VOORHEES TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- There were 22 water bottles lined up on the "home" bench at the Flyers Training Center on Friday afternoon.
The St. Louis Blues aren't home. They're on a five-game, 10-day road trip, and following their 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, they stayed in town another night.
Typically, the Blues wouldn't have practiced on Friday, which was a day off between their game against the Flyers and their game at the New York Islanders on Saturday. They would've just traveled to Long Island on Friday and then held a morning skate on Saturday. But because Saturday's game is an afternoon start -- 2:30 pm. CT -- they did get on the ice in Philadelphia.
The Blues had a 45-minute bus ride from their hotel in Philadelphia to the practice facility in Voorhees, N.J. They got suited up, and the first players started trickling onto the rink at 11:20 a.m.
"You've got to feel good, get some flow, get some sweat, get some lactic acid out from last night," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "Then we'll fly out to the Island and get ready for an afternoon game Saturday."
There were some areas of the team's game that Montgomery was lamenting after Thursday's loss, primarily the inability to extend a 2-0 lead to 3-0 or 4-0. In response, the coach has built a 30-minute practice with six drills heavily focused on offense. He comes up with about 80 percent of the practice itinerary himself, then discusses it with his staff, asking his assistants to poke holes in his plan.
"A lot of (it) is based off after you watch the film -- what situations do we put them in to develop certain aspects of our game?" Montgomery said. "Today's practice is more about getting guys in odd-man situations, where you can focus on offense a little bit more. One of the competition drills will be good sticks on the forecheck because we're not creating enough stopped pucks to create more offensive-zone time.
"Then we'll work on moving the puck without stick-handling. That's one thing that we're doing too much -- stickhandling pucks. We don't know what we're going to do with the puck before we get it, and that's what happens when you're not having a lot of offensive success. They'll be touching pucks and getting looks, so that hopefully when they get those same looks (Saturday), it's muscle-memory, right?"
After the players take a few warmup laps around the ice, Montgomery's whistle blows precisely at 11:30 a.m., and they're underway.
The Athletic watched the workout and then afterwards spoke with Montgomery, captain Brayden Schenn and leading scorer Jordan Kyrou about the purpose of the drills and what they're intended to accomplish.
This is a warmup, keepaway-type drill that's often referred to as "one touch." It forces players to make quick decisions, getting their hands and head connected. They prefer to pass the puck through the defender, not around him, because it makes the competition more rewarding. It starts things off with a little bit of fun, as you see guys smiling.
Montgomery: "It's working on having deception with your one touch. You should never get that puck picked off. And for the defensive player, it's having a good stick and anticipating. You show false information one way, and then you can pick it off going the other way."
Schenn: "You're getting your stick on the ice and trying to get your feet and stick on pucks and intercept passes. It's just a good way to get the puck moving early."
Kyrou: "That's a good warmup drill, gets the mind going a little bit, trying to outsmart the guy in the middle, trying to beat him. You want to keep him in there as long as possible."
The next one is a standard drill that players have been doing since they were young. They're separated into four groups and positioned on both blue lines at the wall. It starts with two-on-zeros and progresses to three-on-twos from the same four spots on the blue line. The goal is just good rhythm and timing. They eventually add a middle-lane drive component. At one point, Jimmy Snuggerud drove the middle, and then the puck carrier looked to make a pass to the second layer of offense.
Monty: "Yeah, that's working on two-man entries, three-man entries. We're looking for a kick-out and a middle-lane drive with a shot. Then we're looking for a kick-out with a cut behind, and you pick the defenseman. Then we're looking for a three-man entry where you attack middle ice, you kick it out, he drives middle, and the passer has the option of hitting the guy in the middle or the guy wide."
Schenn: "We call that a progression drill. You just drive, drive, drive, kick out, get to the net and then cut behind on the other one. The middle guy has to drive to push people back, and sometimes that far guy is open for the shot. The third guy that's wide has to get open; that's what's part of that drill. So there's little things you can do when you do go on a three-on-two -- pick the D, grab his stick and create space for the guy with the puck -- that can help."
Kyrou: "You can work on driving 'backdoor' and trying to hit that pass off the pad, that sort of thing. In games, stuff like that always happens where you get a shot and the puck is lying there and you should be there for a rebound. Sometimes we're not there, so it just helps you work on getting there quicker."
They continue with what Montgomery referred to as the "Nashville drill." It's a two-on-one drill, where there are two forwards and a defenseman, and they touch the puck to each other in the neutral zone before entering the offensive zone. There's a shot, puck retrieval, and then they work it low to high for another attempt from the point with a net-front presence. It's similar to Justin Faulk's first goal in Philadelphia on Thursday, when Oskar Sundqvist worked the puck high to Faulk, who got off the shot with Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker working as the net front.
Monty: "The Nashville drill. There's a neutral-zone counter within it when the defenseman hits the winger going wide. Then it's a point shot with a screen. That works on some puck touches, and then it works on everybody getting a shot."
Schenn: "Yeah, the point in practice is 1) to get better, 2) to simulate different things that you're going to do in the game. That leads to more time with the puck and more chances to get to the O-zone and more forechecks. We had a lot of chances last night, and ultimately, we just have to find a way to bear down on our chances."
Kyrou: "We've got to dig down a little more and score. I had a chance Thursday, and I've just got to dig in a little more and score those."
This is another progression drill of sorts with more two-on-zeros and two-on-ones. You're trying to get your goal scorers confident. At one point, Robert Thomas sniped a goal, and everyone cheered. This is another drill that's less about goalies and more about the offense.
Monty: "That's working on rush chances. They happen every game, two-on-one and three-on-two. The two-on-zero doesn't happen a lot, but that's just working on your on- and off-the-tape shooting."
Schenn: "The purpose of that drill is just getting guys feeling good, with the opportunity to score more goals. Obviously, we need to score more goals, and that's a drill designed to give you looks at the goalie, where you have a chance to shoot the puck and score."
Kyrou: "That one is mainly for just Grade-A chances. In games, you get two-on-ones, three-on-twos, breakaways, all of those sorts of things. So if you can work on scoring in practice, it's going to translate to the game. Anytime we're working on our offense and making plays, it's always fun. You get pumped up for those kinds of practices."
This is a competitive drill. The puck is dumped in the corner, and it's a three-on-two down low. They're short shifts -- the reps are just 10-15 seconds long -- but they go hard. From the defensive perspective, the team is implementing a more aggressive style in its zone, so they're focused on closing out plays. If they're going to be a group that plays hard in the trenches, this is a necessary drill.
Monty: "Yeah, that's puck separation. We want a good stick. We want to make sure the two (defensive) guys can't get out. We want to create a stalled puck, outnumber them, and then we have somebody in the middle of the ice ready to shoot."
Schenn: "Right now, we're finding ways to lose hockey games, and that's the reality of it. We've changed a few things up to be more aggressive defensively, and even (in) our last few games, we feel better about ourselves because we're spending less time in our own end."
Kyrou: "That one is working on a mini-forecheck, not letting the opposing team break out, and then just like a quick attack after that."
The Blues wrap up with a drill that includes two mini-games inside the same zone, with puck possession rotating back-and-forth between the two games. When the puck is moved to the other side of the ice, that group becomes the offensive team. You're looking for quick puck movement to find the open player. If you have open ice, take it.
Monty: "You've always got to keep on working on different things. A lot of times, they're defensive-minded, and most of the time, it's a mix. Today was more of an offensive practice."
Schenn: "No one wants to lose. No one wants to have the start that we've had. Practice is obviously a chance to get better, and you have to embrace it -- that's how you get better. I've said it before: it's a humbling game and a humbling league. You have to learn how to come from behind. You have to learn how to close games out. Ultimately, what gets guys feeling good is winning hockey games, and that's what we have to get back."