For Blues, leads are better late than never

The Blues have given up the first goal and come back to win 19 times this season, more than any team in the league. The Blues now are proving themselves adept at an even tougher trick: Coming back from being down two goals.

Hockey's conventional wisdom says that teams that trail by two goals almost always lose. When the week started, there were 53 two-goal comebacks in 880 games this season.

The Blues have fallen behind by two goals in 20 games this season and have come back to salvage 12 points, posting a 4-12-3-1 record. Three of those wins, most recently Monday's 5-3 victory over Calgary, have been in their past nine games. The Blues' four wins are the second most in the league, tied with Philadelphia and one behind Carolina (which has trailed by two in 34 of 59 games).

"We're seeing more comebacks in the third period across the board," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "The way the game is played, there's more room and freedom to skate. There's so much parity. Maybe those are reasons. I don't know."

The simplest explanation for the Blues' success is that they are often so-so in the first period but very good after that, giving them plenty of time to catch up.

In Monday's comeback win over Calgary, goalie Fred Brathwaite faced 11 shots in the first period, but just nine over the final two periods. In five of the Blues' eight two-goal comebacks, they have had more than half the game to get even. Only once - in their three-goal comeback for a tie against Chicago - did they wait until the third period to cut into the lead.

"When the other team scores a goal, our game plan doesn't change," winger Cory Stillman said.

"Usually, it's the first period we fall behind, and we can score two goals in 40 minutes," defenseman Barret Jackman said. "That's nothing for a team with this much firepower. We just have to do the little things and wait for our opportunities."

One way that firepower shows itself is that, when fully healthy, the Blues have two strong scoring lines. After an opponent scores, when the Blues' self-professed desperation kicks in, the team usually can put out a line that can get a goal back.

If the opponent can match that with their top defensive line and hold off the Blues, the second line will get its chance against a different defensive group. In four of their eight comebacks, the Blues have scored a goal within two minutes of an opponent's goal.

"Any time you get a two-goal lead, a team has more of a defensive mind-set," Mellanby said. "That gives us more room to maneuver."

"There's an old adage that a two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey," said Blues winger Shjon Podein. "When you're up two, you sit back; when you're up one, you still go hard. With a two-goal lead, you get relaxed and let things happen that shouldn't. And when you get the first goal, the whole momentum changes."

As good as this is now, it's not a habit the Blues want to continue. Teams that fall behind by two goals in a playoff game almost never come back. In last year's postseason, teams took two-goal leads 61 times and lost only four, a winning percentage of .934. Only one of those comeback wins was in a Western Conference playoff game, and that was by the Blues against the Blackhawks.

"If we go to the playoffs, we've got to correct that quickly," Jackman said. "It's a different game altogether."

"It will be interesting to see what happens in the postseason," Podein said. "There are two sides of it: It's a habit you want to keep, because you know what can happen if you fall behind. But you don't want to get in a hole because you have to dig out of it."

Blues claim forward Ryan Johnson off waivers from Florida

The Blues on Wednesday claimed center Ryan Johnson on waivers from the Panthers.

Johnson, 26, has two goals and five assists in 57 games this season. His best season was 2000-01, when he had career highs in goals (seven), assists (14) and points (21) at Tampa Bay.

Johnson made his NHL debut with Florida in the 1997-98 season. He has 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) along with 96 penalty minutes in 257 career games.

Johnson is earning $750,000 this season and will be a restricted free agent July 1.