BLUES The St. Louis Blues took a tough defeat on Thursday night against Arizona, surrendering 42 shots on goal and three power-play goals en route to a 6-2 loss.
"I think we played pretty slow today," said Jakub Vrana after the game. "We didn't move out there really well, [and] it felt like they were faster than us in almost every situation."
Vrana was a bright spot for the Blues, scoring a goal of his own and assisting Sammy Blais on another. Vrana currently leads the Blues with three points in three games, continuing the positive momentum he generated after joining the Blues ahead of the 2023 Trade Deadline.
With a quick turnaround before their next game - a home matchup on Saturday against the veteran-heavy Pittsburgh Penguins - the Blues have a good opportunity to get back to game speed.
After playing Pittsburgh, the Blues will embark on their first multi-game road trip of the season, visiting Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Colorado before returning to Enterprise Center.
The Blues will host the Penguins with a record of 1-1-1 in the early weeks of the season.
PENGUINS One of the oldest teams in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins have come out of the gate with a mixed bag of results thus far.
After two decisive wins over Washington and Calgary, the Penguins fell 6-3 to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.
They once again return the veteran trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang - a group with a combined eight Stanley Cups and 55 seasons of NHL experience.
Their biggest change this offseason was on the blue line, acquiring 2022-23 Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks. Karlsson has a goal and three assists with his new club so far, three of his four points coming in Wednesday's loss in Detroit.
After Saturday's matchup, the Penguins return to PPG Paints Arena for a four-game homestand against the Stars, Avalanche, Senators and Ducks.
Their 2-2-0 record thus far gives the Penguins four points and third place in the Metropolitan Division as of Friday afternoon.
HEAD TO HEAD The Blues went 0-1-1 against the Penguins last season, falling in overtime at Enterprise Center in their last matchup. Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko share the team lead with four points each against Pittsburgh over the last six games.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Sammy Blais, who scored his first goal of the season on Thursday night vs. Arizona. Since coming back to the Blues ahead of the 2023 Trade Deadline, Blais has 22 points in 34 games.
PENGUINS Evgeni Malkin, leading the Penguins in scoring in the early days of his 18th season in Pittsburgh. The 37-year-old forward has three goals and four assists, his seven points sharing No. 3 in the NHL as of Friday afternoon.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have points in three straight games against Pittsburgh at Enterprise Center.
General Manager Doug Armstrong is just two games away from reaching his 1,000th as Blues GM.
Jordan Binnington is 1-0-1 with a 0.92 goals-against average and a .969 save-percentage. He has stopped 63 of the 65 shots he has faced through two games this season.
Justin Faulk's next assist will be his 100th as a Blue. He is just four points shy of 400 for his NHL career.
When the St. Louis Blues and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins meet Saturday, it will be a clash of teams eyeing a rebound from a loss that left lingering frustration.
Perhaps the best thing the Blues could say about their 6-2 loss Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes is that the game didn't go to a shootout, as their first two games did.
Then again, there was little danger of that.
"We were flat all around," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "Didn't skate. Didn't execute anything. We didn't move at all."
It was an effort, or lack of one, that followed two closely contested games.
"Very surprised," Berube said of Thursday's dud. "We've got work to do."
The Blues have scored just four goals through their first three games and have yet to hold a lead. They gave up three power-play goals to the Coyotes.
"It's execution -- moving your feet and being ready to play," St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn said. "If you look back at our (first) two games, how hard it was to get points, we realize anyone can beat anyone in this league. If you're not going to come prepared fully, teams are going to give it to you."
St. Louis had four days off to prepare for the game against Arizona. Now, it's just one day off between games.
"It's early in the season. We have to look at the clips and clear some stuff up," Blues forward Jakub Vrana said.
St. Louis forward Pavel Buchnevich missed Thursday's game because of an upper-body injury. His status for Saturday is unclear.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has insult to deal with but apparently avoided injury.
Penguins six-time All-Star defenseman Kris Letang and forward Noel Acciari returned to practice Friday after missing Thursday's session to be evaluated for injuries.
Pittsburgh has had a roller coaster start -- a blown two-goal lead, a win by shutout, a convincing win with a five-goal performance and, Wednesday, a disheartening 6-3 loss against the Detroit Red Wings.
"Teams go through ups and downs during the season," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "There are challenges along the way, and how you handle those challenges, in a lot of ways, it dictates your ability to have success."
The Penguins struck in the first minute against the Red Wings on a goal from center Evgeni Malkin, who has three goals and seven points through four games. But then came the doldrums as Detroit scored four straight goals before the Penguins got back in the game in the third.
"We just kind of lost ourselves for six or seven minutes in the second period, and they scored on us in that time frame," Sullivan said.
Lapses like that are a cause for concern -- after all, such lapses were a major issue last season when Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
"Our team knows what we have to do in order to be successful," Penguins winger Bryan Rust said. "Points in October do mean the same as the ones in March. That's kind of our mindset here. We can't take anything for granted early on. We've to fight for every point, every win we can (get)."
Brandon Saad - Robert Thomas - Jordan Kyrou
Jake Neighbours - Brayden Schenn - Kasperi Kapanen
Jakub Vrana - Kevin Hayes - Sammy Blais
Alexey Toropchenko - Nikita Alexandrov - Oskar Sundqvist
Nick Leddy - Colton Parayko
Torey Krug - Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella - Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington
