ST. LOUIS _ As good as the Blues have been on Fridays this season _ six wins in six games _ they've been nearly as bad on Sundays. They fell to 0-4 on Sunday with a 7-2 loss to Calgary at Enterprise Center.
The Blues spotted Calgary a 4-0 lead in the opening period before righting the ship to a degree. By then it was too late. Way too late.
"First period," forward Pat Maroon said. "We just didn't come out. I don't know why we didn't come out. It's been an ongoing thing all year, so it's disappointing. We had a chance to move up in the standings and a chance to gain playoff position, and we come out in the first period flat-footed."
Or as interim coach Craig Berube bluntly put it: "We were terrible in the first period. Every player. Terrible."
For the season, the Blues have been outscored 19-7 on Sundays. And once again, they were denied in their efforts to win a modest three games in a row. The best they've been able to do is two straight wins, most recently against Colorado and Florida.
"I don't know how you're not ready to play," Berube said. "We just won two games, we're feeling good. Ready to roll. We got a (Calgary) team that played yesterday afternoon in Minnesota, and a real good opportunity to make it three in a row and start feeling good. And we just lay an egg. Couldn't make a play. Couldn't check. No composure. No team play."
Put it all together, and the Blues are 12-15-4 after playing their final home game before Christmas. They play three games in western Canada this coming week.
One of those three games is against Calgary, which got two goals apiece from Johnny Gaudreau and Alan Quine to improve its Pacific Division leading record to 22-10-2.
