MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The St. Louis Blues got back on the horse Friday, one day after their winless skid hit six games (0-4-2) following a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks with coach Jim Montgomery as animated as he’s been at a practice since arriving back last November.

Montgomery is a stickler for getting off the ice quickly following practice, but Friday was different. First, there was a conversation with Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko, then there was a lengthy chat with Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou.

“I want them to have more of an impact in the game offensively and defensively,” Montgomery said. “They’re go-to players, they’re extremely skilled individuals that we need. Their current state with (Robert) Thomas out and (Jake) Neighbours out, we need them to elevate their game just because that’s what our team needs right now. Not only from those two, but they’re two major pieces.”

Yes, the Blues (3-6-2) should have won that game on Thursday. Yes, they were much better than the previous four games in which they lost in regulation. But there were still small details that the coach is still seeing as detriments, albeit fewer and minimal, that seem to creep into games and ultimately, wind up in the back of the net.

Such was the case on Thursday and a big reason why the Blues weren’t banking two points instead of one, despite outshooting the Canucks 39-18 and having 10 high danger scoring chances in the game, including six in the third period.

They'll see if those trends can continue with a better outcome on Saturday on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets (6-4-0).

“Some game management issues I didn’t like our decision-making out there and some of those decisions are transferring to games, so just trying to improve that area,” Montgomery said.

There was a defensive zone drill where he stopped play and let Nathan Walker and Dylan Holloway hear about it, then a 6-on-5 drill where Alexandre Texier was the recipient of some animated words when Buchnevich deposited a puck into the empty net from three-quarters of the ice away.

“The sixth guy’s got to be a little more patient, and the 5 v 6 portion was actually pretty good,” Montgomery said. “Puck pressure in zone was really good, but there were a couple up-ice scenarios that players had questions and we just communicated on where we want them and what lines we want them to hold up at.

“Every day that we show video, we like to go out and work on some portion or mostly all of the portion whatever the focus was on video, and then conversations will be, it just depends on the player and usually it’s about their individual game and how it can support the team game.”

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