Perunovich critical of himself after 8-3 loss Friday

Scott Perunovich didn't holdback.

The St. Louis Blues defenseman, when asked how the team can find a way to get out of some of its funks it's had in a recent stretch of games, didn't mince words when describing his own play.

"Last game, I was f*cking terrible," Perunovich told THN Saturday. "There's not much I can speak on that the last couple games. I think we just have to stick to our systems, and we know we have a good team, but just got to play hard, obviously me included. Like I said, last game was not a good look. It starts at defense. Speaking for myself, if I'm f*cking terrible, it's not helping the team out."

Perunovich has played the past eight games and 10 overall this season, and on Friday in an 8-3 loss against the Nashville Predators, a game in which the Blues had minimal few that stood out, Perunovich played 17:01 and was a minus-1 for the game, which would hardly be a blueprint for being overly critical, but he took accountability for being on the ice for three goals against; he was also on the ice for two of the three Blues' goals.

"I think I've had a couple tough games, but that's part of hockey," Perunovich said. "You're never going to be perfect, but you'd like to minimize those games for sure. As you play more and more, it kind of just becomes more natural.

"I know it's a fast league, I know it's a hard league."

Blues coach Craig Berube appreciates the accountability.

"It was a down game, but he's played some good hockey for us," Berube said. "He's going to play some good hockey again, but it was a down game for sure."

Perunovich was skating with Robert Bortuzzo in what was likely the extra d-pair for Sunday's 1 p.m. game against the Chicago Blackhawks and could very well be a healthy scratch.