Vladimir Tarasenko's slump causes concern for Blues

SAN JOSE, Calif. – St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock wants Vladimir Tarasenko to look across the rink at the San Jose Sharks and see the desire and willpower of his opponent.

He wants his young sniper to see players like Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton paying the price in order to make a big play. He wants Tarasenko to understand that at this stage of the postseason not all goals need to be highlight-worthy.

“As you experience this as a younger player, you're going to have to learn to fight through a lot if you expect to score. We would like him to learn that lesson a day from now, but we're not sure on the timeframe,” Hitchcock said after the Sharks downed the Blues 3-0 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Final. “Some guys never learn it. Some guys can't do it. Some guys learn that lesson and they really become accomplished players, especially scoring players. But he's going to have to fight through everything if he expects to score a goal and contribute offensively.”

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In Game 3 Tarasenko was held off the score-sheet again and was a non-factor, firing just two shots on goal. Throughout this series he hasn’t picked up a point. As the Sharks’ top players have continued to roll – especially in Game 3 when the line of Thornton, Pavelski and Tomas Hertl scored two goals – the Blues’ best forwards have been held silent.

For the second straight game, St. Louis was shut out by Sharks goaltender Martin Jones, who stopped all 22 Blues' shots on goal.

While Jones has played well, much of the series storyline has revolved around the Blues’ inability to generate much of anything offensively rather than Jones’ ability to stop the puck. And a lot of that falls on Tarasenko who had 40 goals in the regular season.

These playoffs have been a strange stretch for Tarasenko, who has 13 points and seven goals in 17 games. He started them off with five points and three goals in the first four games against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first-round. Then in Game 6, he seemed to squabble with Hitchcock about ice-time and played just 14:31 in Game 7 – a Blues win over the Hawks.

In the second-round against the Dallas Stars he had seven points and scored a goal in Game 7. But he has misfired against the Sharks, which has led to questions on why such a dominant regular season scorer could be held so quiet at an important time of the year.

“There's some days that he's going to end up being an effective player and not even get a point, but he's going to have to have an understanding of what it takes to play at this time of year, in the conference final, with 100 percent commitment on the other side, still be an effective player,” Hitchcock said. “These are lessons you can talk to him about. Unfortunately for all of us, you got to go through it.”

This series is still just three games old, and though the Sharks have played more consistent hockey so far the Blues are sill very much not out of it. If Tarasenko can find his game again, the whole complexion of the series could change.

“Just because he doesn't score doesn't mean he's not doing what he's supposed to do,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “He's a team player. Sometimes you've got to do the hard things, especially on the road. You're not always going to get the matchup that you want. We'll take Vladi in any situation. He's doing what he's got to do and he'll get his opportunities."’

Then again, Tarasenko isn’t the only responsible party for the Blues' offensive struggles against the Sharks. Forwards David Backes and Jaden Schwartz each have just one point this series. Rookie Robby Fabbri and veteran Alex Steen have also been held scoreless.

The Blues tried to add more offense by inserting Dmitrij Jaskin and Magnus Paajarvi into the lineup for Game 3. Jaskin played 10:47 and Paajarvi played just 6:57.

“We need to get back onto our method and our ways,” Backes said. “When we do that, we’re going to have success. It’s 2-1 them. Park this again and find a way as a group to bind together and get out of this goal-less streak, then open up the floodgates hopefully. When we find a way to get one, probably going to be a real ugly one.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper