VANCOUVER, B.C. • There aren't many tougher ways to lose in hockey than a late goal in regulation. Uncharacteristically, that's what happened to the Blues on Thursday in Edmonton when Drake Caggiula's tally with 49.8 seconds to play gave the Oilers a 3-2 victory.
"It's always tough," coach Mike Yeo said following the team's morning skate Saturday. "Absolutely. It's disappointing. There were moments in that game where it felt like we had control of it, where we were gonna get the win. And obviously we let it slip through the cracks there."
The Blues just don't blow leads, but they did Thursday _ twice in the third period in that game. Time will tell if the point or two they left in Edmonton comes back to haunt them in late March when the playoffs are looming.
"To lose one late like that is certainly not typical of us, and what we've done and how we've handled those situations all year," Yeo said. "But stuff happens and you have to move on from it. You learn from it. And you get better from it."
After a team meeting Friday and a full-roster skate Saturday morning, the Blues were hoping to avoid a hangover effect _ and to end their losing streak at three games _ against Vancouver in the final game of a four-game road trip.
"The bottom line is the NHL is a hard league to flip a switch in," Yeo said. "And I think that last game was a step in the right direction. . . .We still weren't good enough in that game. A lot of the detail, the goals that they scored, were mistakes that we typically don't make.
"That's where we're at right now, it's making sure that we understand. We need wins right now, but if you have two guys on the ice that are trying to be overaggressive, trying to make that win happen, and you have three guys that are trying to be too safe, then that's a bad combination.
"In every situation, a player has a job to do. And when we all make sure that we're doing those jobs well, then collectively we're a strong group."
Jake Allen is in goal for tonight's 9 p.m. Central time start against the Canucks. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson is back in the lineup after missing the Edmonton game with an upper-body injury.
SATURDAY'S LINEUP
In a rarity for a game-day skate, all 23 Blues were on the ice Saturday morning, so the team formed lines.
Forwards
Berglund-Schenn-Tarasenko
Steen-Stastny-Thompson
Paajravi-Sundqvist-Sobotka
Upshall-Brodziak-Jaskin
Defense
Edmundson-Pietrangelo
Gunnarsson-Parayko
Dunn-Bortuzzo
Goalie
Allen
Extras • Barbashev, Thorburn, Schmaltz