GDT #35: 12/27/14 | 7:00PM CST | v Stars | FSMW/KMOX

[dmiles2186]

The St. Louis Blues entered the Christmas break mired in their worst skid of the season.

Lengthy layoffs have yet to help the Blues, though a return to home ice certainly seems to be to their benefit as they face off with the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

The Blues (21-10-3) have lost three straight and suffered their worst defeat of the season in their most recent game, 5-0 to Colorado on Tuesday. The three-day break allowed them to recover from the lopsided loss, but time between games has not aided St. Louis in the past. When given three or more days' rest between contests, St. Louis is 0-3-1 this season while totaling four goals.

"There's ups and downs for every team, every season," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk told the team's official website. "This is a time where we have to take a second to reflect on it and get back to work on the 27th."

The Blues have allowed 14 goals over the past three games as opponents have gone 6 for 15 on the power play.

"It falls on everybody; it's all of us," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Whether you score four goals or five goals or three goals or one goal, the goal that's been here is not to give up much ... We're just trading chances, and you get games like that, where it's in your net before you blink. Can't win playing like this. We'll see if this is a wake-up call for us."

All three defeats before the break, however, came on the road. St. Louis is 7-0-1 in its last eight at Scottrade Center, averaging 4.37 goals, and now seek a season-high fifth consecutive home victory. The Blues are 12-3-1 on their own ice, and only Nashville has fewer home losses (12-2-1).

Goaltender Jake Allen has not allowed more than three goals in eight home starts, going 6-1-1. He allowed five goals and was pulled after two periods Tuesday.

Dallas (14-14-5) preceded the holiday break with a 4-0 loss to Toronto on Tuesday after winning a season-high four in a row.

Poor defense continues to haunt the Stars, who allow 3.39 goals per game to rank 29th in the NHL and are last in the Central Division. They've surrendered at least four goals in two straight games and 10 of 16.

Regardless, the Stars will need to find the net if they hope to regain any momentum. Dallas tied a season high with 45 shots in Sunday's 6-5 shootout win over Edmonton on Sunday, then had 43 on Tuesday but suffered its first shutout of the season.

"You can get all the shots in the world, but you've got to finish and put it in the back of the net," defenseman Jason Demers told the Stars' official website. "You've got to sometimes get that ugly goal and it can't always be pretty."

Saturday's matchup is the second of five between St. Louis and Dallas this season. The Blues knocked off the Stars 4-3 in Oct. 28 when Vladimir Tarasenko completed his first career hat trick in overtime. Tarasenko's 20 goals are one shy of his total from all of last season and rank third in the league.

Dallas' Tyler Seguin is first with 25. He had a goal and an assist in the first meeting.

Kari Lehtonen took the loss in that matchup and will likely start again Saturday. He has allowed seven goals on just 44 shots over his last two games.

[cardsfan04]

I'm feeling a big win tonight. Let's say 6-1. Stars are mediocre, and the team should be fired up after a bad road trip that has festered through the Christmas break.

[Toasted Oates]

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[theohall]

Chalk up a loss looking at that first defensive pairing.

[cardsfan04]

Chalk up a loss looking at that first defensive pairing.

Do you really think that Pietro would not be making the mistakes he's been making lately if he had a different partner? I think he'd be playing poorly regardless of partner.

[drwoland]

I like Porter on STL line. Seems like dude never really gets a fair shot on this team, I think he'll have fun with linemates like that.

[drwoland]

Oh yeah.

Blues 5
Stars 0

Let's get back on track!

[theohall]

Chalk up a loss looking at that first defensive pairing.

Do you really think that Pietro would not be making the mistakes he's been making lately if he had a different partner? I think he'd be playing poorly regardless of partner.

I think it would be better if he had a more defensive-minded partner than Bouwmeester. Not saying Pietro will play any better, but having someone who focuses on defense first might make up a little for Pietro's mistakes.

[cardsfan04]

Chalk up a loss looking at that first defensive pairing.

Do you really think that Pietro would not be making the mistakes he's been making lately if he had a different partner? I think he'd be playing poorly regardless of partner.

I think it would be better if he had a more defensive-minded partner than Bouwmeester. Not saying Pietro will play any better, but having someone who focuses on defense first might make up a little for Pietro's mistakes.

Fair enough.

[glen a richter]

The three best d-men should be leading each of the three defense pairings, thus making better the other three d-men and creating a tighter overall unit. This team is giving up way the frank too many shots lately.

[JesusNEVERexisted]

This 12 game stretch against the west could be the toughest of the season.

[cardsfan04]

I'm feeling a big win tonight. Let's say 6-1. Stars are mediocre, and the team should be fired up after a bad road trip that has festered through the Christmas break.

I may have been a wee bit off.

[Krigloch the Furious]

damn this team is frustrating
play some damn defense
stop taking so many penalties

25th in PK %, ouch!
24th in average penalty minutes a game.

[glen a richter]

They're fast closing in on a situation where I'm not wild about their chances of even making the playoffs. Brian Elliott where are you? Get well today!

[cardsfan04]

They're fast closing in on a situation where I'm not wild about their chances of even making the playoffs. Brian Elliott where are you? Get well today!

I'm not real worried about missing the playoffs, but if our hole in the division gets much bigger, it will be hard to dig out of. I really don't want to play Chicago in the 2nd round without home ice advantage. Then again, that would mean we've won a playoff series this year lol.

Elliott is supposed to have a hard practice at today's (closed) workout. Some media types were definitely implying he might be back soon, but they couldn't explicitly say it. We need him more than I ever imagined. Heading into the season, I expected Allen to take his job from him at some point. That will not be happening.

[dmiles2186]

It's frustrating for sure, and it's alarming that the Jets have caught up to us in the standings, but there's still time for us to figure this out. I said before the season, both on here and in the 'real world,' that I'd be okay struggling throughout the regular season if it meant it would battle test us for a playoff run (ala the two LA Kings Cup runs where they were crap most of the season and then....MAGIC). I still hold true to that. It's just one bad slide. Yes, I understand they haven't been playing all that well even in wins, but fact remains, it's still a good hockey team. We get Ells back, I'm hoping everything pops into place.

[cardsfan04]

It's frustrating for sure, and it's alarming that the Jets have caught up to us in the standings, but there's still time for us to figure this out. I said before the season, both on here and in the 'real world,' that I'd be okay struggling throughout the regular season if it meant it would battle test us for a playoff run (ala the two LA Kings Cup runs where they were crap most of the season and then....MAGIC). I still hold true to that. It's just one bad slide. Yes, I understand they haven't been playing all that well even in wins, but fact remains, it's still a good hockey team. We get Ells back, I'm hoping everything pops into place.

I agree. There's no debating that a 4 game losing streak is frustrating, but I'd rather have a 4 game skid in December than April or later. Nobody ever cheers for adversity as it's happening, but sometimes the team comes out of it better than before it. If it makes us a better team come April, maybe it's a net positive.

[theohall]

damn this team is frustrating
play some damn defense
stop taking so many penalties

25th in PK %, ouch!
24th in average penalty minutes a game.

Defensive zone turnovers are killing them. Two of the 4 goals last night were on really bad d-zone turnovers with the other two being PPGs. Eliminate the D-Zone turnovers and WIN!!

And Jaden Schwartz is extremely important to this team considering he went out and the Blues are now losing regularly.

If the Blues had someone who could actually shoot to play with Ott and Reaves, that line might actually score goals a little more often. Lapierre is horrible. At least Ott sets up other guys reasonably well for a 4th liner.

[Oaklandblue]

damn this team is frustrating
play some damn defense
stop taking so many penalties

25th in PK %, ouch!
24th in average penalty minutes a game.

Defensive zone turnovers are killing them. Two of the 4 goals last night were on really bad d-zone turnovers with the other two being PPGs. Eliminate the D-Zone turnovers and WIN!!

And Jaden Schwartz is extremely important to this team considering he went out and the Blues are now losing regularly.

If the Blues had someone who could actually shoot to play with Ott and Reaves, that line might actually score goals a little more often. Lapierre is horrible. At least Ott sets up other guys reasonably well for a 4th liner.

The Defence Coach needs a good long hard talking to. Boys are scoring, Allen is still wet behind the ears, D knows better and that's supposed to be our strongest suit, especially with Hitch, who is D-First Minded, at the helm.