in the net, that's the bottom line," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "What we try to do here for quite some time now, getting everybody involved, getting our D involved in the play, the way we run our o-zone, our rush game. It's paying off. We're scoring goals and power play's always been pretty good here, not so much lately. Scored two goals last game though, what was huge, but we've got to get that power play clicking a little better too.
"I think the three new guys we brought in, [Sammy] Blais, [Kasperi] Kapanen, [Jakub] Vrana are all contributing offensively."
Blais has matched his career-high in points (15; eight goals, seven assists) in 22 games since joining the Blues on Feb. 9 in a trade with the New York Rangers. Kapanen has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in 14 games since being claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vrana has eight points (six goals, two assists) in 11 games since being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings on March 3.
"I just think we're playing with a lot of pace and I think turnovers are down too, so it helps a lot," Blais said. "I think in the o-zone, we play close to each other and we bring bodies to the net and shots to the net. When you do that, good things happen and that's what we've been doing."
Blais is on a 29-goal pace over an entire season; Kapanen is at a 41-goal clip and Vrana is even better at 43 goals over a full 82-game season.
Don't get too carried away and expect these players to stay on that pace, but Berube thinks they can continue to stay effective.
"No, I don't see why it can't," he said. "Vrana's produced in this league before and so has Kapanen. Sammy Blais, he has in the past to a certain point. I think that he's playing with a lot of confidence right now and it's paying off."
Brayden Schenn has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) his past nine games, Pavel Buchnevich was back on the scoresheet with a goal and an assist in Sunday's 7-6 loss at Los Angeles after a four-game point drought, and Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, who scored twice Sunday to give him a team-leading 33 goals, continue to produce.
"It's great to see that we can produce some offense," Vrana said. "Obviously it comes from playing good overall. You've got to get the chances first and we've been doing a good job of doing that. It's great to see guys producing."
Kapanen has three goals his past two games but is really impressing on the defensive side of the puck.
"I think he's a good defensive player," Berube said of Kapanen. "I think he really reads the play well and is in good position defensively. Obviously he's got skill, we know that. He's got speed, he's got hands. He can shoot a puck. I feel he's getting more confident with that part of his game, but for me, it's his defensive play."
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The Blues sent goalie Joel Hofer back to Springfield on Monday, a day after he was pulled in the first period against the Kings after allowing five goals on 17 shots.
Hofer was 3-0-1 in his previous four starts and didn't get saddled with the loss Sunday after the Blues made their comeback, but according to Berube, the plan all along was to send Hofer back to the American Hockey League after Sunday's start to get back into the swing of helping the Thunderbirds down the stretch and into the playoffs there.
"Yes, that was the whole game plan from the get-go," Berube said. "Whether I played him in Anaheim or LA, that's a choice I made, but he was playing one of those games and then he was going back down.
"He's going back to help Springfield. They're in the playoff hunt. He's a big part of that team, he needs to play games, get down there and help them."
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Berube and Canucks coach Rick Tocchet are close friends and will get re-acquianted on opposite benches again tonight.
The former teammates and roommates continue to stay in touch with one another and will continue to do so moving forward. They had been staying in touch even before Tocchet got the job in-season when he took over for Bruce Boudreau after a stint as a studio analyst with TNT.
"We talk probably every other day," Tocchet said. "Just pick each other's brains. Not too scared to talk about our feelings on how to play the game or systems. I don't obviously talk to many coaches that trust me around the league, but Chief, I have no problem talking to. And vice versa.
"We were roommates and stuff. When they won the Stanley Cup actually, Chief talked to me quite a bit. I was picking his brain. It was enjoyable being a fan and also a guy trying to learn and listening to Chief, what he was doing during that Stanley Cup run. I appreciate the insight he was giving me. It really helped."
Berube said it was just a matter of time before Tocchet, who is 16-9-2 since taking over (10th-best in the NHL), would get back behind a bench.
"He likes coaching for sure and wanted to get back in it at some point," Berube said. "I think it was just a good situation for him that he knows (Canucks president of hockey operations) Jimmy Rutherford from Pittsburgh and I think he felt comfortable going in there and working with Jimmy. He's got the team playing a lot better. They're better defensively, they're more patient and they've got some good players over there. He's brought that structure into their team now. They're playing pretty solid hockey."
Tocchet said he will continue to pick Berube's brain and the two will continue to talk.
"I don't think people realize, he's a really good X's and O's guy," Tocchet said of Berube. "Obviously, I think he's a great communicator. He's the type of guy - you know, he's no-nonsense, the players understand that. He gets the most out of a lot of guys, I really feel.
"For me, today's coaches, it's a partnership. You've got to be a partnership, and I think that Chief's realized over the years, you've got to include the players in a lot of decisions. But the players know who's boss at the end of the day."
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Former Blue Dakota Joshua will get the chance of a lifetime tonight.
Joshua, who signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Canucks last off-season, will be on the top line with the Canucks playing alongside of super center Elias Pettersson, who has 93 points on the season (35 goals, 58 assists) in 71 games.
"I'll get lucky, it seems to be, every here and there," Joshua joked. "No, just trying to take advantage of the opportunities when they come my way more so but also being ready when they come more often."
Joshua, who had four goals in his career in St. Louis, has 11 goals and 20 points in 70 games with the Canucks this season in what seems like the perfect fit for the guy that normally plays fourth-line minutes.
"Just the chance for more opportunity here," Joshua said of his decision to sign elsewhere. "Obviously last year I was up and down in the 'A'. I wasn't trying to do that again. So I got the chance to come here and it's worked out well so far.
"It's been really good. It's a good group of guys here. We really didn't get off to the start that we wanted to, but as of late, we've been coming around and building towards being a real team that competes next year."
Tocchet loves players that aren't afraid to check, and Joshua fills that need, and will now get the opportunity to get more responsibility.
"When I got here, I knew, this organization needs big wall guys and we don't really have a lot," Tocchet said. "I gave him a lot of responsibility. A big part of our PK. Now, he's becoming a finisher. He's getting some chances and he's finishing. I think there's another level there and we're lucky to have him another year. I told him, if he plays a big man's game - give-and-go type of style - he'll pay the mortgage for a bunch of years here. He can do that.
"And 'Josh' knows for me it's consistency. If he can stay consistent, that's probably his next level. Because a couple good games and the not so much. Now he's starting to string, two, three, four games together. And I think that's a big key for him."
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad-Pavel Buchnevich-Kasperi Kapanen
Sammy Blais-Brayden Schenn-Jakub Vrana
Alexey Toropchenko-Nathan Walker-Tyler Pitlick
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk
Torey Krug-Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Thomas Greiss will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Josh Leivo, Calle Rosen and Logan Brown. The Blues report no injuries.
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The Canucks' projected lineup:
Andrei Kuzmenko-Elias Pettersson-Dakota Joshua
Phillip Di Giuseppe-J.T. Miller-Brock Boeser
Anthony Beauvillier-Sheldon Dries-Conor Garland
Vitali Kravtsov-Nils Aman-Jack Studnicka
Quinn Hughes-Tyler Myers
Guillaume Brisebois-Filip Hronek
Kyle Burroughs-Ethan Bear
Thatcher Demko will start in goal; Collin Delia will be the backup.
The healthy scratches include Aidan McDonough and Jack Rathbone. Christian Wolanin (lower body), Noah Juulsen (lower body), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ankle), Travis Dermott (undisclosed), Ilya Mikheyev (torn ACL), Tanner Pearson (hand), Tucker Poolman (upper body) and Vasily Podkolzin (undisclosed) are all out.