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By Jeremy Rutherford jrutherford@post-dispatch.com > 314-444-7135
03/11/2010
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — As the Blues resume their playoff push tonight, seated 11th in the Western Conference with 69 points, they couldn't ask for much more to be in their favor.
First of all, they're back on the road, which is where they've played their best collective hockey this season. Secondly, the club's next three opponents are at the bottom of their respective standings. And meanwhile, the team is coming off four days rest.
There are no excuses for the Blues, who enter tonight's game against the New York Islanders six points behind Calgary for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
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"These are important games," Blues forward Alex Steen said. "We know what we have to do. It's up to us in the room to make sure that we bring the effort."
The club is continuing a six-game trip that began with wins in Phoenix and Dallas last week and then turned upside down with a 7-3 drubbing at Colorado Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Blues are 18-10-4 on the road this season, ranking fourth in the NHL with 40 points. A victory tonight over the Islanders would give the Blues 19 road wins this season, the most since the club posted 27 in 1999-2000.
"We're going to be in the playoffs, there's no doubt in my mind about that, and it starts on the road," Blues forward David Perron said. "We've got to keep winning on the road."
The final three games of the trip will be against opponents below them in their respective conferences.
The New York Islanders are 14th in the Eastern Conference with 60 points. While they defeated Chicago 5-3 on March 2, the Islanders have dropped three straight games heading into tonight's game against the Blues.
The next stop on the trip is Saturday at Columbus, which is 14th in the West with 63 points. The Blue Jackets have dropped three of four games since the Olympic break, and in Monday's 6-0 loss to Los Angeles, the Jackets registered only 11 shots on goal.
That game will be followed by a meeting Sunday at Minnesota, which is 12th in the West with 68 points. The Wild have whiffed in three straight games since the break, including shootout losses to Edmonton and Florida.
The Blues are familiar with where their opponents are in the standings, but Steen insisted that won't enter the players' minds when the puck drops.
"The teams that we're playing have played well during the season, so they're not easy games," he said. "We can't go in thinking that because they're behind us in the standings that anything other than a good solid effort is going to get us the points."
Perhaps most beneficial to the Blues is that they are coming off four days rest. They have proved to be one of the better teams in the NHL when fresh. With two consecutive days off, the team has a record of 10-3-3 this season, which ranks third in the league behind Ottawa and Phoenix.
Blues coach Davis Payne wanted to hear none of that trend Wednesday.
"You can look at your record day game, night game ... on grass, off grass ... it turns into baseball statistics," Payne said. "It gave us some good days of preparation, a chance to regroup and get our focus back."
Forward B.J. Crombeen believes the time off has helped the Blues not only regain their focus, but concentrate on the finer points of their game.
"With the schedule this year, there's not a lot of times where we get three or four days in a row to practice and where we get worked on," Crombeen said. "Usually when we're practicing, it's just kind of a quick thing where we freshen things up. It's nice to actually have some time to learn exactly what Davis is preaching and to really get to know him and what he wants us to do and vice versa.
"I think if you look at our games coming out of the break, we obviously felt more comfortable in the systems and what we were doing."
But the break wasn't all good for the Blues. Because they haven't played since Saturday, their deficit in the Western Conference standings increased to six points from three points.
"A few days off has given the other teams a chance to play, so we know that bar is moving," Payne said.
The Blues have a chance tonight to move it in their favor.
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