by Susan Slusser
SAN JOSE -- St. Louis comes into HP Pavilion knowing all about losing streaks. They've had five skids of five games this season. The Blues' opponent, San Jose, isn't so familiar with spinning out losses with such regularity. The Sharks have dropped six in a row, their longest such stretch since last March, when they also lost six straight. A loss Saturday night would give the team its worst stretch since a 10-game winless streak in November 2005.
How was St. Louis able to pull out of its three five-game stumbles this season? Head coach David Payne said after the team's morning skate that as the penalty kill goes, so do the Blues.
"We've taken a lot of pride in our penalty kill," he said. "That really sets our mentality. ... When we have that mentality, there's a direct correlation between our penalty kill and our success."
And patience is required during a downward spiral. "Sometimes it takes awhile to find the forest again when you're amongst the trees," Payne said. That means, he said, addressing different areas of the game piece by piece.
Defenseman Erik Johnson noted that during each of the Blues' slides, the team was losing a lot of one-goal games; they were seldom blown out.
"A couple we definitely had chances to win and didn't," he said. "There were a couple of instances we gave up points we shouldn't have. Any time you're losing, it's the most miserable thing, so you definitely want to get back into the win column."
Injuries have played a large part in the Blues' inconsistency since their hot (9-1-2) start. T.J. Oshie (broken ankle) is skating again and is expected back around the All-Star break, but Andy McDonald and David Perron, both out with concussions, have no target dates for returning.
"A couple (games) we definitely had chances to win and didn't. There were a couple of instances we gave up points we shouldn't have. Any time you're losing, it's the most miserable thing, so you definitely want to get back into the win column."
- Blues defenseman Erik Johnson Teams dislike using injuries as an excuse, everyone has them. "You find a way," said Payne, who praised the work Vladimir Sobotka and Matt D'Agostini have done with top-line roles. "It's taken a toll. But we don't talk much about it, we just keep moving."
Johnson noted simply that all the coming and going, getting used to new players plugging holes, can be difficult. "It's just how it's been this year," he said, noting that not once has St. Louis had just one standalone loss -- there's always at least one more coming. Or four.
All-Star forward David Backes said if he knew how the Blues were getting out of their losing streaks, they'd never last more than a game. "A magic portion doesn't exist," he said. "It's hard work and sticking to the system, believing in the guy next to you and believe in yourself, that you're going to get the job done."
The Sharks and Blues split two games in St. Louis earlier in the season. It's generally a rough-and-tumble matchup, but there's some added edge after Perron incurred his concussion after being hit by Joe Thornton coming out of the box on Nov. 4. Thornton was ejected and also suspended.
"I think so, a little bit," Johnson said. "Obviously they have a big team, a physical team, and David Perron got hurt against them. But these are always tough games against them."
The Sharks expect to have rookie and 19-goal scorer Logan Couture back tonight after missing a game with a sore knee, but Ryane Clowe is out with a lower body injury after taking a skate to the back of the knee on Thursday.
San Jose attempted to address its difficulties with a practice Friday that covered several areas. "It was a different type of practice," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "We tried to send the message a different way. The feedback was good but the results will dictate if it was effective or not."
What's wrong with the Sharks? "Well, it started off not scoring, and when you're not scoring, you tend to cheat to try to score so you give up more than you want and you're chasing your game the whole time," McLellan said. "It's all noble, it's players wanting to do well, but it backfires."
McLellan knows the Blues have been in such situations, and, he said, "They worked their way out of it. And they have a tremendous amount of injuries and they've been able to come together as a team and gel. They play hard, that's their identity. We're going to have to deal with that tonight and try to match that."
Thornton said that the focus Friday was on the good things the Sharks are doing, which has led to a different energy -- plus the team dads are in town, which McLellan said gives him a lot more coaches to help.
"The odds are some shots will start slipping in, which will be nice," Thornton said.
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