I wasn’t at the Blues’ morning practice today. I don’t know this for certain, but I would expect David Perron to be in the lineup tonight with Colorado in town. The Avs are without many of their skill players, but they play a much different style than Anaheim. Based on Andy Murray’s comments the past week, I would also expect Manny Legace to be back in net.

Here are the post-game quotes from the Blues’ locker room after Friday’s 1-0 shootout win over Anaheim. A couple of the comments appeared in today’s Post-Dispatch, but I there’s a lot of other interesting items that I couldn’t fit in the article.

Andy Murray

Q: What’s going through your head during a 0-0 game, late in the third period?

Murray: “Just make sure we get a point, because you battled in a game like that . . . we were saying on the bench, every point is valuable here, let’s make sure we play the percentages. You’re down to the last two or three minutes, you want to be sure you get a point.”

Q: Your thoughts on the penalty-kill unit that came up big late in the third period (Keith Tkachuk took a tripping penalty with 1:23 left. The Blues got the game into overtime and then killed off the first 37 seconds of OT facing a 4-on-3).

Murray: “Certainly one of the stronger parts of our team all year has been our penalty killing. Tonight it came up big for us at the end of the game. And then at the start of the overtime as well. Crucial. When you come back off a road trip, and you’ve been gone for a while, for whatever reason . . . your first game back at home, it’s sometimes tough to get the rhythm. I think every team goes through it. What you need in those scenarios is a goaltender that gives you a chance and that’s what Manny did tonight.”

Q: You were 1-4 in shootouts. Was the feeling that the tide would eventually turn your way?

Murray: “You’re mindset is that you pick three guys and you think you’re going to score three goals. And you think your goalie is going to stop them all. That’s what you think every time because you think on the positive side. We let the other team shoot first tonight. That’s kind of like in the NFL, where you get to overtime . . . who was the Detroit Lions coach who said, ‘We’ll play defense first.’ I’ve always been one that you take the first shot on the penalty shot and you put the pressure on the other team. Tonight, we just decided to reverse that. So I guess that’s the answer.”

Q: You also went with Andy McDonald as your first shooter and pushed Brad Boyes to No. 2 in the order. Usually Brad is No. 1. What was the reason?

Murray: “I thought Andy should be the guy that goes first. Andy had a real solid game and I thought he should be the guy to go first.”

Q: It was a bad situation when Tkachuk got the penalty. Did you agree with the penalty, especially considering the timing of it?

Murray: “The referees now, it’s not like the old days. If it’s a penalty, they’re going to call a penalty no matter what the situation. They called it, so I’d have to say it must have been a penalty.”

Q: Do you think there should have been a hooking penalty called against Anaheim in OT, when Keith Tkachuk nearly went on a breakaway?

Murray: “We thought Keith got knocked down because he was going on a breakaway. He was by the guy. Then we thought as Keith was trying to get up, the guy grabbed his leg. I haven’t had a chance to review it. The referee came over before the shootout and explained his opinion. He told me he didn’t think it was a penalty. They’re always right.”

Q: You always look at each game individually, and say there’s no such thing as momentum. But what can you say about the way the team has played since the All-Star game, going 2-0 with wins over Toronto and Anaheim?

Murray: “I think we actually . . . if you take a look back . . . we played two real solid periods in Nashville. I thought we outplayed Vancouver in the game up there and deserved to win that one. Scored a goal with 2 1/2 minutes left that should have put us up to win it. Didn’t count the goal. Went to San Jose and played two real solid periods. We were down 1-0 after two periods and didn’t get the job done. Sometimes we played poorly for about three or four games before that. It almost seems like there’s a pennance that you have to serve. You’ve got to play a certain number of games well before somebody upstairs allows you to win one. That’s kind of what’s happened. We found a way to get a win (Friday). I don’t think we were as good as we were in Toronto. But I think we have played better for about four games, five games to be honest with you.”

Q: We saw Erik Johnson bring the puck in deep into the offensiz zone a few times. How much do you encourage that and how much do you like to see that?

Murray: “We like to see him bring the puck in. As long as he gives it to one of the guys in the Blues jerseys. We don’t mind that at all. It’s when he gives it to one of the guys in the white jerseys . . . that’s when we’re in trouble. We want our defense to be active. We’ve encouraged our defense to be active, just make a good decision with it when you’ve got it.I thought Erik made some good decisions with the puck. Boy, he jumped up with the play that one time and got  good pass from Jammer and had a breakway chance.”

Q: What has Erik done lately to earn your confidence?

Murray: “I think Erik, his game is getting better. He took a couple of steps back in the two Nashville games. We went up to Vancouver and he wasn’t in the lineup for the Vancouver game. That’s what you’re dealing with with these young guys. You’re going to love them for a minute . . . the puppy syndrome that I talked about . . . they’re cute and cuddly and you stroke them . . . and then you turn around and they’re doing something on the floor. That’s the way these young guys are.”

Q: Did you like the line of D.J. King-Jay McClement-Matt Walker?

Murray: “I thought they were feisty. I thought they had some grit. We were flat in the first period and their first shift was a great first shift. They put pressure up ice and had some contact and protected the puck very well down low. I thought that shift, if anything, brought us out of that travel funk a little bit. I thought they had a first great shift.”

Q: You guys had a lot of good scoring chances, but only 20 shots, and only 3 in the second period. Did you like the offense?

Murray: “Boy, we missed the net a lot. We overpassed at times. We were pre-scouting the Colorado game (Friday) and you’re watching Detroit play. They are probably the most skilled team in the league but they get inside the blue line and they’re shooting the puck and they’re putting it on net. They’re not trying to make the extra plays. They lead the league in shots on goal. They put the puck on net, and we’ve just got to learn to do that. We’ve got to hit the net. We’re fine-tuning a lot of our shots right now. I thought we had a lot of shot attempts that we missed the net on. But we had enough shots to get the win. That’s the bottom line.”

Q: You were clapping when Doug Weight was honored on the Jumbro-tron. Could you talk about your respect for Doug?

Murray: “Why wouldn’t you (clap). I’m just like everyone else. He entertained me the second half of last year and the start of this year. He helped make my job easier. I’m appreciative of Doug and what he did. If we could have won 2-1 and he could have got a goal, that would have been great. Manny may not agree with me.”

Manny Legace

Q: That was a full, 60-minute effort, as you like to say?
Legace: “It took 65 (minutes) plus . . . phenomenal effort. We got off to a bit a slow start. It didn’t faze us. Came back out in the second and thought we played a really strong second period. We followed it up with a great third. Killed that penalty at the end. Some big blocks. It was just a beautiful effort all around.”

Q: Tkachuk’s penalty could have been a deflater, but the PK stepped up?

Legace: “Yeah, it was huge. Then to go into overtime down 4-3 . . . just huge again. Didn’t let them get any great scoring chances.”

Q: When you go to the shootout, does it enter your head that the team hasn’t been good in shootouts this year?
Legace: “Yeeeeeep. As soon as we scored that first one, and the crowd got fired up, it was a good feeling.”

Q: Were you surprised not to see Doug Weight in the shootout?

Legace: “Yeah. Maybe he was going to be the third guy. I’m glad I didn’t get to him. I would have been really nervous.”

Andy McDonald

Q: Talk about your shootout attempt against Jean-Sebastian Giguere?

McDonald: “I’ve seen ‘Jiggy’ before and I just tried to do something that probably I haven’t done on him in the past. He’s such a good goalie, he’s probably thinking about a few things that I’ve done. It worked, and I was fortunate.”

Q: What did you do?
McDonald: “Well, I was trying to get him to think that I was going to go to my backhand. I think he was leaning a little bit that way, so I was able to find some room there over the blocker.”

Q: You haven’t been around for all of these shootout losses, but these guys had one goal on 16 attempts. It must feel good to get a win in this fashion?

McDonald: “We need the points so bad. I know what’s happened at the start of the year with the shootouts. I know that’s not really significant. We just need to keep winning, and whether we win it in regulation or a shootout, that’s what is important. The guys battled extremely hard.”

Q: You’ve seen Anaheim beat up on so many teams. How impressed were you with the Blues’ ability to stand up to the Ducks?

McDonald: “I think we played a very smart game. We competed really hard on pucks . . . we played probably a playoff-game atmosphere for us and that’s what we need to do. I think we had a good start there in Toronto - we played a similar-style game - and then we picked it up again (against Anaheim). The penalty killing was really strong for us and Manny was unbelievable. We need those types of efforts in the second half.”

Brad Boyes

Q: Could you talk about Manny’s play?

Boyes: “Manny is Manny, just like they talk about Manny Ramirez in Boston. When Manny plays the way he plays, he’s just Manny. There’s no words to keep talking about him. He wins us games, he keeps us in the games . . . made huge saves . . . that’s our MVP right there.”

Q: What’s it like in the third period of a 0-0 game when both teams have had offensive chances?

Boyes: “You just never want to pull back. You’ve got guys that have been battling, working real hard. We played physical against them. They’ve got a real tough team and a team that comes in and plays hard . . . and we didn’ t back down at all. That was the key to staying in it the whole time. They’ve got a solid team and we’ve got to pass them to get into the playoffs. It didn’t happen in the third, it didn’t happen in OT, but we got 2 points.”

Q: Is that a fun game to play in?

Boyes: “It was exciting. The first game we played them (4-2 Blues’ win on Oct. 23), it was just as exciting. They’re a playoff team and they know how to win. For us to keep going and get back into the playoffs, climb into this race, you’ve got to play styles like that. They’re not easy at all. Taking it the distance again, that’s the kind of hockey we have to play.”