ST. PAUL, MINN. • Unless opponents can build a lead on the Blues early, their chances of winning haven't been favorable lately.
The Blues went into Saturday's game in Minnesota riding a five-game streak in which they hadn't allowed a goal in the second or third period. The goaltenders stopped all 70 shots they faced in 200 minutes, 205 including Thursday's 3-2 shootout loss to Toronto. In that stretch, the club has outscored opponents 10-0.
That means all four goals the Blues surrendered in the home stand were scored in the first period. The team withstood those early punches and battled back, going 4-0-1 at Scottrade Center.
"We've been able to respond to the challenge," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think the biggest thing is, we haven't been overwhelmed by the challenge that's there. We've gotten really pushed hard by some awful good teams and the one thing we've been able to do is respond to the challenge. We got pushed really hard against Toronto and came right back at them. We got really pushed hard by Detroit and came right back at 'em. We got really pushed by Florida in the first period and came right back at them.
"I think my experience has been able to show the players that losing a period and getting pushed hard is not the end of the world. The other team is in the league, too ... you have to respect what they've done and now it's all about responding."
MORE INTENSITY ON PK
The Blues entered Saturday's game having killed off 15 consecutive opponent power plays. Under Hitchcock, the Blues' penalty-killing unit had erased 19 of 21 power plays before Saturday.
Once at the bottom of the NHL on the PK, the unit has climbed to 23rd in the league (79.4 percent). Other than adding personnel to the unit, Hitchcock said the Blues haven't drastically altered the scheme.
"Most of it's mentally," Hitchcock said. "We simplified the thinking to increase the reaction, to increase the intensity. We simplified less gray area, more black and white, more reaction, more intensity and that's exactly what's happened. It's not clean, it's not pretty sometimes, but when you're making sacrifices and you're working as hard as we are, it frustrates top players. I think the turnaround has been quick, so that's been nice to see."
The PK unit ranked 27th when the coaching change was made, as the Blues gave up 11 goals on 42 opponent power plays under Davis Payne.
"It's all hard work," said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who was averaging 2 minutes, 48 seconds of PK ice time per game going into Saturday. "We're just working at it. We're skating, a lot of communication, we're going over a lot of video and I think that's made a big difference."
BLUE NOTES
Forward Chris Stewart served the second game of his three-game suspension for his hit on Detroit's Niklas Kronwall. ... The Blues traveled only 18 skaters to Minnesota, so the team had no healthy scratches.
