Bring on the Rivermen!

120:52 is an eternity for the St. Louis Blues.

That is how long it has been since the team has lit the lamp, which occurred on October 28th in North Carolina when David Perron added an empty-net goal to seal a 5-2 Blues victory.  The celebration did not seem to last long.

The next night, the Blues threw 32 shots at Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who stopped every single one in a 2-0 blanking of the Blues.  Long-time Blues-killer Tomas Vokoun displayed a similar achievement two nights later in a 34-save effort en route to the Panthers snubbing the Blues 4-0 at Scottrade Center.  Being shutout two games in a row is not something that Head Coach Andy Murray has expected out of his club.

"All losses look bad," Murray said after the Florida game. "Again, we're down 2-0 in the first period and we're having such a tough time scoring ourselves, and yet we give up two easy goals; very poor coverage decisions in our end and it's 1-0. Again, another goal with poor coverage decisions." 

So where can the Blues turn to try and nip this problem in the bud?

The Blues' AHL affiliate, Peoria Rivermen, are riding rough waters as well.  No pun intended.

The Rivermen find themselves sixth in the Western Division with a 4-4-1-2 record (1 overtime loss and 2 shootout losses), placing them seven points behind the division leader.  So maybe a shake up would do the AHL club some good as well.

Defenseman Jonas Junland has been very impressive thus far for the Rivermen.  His 6 goals and 13 points are tops for the team, along with his impressive +5.  The near 22-year old is on the final year of his contract, and many believe that he will return to Sweden if he cannot crack the Blues' lineup in the near future.  Bringing Junland in might spark an offensive outburst from the blue line on the power-play.

The 3-season AHL veteran Nicholas Drazenovic has had an impressive start to his young season as well.  Drazenovic, 22, has 4 goals and 8 assists, placing him second on the team.  Playing on the top line with Lars Eller, Drazenovic is making a push for NHL recognition.

Eller is another player that the Blues have to be considering bringing up.  The young forward was expected to make the Blues roster for opening day, but came down with a case of mononucleosis.  Eller would add speed and determination to a current lackluster Blues lineup.

Of course, in order to bring up any players, the Blues would need to assess what to do with their current roster.  With forwards D.J. King and Alexander Steen and defenseman Barret Jackman all on injury reserve, the club only has 22 players on the roster; one less than what the NHL allows on any team.  But in order to really shake up the lineup, management would need to send some players down or put someone on waivers.

One player who needs a close look is veteran Darryl Sydor.  The 37-year old defenseman was brought into training camp on a try-out basis and made the club after the final cuts.  When Blues President John Davidson announced the signing of Sydor to a 1-year, $1 million contract, he more or less did it to replace injured captain Eric Brewer to fill out the veteran defensive core.

“Darryl Sydor is a true professional in our game," Davidson said shortly after the signing. "He's a proven winner who brings valuable leadership to our blue line and will be a positive mentor for our younger defensemen."

With Brewer back and Sydor just eating minutes away from youngsters Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Johnson, the team should consider parting ways with the aging defenseman.  He would very likely be claimed on waivers by another NHL club.

Bringing up a young player and giving him valuable even strength or power-play time may send a message to his teammates as well.  Taking away a top 6 forward or a top defenseman's minutes might give that spark that the players need to score the big goals.

The Blues, who are currently ranked 13th in the Western Conference, need to find a way to climb out of this current rut if they want to be one of the better teams in the very tough Central Division.  Whether they choose to utilize their AHL club or not, something must be done before the Blues faithful begins really panicking.  After such a great ending to last season, the St. Louis club built standards for this campaign.  Starting the season 5-6-1 was not the start that the Gateway City was hoping for.