Blues coach Andy Murray faces his biggest crisis since taking the helm of this team.
His team is relatively healthy, with only wingers Martin Rucinsky and Mike Johnson on the injured list. His core talent has been intact most of the season.
The addition of playmaking center Andy McDonald gave his team a much-needed boost. In 13 games with the Note, he has scored 14 points. (The man he was traded for, Doug Weight, produced just 11 points in 29 games before heading to Anaheim.)
The Blues have ample help available down on the farm; the Peoria Rivermen won 10 games in a row during a recent AHL stretch and they earned points in 23 of 27 games. Their top prospects showed well at the World Junior Championships, too.
But despite these encouraging long-term signs, the Blues are in a state of emergency. They are winless in their last five games, which is a terrible slump in the balanced NHL.
Look at the carnage:
* Blue Jackets 6, Blues 4 in Columbus: Back-up goaltender Hannu Toivonen couldn?t stop a puck to save himself, literally. His hapless performance earned him a demotion to Peoria to work out his kinks.
* Canucks 4, Blues 3 at Scottrade: The Note earned a point in the shootout loss, but Murray?s team wasted a rare two-point performance by enigmatic defenseman Christian Backman.
* Blackhawks 6, Blues 1 at Chicago: Goaltender Manny Legace got run over, then emergency fill-in goaltender Marek Schwarz got strafed. This was not a good night all around, although Murray was relieved that Legace?s arm injury was not serious.
* Predators 5, Blues 2 at Scottrade: Legace was terrible in this game. Toivonen, rushed back from Peoria, wasn?t much better. The Note got outscored 2-1 on its power play and disappointed a sellout crowd that struggled to keep all that free food down.
* Predators 6, Blues 3 at Nashville: After saying all the right things after the previous two losses, the Blues couldn?t put those words into action. And Legace?s continuing struggles made us wonder if his knee injury is flaring up again.
In five games (plus one overtime), the Blues allowed 26 goals. Their goaltending wasn?t good enough, obviously, but their defense broke down as well.
Their power play is still insufficient (converting just 12.2 percent of its chances this season) and the team needs more production from forwards at even strength.
Paul Kariya has five points during his last five games, but also a plus-minus rating of minus-7 for that span. Center Keith Tkachuk has zero assists in his last 10 games.
Lee Stempniak has just three goals since Dec. 22. Rookie David Perron has no points in his last five games. Young power forward David Backes has scored just six goals all season.
The Blues slipped to 12th place in the Western Conference, five points out of the final playoff spot. They still have ?games in hand? over their immediate rivals, but they have just surrendered a bunch of games to their peers.
Columbus, Vancouver, Chicago and Nashville are among the teams the Blues will have to fight for a playoff berth. They face the Canucks again tonight, then travel to San Jose to play one final game before the All-Star break.
Murray must find a way to win a game, period. He and his staff must hit some new buttons and get a different result.
Meanwhile, John Davidson and Larry Pleau must examine all options to freshen up the roster. Trades aren?t easily made in the new NHL, but this losing streak increases their sense of urgency.
If the Blues don?t pull out of this tailspin soon, they will fall out of the playoff race before the stretch run even starts.
His team is relatively healthy, with only wingers Martin Rucinsky and Mike Johnson on the injured list. His core talent has been intact most of the season.
The addition of playmaking center Andy McDonald gave his team a much-needed boost. In 13 games with the Note, he has scored 14 points. (The man he was traded for, Doug Weight, produced just 11 points in 29 games before heading to Anaheim.)
The Blues have ample help available down on the farm; the Peoria Rivermen won 10 games in a row during a recent AHL stretch and they earned points in 23 of 27 games. Their top prospects showed well at the World Junior Championships, too.
But despite these encouraging long-term signs, the Blues are in a state of emergency. They are winless in their last five games, which is a terrible slump in the balanced NHL.
Look at the carnage:
* Blue Jackets 6, Blues 4 in Columbus: Back-up goaltender Hannu Toivonen couldn?t stop a puck to save himself, literally. His hapless performance earned him a demotion to Peoria to work out his kinks.
* Canucks 4, Blues 3 at Scottrade: The Note earned a point in the shootout loss, but Murray?s team wasted a rare two-point performance by enigmatic defenseman Christian Backman.
* Blackhawks 6, Blues 1 at Chicago: Goaltender Manny Legace got run over, then emergency fill-in goaltender Marek Schwarz got strafed. This was not a good night all around, although Murray was relieved that Legace?s arm injury was not serious.
* Predators 5, Blues 2 at Scottrade: Legace was terrible in this game. Toivonen, rushed back from Peoria, wasn?t much better. The Note got outscored 2-1 on its power play and disappointed a sellout crowd that struggled to keep all that free food down.
* Predators 6, Blues 3 at Nashville: After saying all the right things after the previous two losses, the Blues couldn?t put those words into action. And Legace?s continuing struggles made us wonder if his knee injury is flaring up again.
In five games (plus one overtime), the Blues allowed 26 goals. Their goaltending wasn?t good enough, obviously, but their defense broke down as well.
Their power play is still insufficient (converting just 12.2 percent of its chances this season) and the team needs more production from forwards at even strength.
Paul Kariya has five points during his last five games, but also a plus-minus rating of minus-7 for that span. Center Keith Tkachuk has zero assists in his last 10 games.
Lee Stempniak has just three goals since Dec. 22. Rookie David Perron has no points in his last five games. Young power forward David Backes has scored just six goals all season.
The Blues slipped to 12th place in the Western Conference, five points out of the final playoff spot. They still have ?games in hand? over their immediate rivals, but they have just surrendered a bunch of games to their peers.
Columbus, Vancouver, Chicago and Nashville are among the teams the Blues will have to fight for a playoff berth. They face the Canucks again tonight, then travel to San Jose to play one final game before the All-Star break.
Murray must find a way to win a game, period. He and his staff must hit some new buttons and get a different result.
Meanwhile, John Davidson and Larry Pleau must examine all options to freshen up the roster. Trades aren?t easily made in the new NHL, but this losing streak increases their sense of urgency.
If the Blues don?t pull out of this tailspin soon, they will fall out of the playoff race before the stretch run even starts.
