Blackhawks-Blues preseason takeaways

There were a number of key elements to look for in this game, so let's take a look at some of those and the outcomes I feel came from them:

* Alexandrov a shoe-in -- I believe Nikita Alexandrov solidified his place as the 13th forward when opening-night rosters have to be submitted by 4 p.m. (CT) on Monday.

The 2019 second-round pick, who played in 28 games last season (three goals, four assists), scored a pretty power-play goal to give the Blues a 1-0 lead 3:52 into the game when he faked to the forehand, pulled the puck to his backhand and deked goalie Petr Mrazek five-hole after taking a cross-ice feed from the neutral zone from Robert Bortuzzo in stride.

"He's got skill, we all know that," Blues coach Craig Berube said of Alexandrov, who also had a strong game Thursday in a 4-0 win against Dallas. "Again, I thought he had a good game. He was strong on pucks, he skated well, played with some physicality. He had a nice game."

Those are the areas the coaching staff have been trying to pound home for Alexandrov, but it all boils down to not only getting it, but to do those things on a regular basis.

"It really boils down to consistency," Berube said of Alexandrov, who finished with 14:39 of ice time. "I think young players coming into the NHL, they give you a good game, then they don't give you a good game, things like that. It's about being consistent. It's not about being flashy every night or, 'Oh, I've got to score or do this.' It's just about playing the right way every night and giving us what we need from you as a player."

* Did Walker, MacEachern, Bolduc, Dean, Rosen, others do enough to sway decisions? -- I say no.

Mackenzie MacEachern scored a nice goal off a 2-on-1 from the slot on the second period for a 3-1 lead off a feed from Mathias Laferriere at 7:21 and Walker had three hits in the game, but I just didn't see the separation needed from these veterans to supplant Alexandrov, who the Blues have wanted to grab a job and will likely be exposed to waivers.

Zachary Bolduc and Zack Dean, each a first-round pick in 2021 and 2020, respectively, will be Springfield-bound; Laferriere, a surprise player that lasted in St. Louis through the entire training camp, will also join the Thunderbirds of the AHL; I can't say defensemen Calle Rosen and Matthew Kessel did enough to win a job on the back end of the defense and Rosen will also likely be exposed to waivers.

"I thought there were some guys that played pretty hard out there and did some good things, but it's the business side of things," Berube said.

That comment in itself told me that decisions have already been made and nobody on Saturday swayed any opinions.

* So what about the D? -- I believe based off their waiver situation and the fact the Blues don't want to expose Scott Perunovich to waivers, they will carry two extra defensemen when the season opens, and Perunovich and veteran Robert Bortuzzo will be those two d-men.

Perunovich skated 20:17 in the game and had an assist. Although he got walked for a goal against by Chicago's Mackenzie Entwistle in the second period that made it 4-3, his game got better and paired with Bortuzzo in the game.

"He's missed a lot of time over the last couple years with injuries," Berube said of Perunovich. "We got him in a lot of games. I thought that he got better as we went along. He's just got to keep working on using his feet and his stick defending and making really good plays out of his zone so he's not in the zone.

"He just got flat-footed on that play (that resulted in a goal). Probably should have backed off a little bit more and kept him on the outside and let him shoot the puck from the outside."

* Buchnevich-Thomas-Kyrou all set -- That top line of Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou seems to be in top form.

It combined for six points (two goals, four assists) in the game with Thomas scoring twice and Kyrou and Buchnevich each collecting two assists, and the key to success has been that line has stayed consistent from the moment training camp opened Sept. 21.

"I think we've gotten better every single day and each game as well," Thomas said. "I think tonight was our best game as a line. Good things to build off of to get ready for Thursday.

"We can all move the puck. We're not worried about that. I think it's our forecheck. I think it's being hard on pucks, winning battles, keep the plays alive by winning stick battles, tracking hard and creating turnovers. That's going to be our key. If we do that, we'll have lots of success."

* Driving the net -- One of the elements to their game the Blues have really honed in on, aside from the defensive side of things, has been the willingness and desire to get bodies to the net.

It was evident Saturday and when Jake Neighbours scored 1:05 into the third period to make it a 5-3 Blues lead, it was another example of that willingness to drive the net and score from close range.

Neighbours picked up a rebound of a Krug shot and lifted a backhand over the left pad of Mrazek.

"It's one of our things that we've been harping on from camp, even in practices," Berube said. "When we do drills and the D are shooting the puck, it's about getting to the net front and taking the goalie's eyes away, getting two people there all the time. The team's done a good job of it. It's about buying in and doing that.

"We want to be a consistent goal-scoring team. You have to get to the net and score the dirty goals. When you're doing that, you're getting on the right side of things too for puck recoveries and things like that, which are important in the offensive zone. We want to get back to being that hard-nosed offensive zone team that we used to be and we've got to get back to that."