Practice Report: St. Louis back in town as Blue Jackets face Caps

The ice was a little crowded Tuesday as the Blue Jackets got back to practice action at Nationwide Arena before
tonight's Metropolitan Division clash with Washington
.
With the team on home ice for the first time in more than a week, all 22 available skaters and even some members of the staff who don't always travel were present, as was one of the team's most intriguing hires of the season - Martin St. Louis.
The Hockey Hall of Famer has returned to Columbus to continue helping the Blue Jackets, his second trip to town to work with the team since he was hired as a special teams consultant in mid-January. St. Louis, who played under head coach John Tortorella in Tampa Bay for seven seasons, is also serving as a sounding board for players and a different voice outside of the strong one presented by Tortorella.

St. Louis
has been credited with the team's improved power play
, which is clicking at a 5-for-12 rate in six games since he first started working with the team after the winter break. Cam Atkinson said the team has a new language and a newfound confidence on the man advantage since the arrival of St. Louis.
For Tortorella, St. Louis has provided more than that. He's been an extra voice and a new set of eyes around to help the team become better and more consistent.
"It's great," Tortorella said. "I sat with Marty, we did some video, he was showing me some video that he showed some players yesterday. When we got booted out of here with the gas (leak Monday), Marty ended up meeting with two players.
"I think it's a little misconceived here. Yeah, he's doing a lot of work with (assistant coach Brad Larsen) on the power play. He's a lot more involved than that as far as dealing with some players that have struggled.
"Like I told Marty today when we were going over tape and what he showed a couple of guys, I said, 'I can't explain that,' so it's good that guy that sees that and has experienced that play or tried to make that play is able to talk to those guys. Who the hell am I to talk to about those plays with them? That's what's really cool about this.
"I watched him today in practice, I watched the players. They're really gravitating to him, asking him a couple questions, just banging (things) around with him. I'm not sure where it goes, but he's had a tremendous influence already in just the short time since he's been with us."
Home Cooking:So far, the Blue Jackets have won 17 of their first 27 road games, the most in franchise history at this point in the season.
On the other hand, the team is 14-11-2 at home, including just two wins in eight sellouts this year when crowds have filled Nationwide Arena hoping to push the team to a victory.
With the team facing a key stretch - second-place Washington followed by the first-place New York Islanders - team members agree that has to change.
"Our mentality has to change," captain Nick Foligno said. "I think sometimes we take a breath here for some reason, and I don't know why that is. I think what happens is every team comes in here expecting to have to play their best to beat us, and we don't match that or we don't anticipate that. We take a breath and think it's going to get easier at home. It doesn't. It gets harder at home. We have to expect teams' best, and we can't have an effort that is below that. We've had that too often here."
The Blue Jackets' last home game was a Feb. 2 loss to St. Louis in front of a sellout crowd that had little reason to cheer with Columbus down two goals for the majority of the game. Afterward, Tortorella acknowledged the failures in front of the biggest Nationwide crowds this year.
"We want to try to turn this into a hockey town," he said. "I can't worry about all that stuff, but in a way I do because I want it to work. I want our guys to be playing in a good building here. We have some loyal fans here, and we have played some bad hockey games at times where we could really get this game going."
Perhaps no opponent illustrates the Jackets' issues at home more than Washington. Columbus has lost four straight at home vs. the Caps - a 4-0 setback in December that Foligno dubbed "embarrassing" and "pathetic" on Tuesday and all three games on home ice during last season's first-round playoff loss.
"We need to find some consistency and style on how to play at home," Tortorella said. "It's been a very inconsistent part of our game this year. Tonight is a good game to start to try to get it on track."
Backstop Bob:Sergei Bobrovsky's numbers on the team's 3-for-3 road trip were pretty much in line with what he's done all season. He allowed eight goals in the three games and had a save percentage of .905, slightly better than his 2.98 GAA and .901 save percentage this season, the lowest marks of his CBJ career.
But the numbers belie some of the crucial saves Bobrovsky had in the wins. With the Blue Jackets fighting their game in Colorado, he stood tall in the second period to allow the team to put together its dominating third. In the Vegas game, he was at his best early when a 2-1 Vegas advantage could have been more thanks to some sloppy plays by the puck by the team.
While the numbers might not scream it, Tortorella said the goalie is playing as well right now as he has all season.
"I think he's found more of his game here," Tortorella said Tuesday. "He's really stepped up I think starting from that game prior to the break in Minnesota. … I thought it really started working there and has taken off since then. He made some really big saves at key times to keep us there in Vegas. This is as close as I've seen Bob to being Bob, if I can put it that way, really throughout the year."
Bobrovsky will start again vs. Washington tonight for his fourth straight start, while Tortorella said no lineup changes are expected. Brandon Dubinsky (hip) did not practice.