The St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks have much in common these days.
Both teams are losing ground in the Western Conference standings during their October struggles, and both teams are depleted by injuries.
Players on both sides will be seeking a turning point when the Blues host the Canucks Thursday night. The Blues are 0-4-1 in their last five games while the Canucks are 1-4-0.
St. Louis has been playing without top center Robert Thomas (upper-body injury) and winger Jake Neighbours (lower-body injury) while Vancouver has been playing without superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes (lower-body injury).
Canucks forward Conor Garland exited Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers with an unspecified issue. He joined an injured list that also includes Filip Chytil, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Teddy Blueger, Victor Mancini, Derek Forbort and Nils Hoglander in addition to Hughes.
With Garland not making the road trip, the Canucks recalled forward Mackenzie MacEachern from AHL affiliate Abbotsford.
“We’re losing some guys right now, some key guys,” Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood said. “But no excuses, we’ve got to just dig in … and try to find a way to unite and make up for those guys that are out right now.”
The Blues will be trying to tighten their defensive play after allowing 24 goals in their last four games. Goaltenders Jordan Binnington (2-4-1, 3.27 goals-against average) and Joel Hofer (1-2-0, 5.81) both have struggled.
“We’re not protecting the ice that we’re valuing the most,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We like to protect the middle of the ice, we like to attack the middle of the ice and defensively, we don’t give up a lot and then all of the sudden, we give up a chance.”
During their downturn, the Blues have yielded several deflection goals.
“We’ve got to do a better job controlling sticks so that we make life a little easier on our goaltenders here because we play good hockey in stretches and we don’t give up much and all of the sudden, bang!” Montgomery said.
The Blues have stumbled to a 1-4-1 start at home this season.
“Obviously the fans, they can be as frustrated at us as they want and they have every right to because at the end of the day, we’re not getting the job done and right now our job is to find a way,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “We can’t look big picture right now. We’ve got to find a way to get one win and play for the guy next to you and buckle down and build a little inner confidence for yourself and for the team.”
The depleted Canucks scored just nine goals in their last five games. Frustration mounted during their shutout loss Tuesday.
“I thought we gave a pretty good effort there in the third to make a push and get back in the game,” Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko said. “We had a ton of loose pucks kind of laying around the crease there and just couldn’t find one to put in the back of the net. But, yeah, it’s disappointing.”
