Berube calls out Blues following OT loss to Canucks

ST. LOUIS -- Craig Berube voiced his displeasure with the St. Louis Blues following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks at home Thursday.

The Blues (26-28-4), who lost their fourth straight game since trading forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 17, blew a two-goal lead in the third period, including allowing the tying goal with 29 seconds remaining in regulation.
"A lot of our best players [are] not doing the job," the St. Louis coach said.
When asked why, Berube responded, "I don't know, you have to ask them. I guess they don't care about the team. I don't know. Not sure why."
Some of the Blues' top players have not performed well since the trade, including forwards Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn, and defenseman Justin Faulk.
Thomas has no points and is minus-8 in the four-game skid (0-3-1), Kyrou has one assist and is minus-6, Schenn has no points and is minus-3, and Faulk has a goal and an assist but is minus-5.
"Not good enough, not even close," Berube said.
Forward Alexey Toropchenko, who scored a short-handed goal at 15:29 of the first period to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead, was also upset after the loss.
"Even if we are not in a playoff spot, I will do everything," Toropchenko said. "It's a hockey game, you cannot leave, especially if you're playing in the NHL. You're not playing somewhere else in a beer league or something like that. You need to show something. You need to show heart, character and to be strong everywhere. Just play from your heart."

The Blues, who are 11 points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, have been outscored 18-6 in the past four games.
In addition to O'Reilly and Accirari, the Blues also traded forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the New York Rangers on Feb. 9.
"I don't know what's going on, but especially for fans, you cannot play like that," Toropchenko said. "Like I said, you need to play for fans, for yourself, for everybody from the team. The team is just one family. It's not only about one guy. You need to be a part of it and to show some respect to each other."
Berube did go on to compliment the play of some of the younger players -- including Toropchenko, 23, and 22-year-old defenseman Tyler Tucker, who scored his first NHL goal against the Canucks -- and that of goalie Jordan Binnington, who made 38 saves, and forward Pavel Buchnevich, who had an assist and was plus-1 in 26:23 of ice time in his return after missing two games with a lower-body injury.
However, he continued to call out other top players.
"Our best players don't play with any passion, no emotion and no inspiration at all," Berube said. "They don't play inspired hockey. You cannot play in this league without emotion, grit and being inspired. They're getting paid lots of money and they're not doing the job. End of story. That's it. That's what it boils down to."