Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Blues have said plenty, hope to get results tonight

St. Louis Blues v Phoenix Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 22: T.J. Oshie #74 of the St. Louis Blues during the NHL game against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena on March 22, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Blues 2-1. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The St. Louis Blues have lost three of their last four games and are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

With their hold on a playoff spot slipping, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock held a post-game meeting after their latest defeat. They’ll play the Los Angeles Kings tonight and try to prove they can do more than just talk about their problems.

“It’s all comes down what we do tonight,” forward T.J. Oshie told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I have a lot of trust in the guys in this locker room that that’s going to get done.”

“If we don’t,” captain David Backes added, “we’re going to be a miserable team for a while. So, it’s time to put up tonight and we’ll see how we respond as a group.”

The Blues will have three off-days to think about what went wrong this time should they lose tonight. More importantly, they might fall out of the top eight during that time. As it is, only two points separate them and ninth place.

“It’s crunch time,” Andy McDonald said. “Everyone looks at the standings to see where we are, and how close it is.

“The expectations are so high in this room and guys want to play in the postseason. There have been a lot of meetings from the end of the last game until now, hopefully we understand that we have to bring it together now and they’re can’t be any excuses. The most important hockey is right now.”

The flip side is that a win tonight would be a big morale boost for the Blues at a critical time, especially seeing as it would be coming against the Kings. Including Los Angeles’ four-game sweep in the postseason, the Blues have suffered seven straight defeats to the Kings.

“They’re definitely a top test... I think the perfect test for us right now,” Oshie said.

Goaltender Jaroslav Halak is expected be in net for the Blues and the game will start at 8:00 p.m. ET.