In the three games since, they've been outscored 8-0 in the third period. The latest indignity came Saturday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a 3-2 deficit with a pair of goals that enabled them to leapfrog past the Blues at the bottom of the standings.

``I thought we had such a strong game in Detroit and I thought it was going to be a real building block for us moving forward,'' coach Mike Kitchen said. ``That hasn't happened.''

Sporadic execution since the victory at Detroit, and even overconfidence, has been to blame.

``We went over what made us successful in that game and we do it for two periods the last few games since then and we feel we're a good enough team to get away with that,'' defenseman Barret Jackman said. ``We have to move the puck forward and just keep things simple until we get out of it.''

A bigger problem is a lack of talent. The Blues stayed out of the bustling free-agent market created by the lockout for the most part, choosing to build around the players they had left along with low-priced fill-ins after Pronger was traded to the Oilers and future Hall of Famer Al MacInnis retired.

The payroll is $31 million, or $8 million under the salary cap, and already seven players have made their NHL debut. Still, the Blues figured to battle for a playoff spot.

One of the remaining big-money players, forward Keith Tkachuk, has played in only four games. Tkachuk was suspended at the start of training camp for showing up about 20 pounds overweight, then missed time with groin and rib injuries.

New goalie Patrick Lalime thus far has been a profound disappointment with a 4.00 goals-against average that got him benched. Career minor leaguer Curtis Sanford won two straight, but has allowed 14 goals in the last three games.

Sanford accepts his part of the blame in the team's latest slump.

``It's goaltending, it's a lot of things,'' Sanford said. ``I have to be better, and hopefully close down some teams.''

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