The Blues are a puzzle. One of the best road teams in the NHL this season, they've somehow managed to turn the Scottrade Center into a home-ice disadvantage.

Before Saturday's home game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Blues were fourth in the NHL with a .722 road winning percentage, but were wallowing at 28th in the league with a .393 home winning percentage.

Go figure.

"It's great that we've been great on the road," coach Andy Murray said Saturday afternoon. "It's keeping us in it. But if that's the case over 82 games, then we won't be playing (in the playoffs) at the end of the year. To me, on the long term, you've got to win your home games. We know that. Whether guys are pressing too much, I don't know. All of the talk in the room is the right talk. They've stressed setting the tone at home."

The Blues earned a maximum four points in visits to Dallas and Nashville earlier this week, and tried to bring that road-warrior attitude home for the encounter with the struggling Red Wings. Things weren't all bad; the Blues had won four of their last five, and their best forwards seemed to be coming around.

Murray has done a solid job of keeping the players together, which isn't easy when a team is under duress. He's holding them accountable without freaking out. He's tried to take a positive approach. And he keeps pushing it.

"There is a track record with our established guys," Murray said. "And if they keep working, they will produce. That's the message. Just stay with it."

Murray is channeling the Journey song with his incessant "don't stop believing" communiqués. Harsh criticism plays well with the fan base and media, but if a coach pushes too hard, or gets too personal, he risks losing the locker room. Murray is trying to find the proper balance.

"The other day we talked about the ingredients that go into winning," Murray said. "We went through our whole lineup. I started with myself, and as I coach I told them that my level needed to be better. It starts with me. I took responsibility.

"You're either playing to your level of expectation or you're not doing it. That applies to me. And I went through each guy, and talked about which guys were doing it, and which guys weren't. It wasn't condemning guys, it was just saying that if we wanted to be a good team, we needed more people on the (good) performance side. The effort has been there. It's a matter of execution."

The boring reality is that the Blues need their best players, especially their veterans, to lead the way. The fluctuations of the youngsters — T.J. Oshie, Erik Johnson, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, etc. — shouldn't be surprising. It's part of the growth process.

And there are no quick-fix solutions here, no Murray miracles that can be dispensed to cure the scoring shortage. It's up to David Backes, Brad Boyes, Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald and other experienced Blues to finish chances and convert frustration into renewable confidence.

Part of this is psychological. The Blues, a dynamic fun bunch last season, won the city back with their verve. Now they have to deliver an encore. When at home, they want to please the crowd. They want to prove that last season was no fluke. They put a lot of pressure on themselves, and if you're tight you can't fly around, buzzing and making plays. On the road, the Blues' underdog spirit rages. At home, for some reason, the fire has been suppressed.

I also question whether Blues management overestimated what they had last season. A hot goaltender, Chris Mason, turned their 2008-09 season around. But instead of taking a more aggressive approach to improving the roster, the Blues banked on receiving impact from their returning injured players — Kariya, Johnson and Eric Brewer. But you can make the case that the Blues needed to import a goal scorer.

"Management felt we were adding with those guys coming back and I have to agree with them," Murray said. "And I think our team did, too. Whether we look back on it at the end of the season and say we should have done more ... first of all, I don't even think about that. They don't want me to. And if I was in management, I wouldn't want the coach thinking about that, either."

And some of this is bad luck, too. The scoring chances are there. Sometimes you need the puck to deflect off a skate, carom off a shin, and worm its way past an oblivious goaltender. The Blues haven't had many random, cheap goals that are a prominent aspect of winning hockey games. They haven't benefited from the providence of chaos.

"How can so many of our guys go cold at the same time? It's been perplexing," Blues President John Davidson said. "All the years I've been around hockey, I don't know if I've seen anything like it. It will change."

The Blues' players are working. And Murray is working with them. Together, they're trying to fight through this.

And the same was true Saturday night, even as the Blues gave up two leads and lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Red Wings.

But the boys are improving. They're getting closer to being what they should be. Go ahead and cue the Journey song. It still fits.