As best they can, the Blues will get back to hockey today after watching teammate Jay Bouwmeester survive a life-threatening cardiac incident Tuesday night in Anaheim.
It won't be easy.
The episode left the group emotionally rattled at a time when it was trying to fight out of a slump. The Blues must return to action against the Vegas Golden Knights, a team fighting for a spot in the Western Conference playoff bracket.
And the Blues will have to play on without Bouwmeester, a bulwark defenseman who logs big minutes in difficult situations. He doesn't score much or say much, so it can be easy to take his toughness and reliability for granted.
But around the NHL he commands great respect.
"I've known Jay since he was 16 years old, when he played for me for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship," Canadiens coach Claude Julien told reporters. "But I also know him from the Olympics and the World Cup in Toronto in 2016. He's a good person. He's a person that's also very quiet, a person who keeps to himself."
Bouwmeester matches up against top lines at even strength. He kills penalties. He subs in for big defensive zone draws. He blocks passing lanes and sweeps away rebounds. He sacrifices his body to block shots.
He leads by example, battling every shift of every game. His work ethic set a high standard for his teammates to match.
Or at least he used to do all of that. The Blues don't know when or if he will return to active duty. Doctors are determining what caused Bouwmeester's heart to stop and what must be done to prevent future trouble.
Bouwmeester, 36, was arguably the team's best-conditioned athlete. Just last week he reiterated his desire to play beyond this season.
But now his competitive future is uncertain and his team will have to adapt to his absence.
Fortunately for the Blues, they are better positioned to take a big hit on the blue line than most teams. They have ample depth with both veterans and prospects.
Carl Gunnarsson and Robert Bortuzzo could play bigger roles in Bouwmeester's absence. When healthy, they have been alternating as the sixth defenseman.
Youngster Niko Mikkola becomes more important too. He is a rangy, steady player in the Bouwmeester mold, a 6-foot-4 left-shot defender who reads the play well and is strong on the puck.
He played well against mature competition last spring at the World Championships and he followed that with a strong NHL training camp and good work for San Antonio of the AHL.
Mikkola showed great promise when he filled in for the Blues earlier this season. Now his time as the "next Bouwmeester" could come much sooner than expected.
Of course, the stretch run of a playoff race is not the ideal time for a rookie to graduate into a regular NHL role. This crisis also comes while the Blues were suffering disconcerting slippage with their defensive zone coverage and goaltending.
So coach Craig Berube and assistant coach Mike Van Ryn, who directs the defensemen, will have their hands full. They have to replace Bouwmeester's high-leverage minutes by coaxing more out of their remaining defensemen.
Captain Alex Pietrangelo and the rest of the veterans will be challenged as well. Bouwmeester was a key member of the leadership team.
While he was the least demonstrative member of that group, he was among the most admired. When he spoke, the other players paid close attention.
No one player can replace that presence, so all the leaders must do more to get the defending Stanley Cup champions back on track.
Somehow they must turn a frightening incident into a rallying point.
