Let's Go Blues

TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES Another game, another similar result for the St. Louis Blues.

The team, which had some time for self-reflection and a closed door meeting with General Manager Doug Armstrong to sort things out, still struggled in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders in their last game.

"It's tough," said Robert Thomas. "Everyone's down, everyone's disappointed in ourselves. It's not the stretch - we had a nice homestand here and it's not the stretch we wanted."

The Blues got a good start in the game - pressuring the Islanders heavily in the opening period - and got the first goal from Vladimir Tarasenko just over eight minutes into the first period. But the Islanders would score four times in a span of 10:04 in the second, winning their fifth straight game while dealing the Blues a sixth consecutive loss.

"Loved the first period, especially the first 10 minutes, 12 minutes," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said after the game. "(Then we) come out in the second, there's a goal and there's no reason for it to happen."

The Blues hadn't lost six straight games in regulation since the 2013-14 season. They have been outscored 30-10 in the current skid, which they will look to snap against a hot Boston Bruins squad.

BRUINS The Bruins are off to one of their best starts in franchise history behind former Blues assistant coach Jim Montgomery.

The club has already put together a seven-game winning streak and established a new franchise record for the fewest games to 10 victories (11 games).

The Bruins fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, though. Brad Marchand scored Boston's only goal on a penalty shot.

Boston is 10-2-0 on the season.

"We're gonna get every team's best. And we want that, we want that challenge," Bruins forward Taylor Hall said.

The Bruins' lineup still boasts David Pastrnak, who leads the team with 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 12 games. Regulars Patrice Bergeron and Marchand are back, too. In goal, Tuukka Rask is gone - he retired back in February after attempting a comeback from hip surgery. Linus Ullmark has gotten the bulk of the starts in goal for the Bruins, going 8-1-0 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .929 save-percentage this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 1-0-1 against the Bruins last season, with both teams winning on the road. Including the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, the Blues are 4-1-0 in their last five games at TD Garden.

The teams will meet twice this season.

THEY SAID IT
"Our guys know what Boston is doing right now. They're playing great hockey, they're a very good team. We're going to be pumped up to play them. And maybe that's what we need. To go into a building playing a real hot team, we have an opportunity to knock them off. This is a good test for us to see where we're at. This is the best team in the League right now, in my opinion." - Craig Berube on facing the Bruins

BLUE NOTES
Torey Krug played in parts of nine seasons for the Bruins prior to joining the Blues in the 2020-21 season. In 523 games in Boston, Krug scored 67 goals and 270 assists (337 points). Last season, in his first game back in Boston, Krug scored a goal and an assist to help the Blues to victory… Vladimir Tarasenko is set to play in his 616th career game, tying Bobby Plager for 11th in franchise history.

The Boston Bruins haven't experienced many losses over the first few weeks of the NHL season, but they will look to bounce back from one when they return home to face the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.

Sunday's 2-1 loss to Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs in Toronto snapped Boston's seven-game win streak, which had been the longest in the league. The Bruins hadn't lost since Oct. 18 in Ottawa.

"We weren't very sharp," coach Jim Montgomery said. "(Toronto) checked extremely well, they protected the middle of the ice well, but you're on the third game of a five-day road trip and we went in the third period 2-1 and gave ourselves a chance."

Brad Marchand scored a game-tying penalty shot in the second period, marking his 800th NHL point.

The Bruins were in the game until Matthews netted the winner with 5:53 to play. Boston's continued high compete level has been impressive to the first-year coach.

"I just like our ability to manage games and give ourselves opportunities to have outcomes," Montgomery said.

The Bruins will now play five of their next six games at home after beating Columbus, Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers over a four-game road trip.

Only former Boston coach Bruce Cassidy's Vegas Golden Knights (11-2-0) have more wins than the Bruins (10-2-0) in the entire NHL.

Thanks to such a strong start, the Bruins expect to get the best from every team they come up against.

"We have to realize that every time we play a game now, that team's gonna be ready for us," center David Krejci said. "That was a good test for us. We've got to learn from it and make sure we're as prepared as the other team."

Saturday marked Krejci's return to the lineup following a three-game injury absence (upper body), while Montgomery believes forward Craig Smith "will be close" to returning against the Blues. Smith has also missed three games due to an upper-body ailment.

The Blues visit Boston having been outscored 30-10 during a six-game losing streak, but they have had more time to sit on those defeats than any NHL team as Monday will be their league-low 10th game this season.

St. Louis has been idle since a 5-2 Thursday loss to the New York Islanders, in which Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist. Prior to the game, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong held a closed-door team meeting.

"I thought we competed hard and there were a lot of good things, but the goals aren't there," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "Chances, but I get it, we're not producing very much."

All six losses during the current streak have come in regulation, a first for St. Louis since the end of the 2013-14 season.

The return of veteran winger Brandon Saad could be near, as he returned to practice on Thursday and Friday after missing all six games with an upper-body injury. Saad has been out since the Blues last won on Oct. 22 in Edmonton.

"I just think he builds our game with his direct play and skating," Berube said. "He's on top of things, he does a lot of good things and he's a situational guy for us. And he really drives that north kind of hockey, forechecking and skating."

The St. Louis roster includes former Bruins defenseman Torey Krug and forward Noel Acciari, who both have points in two of their last three games.

The Blues will close a back-to-back set Tuesday at Philadelphia.