Blues get even after controversial defeat
Head coach credited with keeping players focused after blown call in previous game
The message from Craig Berube to his players in the angry moments after their controversial Game 3 loss to San Jose was simple: don’t get mad, get even.
The St. Louis Blues wanted to scream and swear and tell the dozens of reporters rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the juicy quotes that the referees blew it, Erik Karlsson’s overtime winner never should have counted and the result was an embarrassing miscarriage of justice.
It didn’t happen. Berube’s postgame address settled the troops and channelled their rage into Game 4, where the Blues finally did get even with a 2-1 win.
The Blues scored two goals in the first period, blanked the second and hung on for dear life in the third to make good on their promise to avenge Game 3 and tie the series at 2-2 heading into Game 5 Sunday in San Jose.
“Chief (Berube) addressed the group and said ‘There’s nothing you can do. That’s hockey. That’s sports. These things test you at times,’” said defenceman Robert Bortuzzo. “I think we handled it the way we should have. It wasn’t Game 7, so there was more hockey to be played.
“If you focus your emotions on the wrong places, that’s not going to lead you to anything positive. We directed our energy in the right place.”
Since the day he took over a team that looked lifeless and lost in November, the Blues say Berube has been a source of inspiration and calmness. Both qualities were evident again in a dressing room full of players who could barely contemplate what just happened.
“His presence over this long stretch of hockey, whether it be regular season or playoffs, has been a sense of passion,” said Bortuzzo. “But he is also very calculated in his messages and I think he set an incredible tone for our group.”
When that group needed it most.
“We were all disappointed in what happened, but it was good for him to come in and say that,” said centre Ryan O’Reilly. “It helped a lot, especially when it’s an emotional one like that, guys are frustrated.
“You could see guys were biting their tongue, but it was good for him to come in and stress that we’re not going to talk about this in the media, let’s just get ready for the next one. Right there, it put us in a good spot.”
Game 4 wasn’t much of a surprise, actually. The Blue overcame a lot to get to this point, like a coaching change and sitting in last place in January, earning a well-deserved reputation for fighting back. So everyone pretty much expected them to come out and do what they did on Friday.
“We lost two straight games to Winnipeg, we were down to Dallas … there’s a resiliency to this group that didn’t just happen overnight,” said Bortuzzo. “It’s something the staff ingrained in us and as a group we’ve built over a long stretch of hockey. There’s a quiet confidence to us that if we go about our business over time, we’re going to have success.”
The Sharks made it interesting, cutting the lead to 2-1 on a power-play goal at 6:43 by Tomas Hertl.
AS PROMISED
What was it Blues winger Patrick Maroon said about the start of Game 4?
“We have to set the tone right away. Let them know we’re coming and we are pissed off.”
Mission accomplished. The Blues came out snorting in the first period (they were credited with 15 hits) and went up 1-0 on Ivan Barbashev’s goal 35 seconds after the opening faceoff and 2-0 on a power-play goal from Tyler Bozak at 17:53.
EVEN UP
After the missed call in Game 3, you had to assume the Blues would get the better of the early calls in Game 4, which is how it went.
They received the first two power plays of the game, scoring on the second. And during a second-period scrum, in which two Blues socked Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the chops for poking at the puck under goalie Jordan Binnington’s glove, the referees evened it up by sending Vlasic (slashing) and Brayden Schenn (roughing) to the box.
DO YA FEEL LUCKY?
The Sharks are well aware they are getting some incredibly fortunate breaks at some key moments in these playoffs. But it’s starting to get on their nerves when people suggest that luck is one of the key reasons they’re in the conference final.
“We’re battling,” said Hertl. “We had two seven-game series. We’re battling through a lot of ups and downs. I don’t think it’s lucky. We just work for it. I don’t care what everybody’s saying. We deserve to win. I don’t like lucky overall. If you work for it, you deserve it.”