Vladimir Tarasenko needed time to gather himself.
Called out in St. Louis for not addressing the media on locker clean-out day, the 24-year-old spoke Tuesday and cleared the air in regards to his silence immediately following a Western Conference Final loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.
Tarasenko said he was "too pissed off" to talk the other day. Sting of losing in playoffs had him upset. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) May 31, 2016
Tarasenko also laughed off the suggestion of growing friction with the club, exacerbated by being called out by head coach Ken Hitchcock after Game 5 of the series with San Jose.
The winger - who carries a cap hit of $7.5 million through to the end of the 2022-23 season - is seen as a key piece to the puzzle in St. Louis moving forward, and rightfully so.
Over the past two regular seasons, he's scored 77 goals in 157 games, with 15 tallies in 26 playoff contests.
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