ST. LOUIS -- The Blues needed to rebound in a big way and they got one.
It was an ugly loss Thursday so how do you respond?
"Just puck movement, getting the puck north, forechecking," forward Jake Neighbours said. "I thought we turned over a lot more pucks below the goal line and a little bit more sustained offense. We can still build on that and create more of that, but I thought we played hard and were a lot more physical, on top of guys. It was good."
The Blues did a lot of the things they did wrong on Thursday, right on Saturday. It resulted in a 4-2 win over the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins at Enterprise Center.
Let's look at the three keys to the Blues' win:
1. Saad an effective replacement for Buchnevich -- I didn't think the line of Brandon Saad, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou did much of anything in a 6-2 loss against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday, and one wondered if coach Craig Berube would look at someone else to go with Thomas and Kyrou.
But Berube stuck with Saad, and the veteran delivered with two goals and could have conceivably had three or four at the very least.
"That's what he does for those guys," Berube said of Saad. "He's always going to the net and opens things up for them. He scored a lot of goals around that net, that's where he scores his goals."
Saad nearly missed the hat trick but put an empty-net chance wide late.
"That would have felt good for sure," Saad said. "Either way, it was a good game for our group."
2. Parayko a monster on the blue line -- We picked Colton Parayko as the player to watch tonight. I just felt like he would be a factor in the game one way or the other based on having to go against the Sidney Crosby line with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, or the Evgeni Malkin line with Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell.
Not only did Parayko shut those guys down when he was on the ice, but he also scored a key goal in the second to give the Blues a 3-1 lead.
Parayko finished with 20:50 ice time, four shot attempts and two hits and his calmness skating pucks out of the zone with speed is really noticeable. His partnership with Nick Leddy is solidifying itself.
"He's skating so well," Berube said. "I don't know if you remember the play in the third, he rounds the net and he's just like ... he's a big guy, strong that can really move. He's using his feet extremely well and his shot. He's looking to shoot all the time. He's ready to shoot and obviously his feet, skating, closing plays out, but getting the puck and moving right away with it."
Parayko was the anchor of a Blue line that continues to be committed to the shot block that finished with 25 in this game.
3. Kapanen had this game circled -- Blues forward Kasperi Kapanen had this game circled on his calendar when the 2023-24 schedule came out, and why wouldn't he?
Kapanen, who was waived by the Penguins Feb. 24 and claimed by the Blues, had two assists, including a highlight-reel play to set up Jake Neighbours with the go-ahead 2-1 goal in the second period.
Kapanen, whose assists were his first two points of the season, continues to be effective as a two-way player with his speed and puck possession.
His line with Brayden Schenn and Neighbours went up against the Malkin line and outplayed it.
"I thought Kapanen played a strong game, some good things, could have had a couple (goals) himself," Berube said. "They played a strong game against the Malkin line. I thought they did a good job."
"I think he's definitely excited," Saad said. "Any time you face a former team, I know myself personally you have a little bit of jump. He had a great game tonight so you can see it on him."
