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 Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko and center David Backes each had
a goal and an assist, leading the Blues to a 4-2 win over the
Edmonton Oilers, who saw their road losing streak reach a
franchise-record 13 games (0-7-6).
The Oilers (10-25-9) have won only two of 21 road games this season.
"When there are teams behind you in the standings, significantly
behind you, you just don't want to give those points away,"
Hitchcock said. "Nobody is giving them away. You've got to keep pace
here."
The Blues (27-13-3) are now 3-0 on a seven-game homestand, but they
face tougher challenges beginning Thursday with their first meeting
of the season against the Detroit Red Wings. The Toronto Maple Leafs
come to town on Saturday, followed by the Colorado Avalanche on
Monday.
"We're going to get three significant games to tell us really where
we're at," Hitchcock said.
The key to the Blues' win against the Oilers was jumping out to a
3-0 lead, a reversal of what happened in St. Louis' previous game.
On Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Blues fell
behind 3-1 in the opening period and had to rally to win in a
shootout.
 Tarasenko's 24th goal of the season and then the 15th by Backes gave
the Blues a 2-0 lead after the first period. Left winger Jaden
Schwartz made it 3-0 with his 15th of the season in the second
period.
Left winger Alexander Steen scored the Blues' fourth goal in the
final period, a tally that was sandwiched between a pair of goals
from Edmonton left winger Benoit Pouliot. Center Jori Lehtera and
defenseman Barret Jackman each had two assists for the Blues.
The Blues limited the Oilers to 15 shots on goal, the fewest St.
Louis allowed in a game this season.
"I think right from the start, guys were getting the pucks deep, we
were getting a lot of shots on net and recovering the rebounds,"
Jackman said. "When we get our feet moving and play a north(-south)
game, we're a much better overall team and a lot harder to defend."
Oilers coach Todd Nelson admitted it was tough for his team to get
much going offensively.
"The way that they forecheck, they forecheck hard," Nelson said.
"They're a heavy team, but also with that if we manage the puck
better and are able to get pucks in behind them and not always
trying to make a perfect play through the neutral zone, just keeping
it simple, it's a lot more difficult for a defenseman to go back on
the puck versus creating that turnover."
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The Oilers have not won a game away from Edmonton since Nov. 9.
"It's tough," Pouliot said. "For the whole year, it's been tough.
Road games are always tougher than home games, that's normal, but
the good teams are going to win wherever they play, and we've got to
try and find a way to do that. It's getting late in the season, but
it's never too late to build something off of what we've got left,
and you never know what can happen."
The win was the 684th of Hitchcock's NHL coaching career, allowing
him to tie good friend Pat Quinn for fifth on the all-time victories
list in the regular season.
Still, he was looking ahead on this night, not backward, starting
with Thursday night's game against Detroit.
"We're going to get really challenged Thursday and Saturday, but we
are controlling the games a lot better right now," Hitchcock said.
"We were winning games (earlier in the season), but it was overtime,
late, stuff like that -- finding heroes every night. We've got more
of a team concept and team game going right now, and if we can get
our special teams up and running this week, I like our chances."
NOTES: Blues G Martin Brodeur did not play for the fifth consecutive
game. Brodeur has only played one game since Dec. 29, and there is
no indication of when he might get another start. ... Oilers RW Luke
Gazdic returned to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 2. He
was scratched for 11 of the previous 13 games. ... Edmonton C Derek
Roy played the 700th game of his NHL career. ... The game was the
start of a four-game trip for the Oilers. They will play the
Lightning in Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
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