GDT Game 50: 1/23/18 | 7:00 PM CT | vs Senators | FSMW/KMOX

[theohall]

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo wasted no time in sending a message to his players following a dismal 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes last Saturday.

About 12 hours after the final buzzer, the team was back on the ice taking part in one of the most demanding practices of the season.

"Talk is talk," Yeo told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We can have as many meetings as we want. We can give you as many good quotes as we want, whatever the case is. Action is what matters right now and your play is your action. That's the only thing that matters, that speaks to your teammates, that you're playing for them and you're ready to lay it on the line. For me, that's pretty simple. You step over the boards, people watch you and that's the talk that we're looking for."

An extra off day before the Blues host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday allowed room for the intense practice.

Chances are, the players may still be feeling the effects even after the puck drops.

"Yeah, we definitely deserved to get pushed hard today," Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson told the Post-Dispatch. "Last night and the last couple home games were pretty embarrassing for our team. We've always had the fans' support at all or most games and we want to show what we've got in front of the crowd and the past couple games, we haven't done that. It's been a tough 24 hours for us, but we got the work in today, we had a meeting and just reset the mind."

One positive was the presence of forward Jaden Schwartz, who was a full participant for the first time since taking a puck off his foot on Dec. 9. Schwartz had 35 points in 30 games when he was hurt.

Schwartz could be back as early as Tuesday. St. Louis is 8-10-1 since he was hurt.

"He got the conditioning and he got the battle part of it and actually, he got through it, got through it well," Yeo told the Post-Dispatch.

The Blues beat the Senators 4-1 at Ottawa last Thursday. St. Louis has points in 10 of its last 11 games against the Senators overall (6-1-4).

The Senators will enter the game on the second night of back-to-back road games. Ottawa dropped its third straight game 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.

It was the second consecutive game that the Senators lost while entering the third period either leading or tied.

"Two great periods and I don't quite understand how they're the more desperate team to start the third," Senators center Matt Duchene told the Ottawa Sun. "Yeah, we had 38 shots, but they took it to us at the start of the third and that's all she wrote, I guess."

The Senators are looking for a quick rebound.

"We wanted to have a good start to this short trip," Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf told the Sun. "Now we've got to find a way to rebound and come back."

[glen a richter]

Schwartz could be back as early as Tuesday. St. Louis is 8-10-1 since he was hurt.

Good, maybe the rest of these headcases can get over their mental inability to succeed without Jaden around. I don't want to say he's the most important player on the team, but the way they've been playing in his absence kind of stresses that he really is the straw that stirs the drink.

Next time there's a critical injury, they should really consider bringing in a team of psychologists to work with the rest of the guys.

[gaijin]

I'd almost rather Schwartz sit out until Thursday to ensure his ankle is that much stronger. Tonight is a much lower-risk game.

But then again, it might be beneficial to use tonight's game as a warm-up to help get his legs back before Colorado and their 10-game win streak rolls into town.

[ibldbl]

Hmmmmm......will they come out on fire, or like they did last game....

I'll go with "the glass is half full" today...


Sens 2
Blues 4

[Oaklandblue]

Blues come out and annilate the Sens so they can be lackluster the next game. Book it.

Blues 4
Sens 0

[Robb_K]

Overslept through my alarm again!!! Guess I'm old now. Nice to See Blues leading 1-0 on a goal by Sobotka. At least I'll get to see 2 periods.

[gaijin]

Thompson having a good game. He's been very visible.

[gaijin]

Blues come out and annilate the Sens

Whoa, let's keep it clean in here.

Annihilate

[Oaklandblue]

Blues come out and annilate the Sens

Whoa, let's keep it clean in here.

Annihilate

It's the um, severe form of "Annihilate"

[Robb_K]

Tarasenko blasts the rebound by Andersson!!! Blues lead 2-0!!!

[Robb_K]

Schenn seals it with the empty-netter!!! Blues lead 3-0!!!

[Robb_K]

Blues win!! Blues win!! Hutton with the shutout!!!

[gaijin]

And Colorado had their 10-game win streak snapped tonight as well.

[Oaklandblue]

-almost- called this one, missed it by one goal :/. Oh well, let's hope the Good Guys build off of this win.

[glen a richter]

Schwartz should be back for the next game, I presume. So... good way to end the Sans-Schwartz era. Let's get it back on track now, eh?

[cardsfan04]

If he's ready, he's ready, but I'd almost rather him sit on Thursday and come back after the AS break. He's just barely past the minimum time for reevaluation, so an extra week of rest might be good.