The
St. Louis Blues are running through the gamut of injuries at the
moment and will have at least one new face in the lineup when they
begin a three-game road trip against the Boston Bruins on Thursday (6
p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
But
there will be some reinforcements also as Pius Suter, who has missed
the past two games with a lower-body injury, will be back in the
lineup and centering a line with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou, a
line that got plenty of looks during training camp and preseason.
“Suter
looks really good,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said after
Wednesday’s practice. “He’ll be a player for us tomorrow.”
Also
Robert Thomas, who did not skate during an optional practice or
Wednesday’s full practice, will be in the lineup.
“Just
maintenance,” Montgomery said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’ll
be a player tomorrow.”
The
Blues are down three forwards (Jimmy Snuggerud, left wrist; Alexey
Toropchenko, leg burns; and Nathan Walker, upper-body injury), and
they’ve had to recall Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, who will make his NHL
debut Thursday, and Matt Luff
–
– –
Montgomery
will be facing the Bruins for the first time since he was fired there
on Nov. 19, 2024.
The
Blues faced the Bruins twice last season but they both were among the
final games Montgomery coached Boston, on Nov. 12 in St. Louis (a 3-2
Bruins win, Montgomery’s last win there) and Nov. 16 in Boston, a
3-2 Blues win in overtime.
Montgomery,
who was coach of the Bruins for two-plus seasons, was part of the
greatest regular-season team in NHL history when the Bruins were
65-12-5 in his first season of 2022-23 but bounced in the first round
of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Florida Panthers in seven games.
He was fired after going 8-9-3 to begin the 2024-25 season; the Blues
hired him five days later on Nov. 24.
Montgomery
was 130-41-23 in his time as Bruins coach.
“Personally
and professionally, it was a great time for my family,” Montgomery
said. “We really enjoyed Winchester (a suburb north of Boston)
where we lived. Still have tremendous friends that live in the area.
Professionally, it’s a bag of mixed emotions. Some great times and
some very, very disappointing times.”
–
– –
Per
the team, Jordan Binnington will get the start in goal on Thursday,
three days after being pulled from a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in
which the goalie allowed two goals on five shots and had a verbal
spat with Montgomery upon being pulled from the game.
Binnington
addressed the situation on Tuesday and considers the situation done
and will get a shot at redemption.
–
– –
Blues
Projected
Lineup:
Brayden
Schenn-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours
Dylan
Holloway-Pius Suter-Jordan Kyrou
Aleksanteri
Kaskimaki-Dalibor Dvorsky-Pavel Buchnevich
Mathieu
Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Nick Bjugstad
Philip
Broberg-Colton Parayko
Tyler
Tucker-Justin Faulk
Cam
Fowler-Logan Mailloux
Jordan
Binnington will
start in goal; Joel
Hofer will
be the backup.
Healthy
scratches include Matthew
Kessel and
Matt
Luff. Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Alexey Toropchenko (leg burns) and
Nathan
Walker (upper body) are
all out long-term.
–
– –
Bruins
Projected
Lineup:
Alex
Steeves-Elias Lindholm-Morgan Geekie
Casey
Mittelstadt-Pavel Zacha-Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner
Jeannot-Fraser Minten-Mark Kastelic
Marat
Khusnutdinov-Sean Kuraly-Michael Eyssimont
Hampus
Lindholm-Andrew Peeke
Nikita
Zadorov-Jonathan Aspirot
Mason
Lohrei-Victor
Soderstrom
Joonas
Korpisalo will
start in goal; Jeremy
Swayman will
be the backup.
The
healthy scratch includes Jeffrey
Viel. David Pastrnak (undisclosed), Charlie McAvoy (upper body),
Jordan Harris (ankle), Matej Blumel (lower body), Henri Jokiharju
(undisclosed) and
Michael
Callahan (lower
body) are
all out.
Blues Recall Another Forward From Springfield
Matt Luff called up for reinforcements amidst injuries to Snuggerud, Toropchenko, Walker up front
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