ST. LOUIS -- So much for the Baffling Blues.

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David Perron #57 of the St. Louis Blues attempts to deflect the puck as Andrew Raycroft #30 of the Vancouver Canucks defends on November 10, 2009 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Photograph by : Getty

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With a roster that includes seasoned veterans Keith Tkachuk and Paul Kariya and an emerging young core, the St. Louis Blues were thought to be like a ticking time-bomb. It would only be a matter of time before they exploded offensively.

That time came Tuesday in a dominating 6-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

The Blues had gone winless in five games (0-2-3) and scored just four goals in that span. They were 14th in the Western Conference and their power play was ranked 26th. Too many of their scorers were serving up bagels and too many were offering excuses.

However, a David Perron hat-trick outing and other goals from Andy McDonald, Erik Johnson and Brad Boyes have eased a lot of tension. The Blues had the second-best NHL record in the second half of last season before being swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Canucks.

"We need to remember how hard we worked last year and I'm not as surprised at the scoring totals of our young guys as our veterans," said Blues coach Andy Murray. "The young guys are now being checked harder and are not an unknown quantity. But we're playing hard and aren't complacent."

Still, Kariya doesn't have a goal or point in nine games. Tkachuk has been rested when needed -- including the Blues' previous game with Darryl Sydor, but hasn't scored in 12 games. And the Killer Bs -- Patrik Berglund, Boyes and David Backes -- hadn't scored in nine, seven and 10 games respectively before Boyes tallied in the second period on a power play.

Kariya has recovered from two hip surgeries that limited the North Vancouver native to 11 games and 15 points last season, but he has never gone this many games without a point in his 15 seasons.

"Not in my memory. And if I did, I would probably erase it from my memory," said Kariya, who had four points in his first two games, but just three in his next 14.

"I started off OK, but I didn't really play well. My legs have been fantastic and the surgery went really well. If I get my hands as good as my legs, it will be a positive."

The Blues were expected to build on their heady run last season, but something has gone amiss. They're getting scoring chances and Murray thinks they've been in all but one of their 15 games. So, what went wrong before Tuesday's outburst?

"You have to earn it in this league," said Kariya. "There are no easy games now."

Murray hopes giving Tkachuk and Sydor a night off in the middle of three games in four recent nights will pay dividends, especially as the season drags on.

"There were certain nights last year where we should have managed Keith a little differently," said Murray. "He would never want to come out of the lineup. We chatted about it the other day and he was a little tired. You appreciate that from a player and I told our players that they [Tkachuk, Sydor] are competitors and want to be in there every night, but it was the best for the team that they took a break.

"I thought it was a real galvanizing point for our team because it put the onus on some other guys going in."