TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES Even though it was a difficult loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the St. Louis Blues should have a good idea of what their biggest point of emphasis can be as they continue their three-game road trip.
The Penguins showed Blues Head Coach Craig Berube and his staff the need for improvement on the penalty kill by scoring two power-play goals and scoring another goal moments after Tyler Pitlick exited the penalty box.
"We score, we take a stupid penalty and then it's in our net again," said a frustrated Craig Berube on Saturday. "We were outworked around our net."
After boasting the No. 5-ranked penalty kill in the NHL last season, the Blues are No. 31 this year - down from 84.1 percent to 66.7 percent. Despite the struggles this season, the Blues still have over a decade of defensive foundation to help keep confident - their 82.8 percent penalty kill since Doug Armstrong took over as general manager in 2010-11 is the third best in the NHL.
The Blues hope to turn around their recent slide in New York City on Monday, where they take on the Rangers for the first half of a back-to-back in the Big Apple.
They head to Madison Square Garden with a record of 11-13-0, worth 22 points and sixth place in the Central Division.
RANGERS The New York Rangers have had an inconsistent start to their season after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
They have lost five of their last six games as they prepare to host the Blues for the third and final game of a homestand before facing the Golden Knights and Avalanche on the road later in the week.
New York showed their own penalty-killing struggles in their last game, giving up three power-play goals en route to a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
"It's frustrating, but you're not going to win if you don't compete," said Head Coach Gerard Gallant. "That's the bottom line. No matter how skilled your team is, compete comes first."
The Rangers continue to be led in scoring by Artemi Panarin (28 points), Mika Zibanijad (28) and Adam Fox (27), with Chris Kreider (22) also looking to follow up his 52-goal season last year.
They host the Blues with a record of 11-10-5, worth 27 points and fifth in the Metropolitan Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 1-1-0 against the Rangers last year, with both teams winning at home. The Blues have scored at least three goals in four straight games against the Rangers, outscoring them 17-10 over those four games.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Pavel Buchnevich, facing his former team for the second time since being traded to St. Louis in July 2021. Buchnevich scored his eighth goal of the season on Saturday and has six points in his last five games.
RANGERS Artemi Panarin, leading the Rangers and sharing No. 7 in the NHL with 22 assists this season. The 31-year-old forward has 20 points in 18 career games against the Blues.
BLUE NOTES
Buchnevich played in parts of five seasons for the Rangers, posting 195 points (79 goals, 116 assists) in 301 games with New York... Blues defensemen have contributed five power-play goals this season, which shares the most in the NHL with Nashville and Florida... The Blues are 6-2-0 this season when leading after the first period and are 7-0-0 when leading after two periods... Jordan Binnington's next win in goal will be No. 100 for his career, set to become the sixth goaltender in franchise history to reach the milestone.
With just under three minutes left in the second period Saturday, New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba was given a misconduct for his second fighting major and before heading to the locker room, the team captain flung his helmet at the boards and yelled at his teammates on the bench.
Roughly 400 miles away, the St. Louis Blues experienced similar frustration in a game at Pittsburgh.
Two teams agitated by recent performances get together Monday when the Rangers host the Blues.
After a spirited run to the Eastern Conference finals last season, the Rangers are struggling to match the high expectations and their dissatisfaction seemed to reach its boiling point with a 5-2 home loss Saturday to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Trouba took two fighting majors, in addition to a hooking penalty that led to Chicago's third power-play goal, and his emotional display occurred after the Rangers allowed two power-play goals in 60 seconds to fall behind by three goals.
The loss to Chicago gave New York a four-game home losing streak (0-3-1) and a middling 4-6-4 home record after going 27-10-4 on home ice last year. It also sent the Rangers to their 10th loss in 15 games (5-7-3) since Nov. 3 and pushed them 14 points behind the first-place New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division.
"There's a lot of story left to be written," Trouba said. "It's not a done thing by any means, but it's going on for a bit now and something needs to change. I think there needs to be a little bit more of a pushback from ourselves within. You can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result."
After Trouba's display, Mika Zibanejad scored a power-play goal, but the Rangers fell behind by three goals a second time before Chris Kreider scored with an extra attacker, capping a night where New York never led.
The defeat to the Blackhawks came one day after the Rangers absorbed a 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Ottawa Senators.
"It's a results league," Trouba said. "You need to win hockey games. It's an emotional game. You've got to play with some emotion, some energy."
St. Louis can relate to New York's disappointment after enduring a 6-2 loss to the Penguins on Saturday.
The Blues lost eight consecutive games from Oct. 24-Nov. 8, then won seven straight. Since their 3-1 home win over the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 21, the Blues are 1-5-0 in their past six.
During the past six games, St. Louis has allowed 31 goals, including five on 13 power plays and 10 in the first period.
The loss at Pittsburgh marked the 10th time the Blues lost by at least three goals and ninth time they allowed at least five goals.
"Everybody has to step up," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "Right now, we're not good. We don't have enough people going in the right direction right now in all areas of the game. All of them. Everybody. It's not good enough. Until more guys step up and play better and we start pulling together as a team, it won't change."
Former Ranger Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues on Saturday, but they allowed three goals in a period for the sixth straight game and 14th instance this season.
"Just not playing good enough," St. Louis left wing Ivan Barbashev said. "Giving up three goals in pretty much every single game in one period. It's just the way it goes right now. We've got to figure something out just to be better out there."
