May 6 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr (44) checks St. Loius Blues right wing Vladiimir Tarsenko (91) into the boards in game four of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at Staples Center. The Kings defeated the Blues 4-3 to tie the series 2-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

All year, the St. Louis Blues have played with a perfect balance of physicality and finesse. In one instance, Ryan Reaves could pummel a guy into the boards, and the next line would have passing between TJ Oshie, David Perron and David Backes look as smooth and silky as a high-quality kimono.

Last night, we saw plenty of that same skill: Oshie tipping in a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk, Vladimir Sobotka’s sick drop pass to Jay Bouwmeester which led to the Backes goal, etc. Yet, for all that skill, the Blues lost. By the end of the third period, they didn’t even look like they deserved the win, getting completely dominated in every aspect of the game.

The tally in the “L” column came from a combination of two things: the Kings stepping up their own physical, hard-hitting play and the Blues sacrificing their own physicality for more goal-scoring attempts.

On paper, the Blues won in the hits department by a slim 46-42 margin, but in this case, the stats are a total red herring. the Kings often got two forwards deep on the forecheck and made key hits that stopped the Blues offense from ever getting started. Gassed by the time they got to the opposing blue line, St. Louis often had to peel off and start making substitutions for the next wave of Kings’ offense. Los Angeles forced the Blues into that defensive mindset after the Blues took a promising 2-0 lead.

Ken Hitchcock, for whatever reason, also broke up his CPR line (Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Reaves) that had proven a formidable force unafraid to make big hits. He sat Cracknell in favor of Vladimir Tarasenko, who has struggled to make plays since he exploded early in the season. Tarasenko’s a lot of things, but he’s not a heavy hitter that could replace Cracknell in terms of enforcing the Blues’ checking. Tarasenko also had the least amount of playing time last night (5:51), so if Hitchcock put him on the roster to make goals, he showed little confidence in putting him on the ice so he could do so.

Reaves and Porter had the next fewest on-ice minutes with 7:55 and 8:38, respectively. Although that’s more playing time than each of them has seen in any one game of this series, giving those big hitters more opportunities to get out there and lay down the law against the Kings will go a long way to giving players like Tarasenko, Andy McDonald and Perron more room to maneuver on the ice.

The veterans have to step up to an extent though, as well. Roman Polak missed his coverage, which led to the third Kings goal. He got caught looking at goaltender Brian Elliott, instead of LA’s assistant captain Anze Kopitar who had a clear shot from maybe ten feet out. Perron has to stop letting himself get bullied in front of the Kings’ crease. McDonald needs to play less scared when he has good chances.

Still, all of these games have been close and there’s a lot to be optimistic about, especially as the  series comes back to the ScottTrade Center. Youngster Jaden Schwartz has played some of the best hockey of his young career in the last week, Oshie looks stellar coming off of his injury, and even though four went past him last night, Elliott still makes a great brick wall in front of the net.

And now, a parting message from Olivia Newton-John to the notes. Let’s Go Blues!

St. Louis took yet another early lead Saturday, Sobie scoring his 1st goal at 4:51, banging in a rebound off a shot from the point by Kevin Shattenkirk. Giving up early leads has become a problem for the Blues lately and the Sharks continued the trend, scoring at 15:19 on a wide open net as the defense got caught standing still. Not much Allen could have done about that one. St. Louis played an outstanding all-around, team period in the 1st period but had a few lapses and paid dearly for them. San Jose would go on a tear in the 2nd frame, out-shooting the Blues 12-11 and scoring twice more. The Blues allowed the Sharks time to set up in their zone and Allen had a some trouble covering up rebounds. San Jose is a tough team who isn’t going to miss too many of those opportunities. They hadn’t scored more than 2 goals in their last 13 games coming into Saturday’s tilt.

Down 3-1 as the 2nd ended, St. Louis looked like they were fighting the puck, getting knocked back on their heels a bit, but they hung in the game and I thought they showed a lot of character, turning up the pressure on San Jose netminder, Antti Niemi in the 3rd period, ultimately chasing him after two more Sobotka tallies tied things up. He pulled the Blues to within one on a bad angle shot that sneaked through Niemi at 4:18, and then knotted it up at three apiece just over a minute later on a power-play goal.

Both of those 3rd period goals were what I’d call “soft,” and apparently San Jose coach Todd McLellan agreed, pulling Niemi in favor of rookie Alex Stalock. Stalock had been a teammate of Allen just last season in Peoria. Throughout the game we saw Chris Stewart taking a major role in standing up for his fellow Notes, and as a whole the Blues were making sacrifices up and down the ice to get back in the game, taking hits to make plays and blocking shots. It’s those kinds of selfless plays that make a talented team a winning team and St. Louis showed their willingness to give up the body for their team Saturday. David Backes and TJ Oshie both played very aggressively, something we’re starting to see more of from those leaders on this Blues team. One area the team needs to improve on though, in my opinion, is not shooting the puck wide of the net. The Blues out-shot San Jose 35 to 25 in the game, but it felt like there were at least half as many shots that missed the net completely. Matt D’Agostini had a chance to win the game with only a few seconds remaining in regulation and beat Stalock but sailed the puck well high and wide, forcing overtime.

Berglund, parked in front of the net as the Blues applied some offensive zone pressure, tipped in the winner at 1:14 of the extra session, giving St. Louis the second straight win and Allen his 5th road victory. Barret Jackman fired the puck at the net and Bergie was able to deftly knock it past Stalock for the goal. Putting pucks on the net is never a bad thing.

Out-shooting their opponents. Taking hits to make plays. Moving the puck quickly out of their own zone and up the ice. It seems like a pretty simple game plan and when the Blues execute, they usually win. Jaroslav Halak will get the start in goal for St. Louis Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks, and I hope the Blues can feed off their recent efforts to play that tough, gritty, team game.

GO BLUES! Long Live the Note!