ST.
LOUIS – The
St. Louis Blues hope to build off their most complete game of the
season when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (7 p.m.;
FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The
Blues (3-2-0) were efficient from start to finish in a 3-1 win
against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, and after coach Jim Montgomery
voiced his displeasure with practice on Monday, he was much more
pleased with the focus and work ethic for the morning skate on
Tuesday.
And
it starts with the leaders.
“I
want them to start pushing our habits and our team identity and
making sure that that’s the main focus that they’re leading with
when it comes to games,” Montgomery said. “That we start on time.
Like tonight’s a perfect example of that. We had success last game,
committed to a checking game and we need to be committed to checking
game every game if you want to give yourself a chance in this league.
It doesn’t mean you’re going to win games 3-1, but it means
you’re going to win games 4-3, 5-4 because you’re always
committed to checking, you might score more offense. You might give
up a little bit more at times, but it’s the checking mentality you
need to have in this league to have offense and defensive success.”
One
player who had one of his most complete games as a Blue was Jordan
Kyrou, who opened the scoring in the second period to give the Blues
a 1-0 lead.
“I
think last year I was pleasantly surprised how much growth he’s had
(with the) play without the puck,” Montgomery said. “Especially
in the offensive zone getting back above pucks. I the D-zone, we play
a little differently than we used to and I personally think it’s
easier on wingers and he’s really grasped it and executed it well.”
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Montgomery
has expressed a desire for some of his top end guys to get their
production going in this early season; he’s mentioned Kyrou and
Robert Thomas, who has just two points (one goal, one assist) in five
games, but then there’s also Dylan Holloway, who has just one goal
and is a minus-4 in the early going.
“I
think he’s just thinking too much,” Montgomery
said.
‘When he’s just playing hockey, he’s naturally on top of pucks.
It doesn’t matter what zone it is, and he just has the puck. It
could be one against three and he’s coming out with it or he’s
sneaking through people because of his speed and skill and right now
I think he’s thinking, and when you think on the ice, you look
slow. Not that he looks slow because he’s such a gifted skater, but
he looks slower than usual.”
Holloway
is coming off surgery in the off-season on a torn oblique from his
hip bone and it could be affecting his play as he’s ingratiating
himself back into full swing.
“You’ve
got to realize, the guy’s coming back from a significant injury,
and your body, when you come back from an injury, it’s not only the
area that you hurt, it’s the areas that over-compensate for it,”
Montgomery
said.
“You see guys get sports hernias after they had groin issues or hip
issues. You see a lot of guys develop some arm issues after they had
shoulder problems. Your body naturally over-compensates because that
area pulls on muscles from different areas. That’s what our bodies
do. He’s a player that will play through any kind of pain and we
know that. I’m not saying that’s what’s happening to him, but
it’s just natural. You watch guys come back from a knee injury,
especially if they’ve had an operation and you watch him six months
later or a year later, completely different player. I’m not saying
that’s going to happen to him because he looks real fluid out
there, but there is a mental component to it.”
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One
guy Montgomery is pleased with is the play of Pius Suter, whose
empty-net goal Saturday that sealed the win was the perfect example
and trust that the coaching staff has putting the 29-year-old on the
ice in key defensive situations.
“Just
execution and effort. For him, I think it’s more execution,”
Montgomery
said.
“His brain is high-end. So his offensive and especially his
defensive support, it’s very random that he’s in the wrong place
defensively. He had a couple of three high-end plays defensively with
his stick or being in the right position on Saturday night. I knew he
was going to be one of our six forwards going when are in a
pulled-goalie situation and he executed really well there too.”
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Defenseman
Matthew Kessel will play in his second game Tuesday after making his
season debut on Saturday.
Kessel
played 9:11 on Saturday and was a plus-1 playing alongside Tyler
Tucker after replacing Logan Mailloux.
“I
thought he was good,” Montgomery
said.
“I thought he was aggressive and that’s what you want. You got a
guy who hasn’t played yet, he’s going to come in and if he makes
mistakes, make them out of being aggressive. The one mistake was
because he was being aggressive trying to kill a play and nothing bad
happens when you’re being aggressive. When you stand and watch,
that’s when you get worried about any player, I’m not talking
about ‘Kess.’
“…
Know
what your role is on the D-corps, know what we value and create an
identity for yourself of being an aggressive player that finishes
checks, is firm on pucks, that wins 1-on-1 battles, that gets us out
of our zone, that keeps pucks in the offensive zone.”
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Blues
Projected Lineup:
Dylan
Holloway-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours
Pavel
Buchnevich-Pius Suter-Jimmy Snuggerud
Mathieu
Joseph-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Alexandre
Texier-Nick Bjugstad-Nathan Walker
Cam
Fowler-Colton Parayko
Philip
Broberg-Justin Faulk
Tyler
Tucker-Matthew Kessel
Jordan
Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
The
healthy scratch is Logan Mailloux. Oskar Sundqvist (lower body) is
likely to return Thursday, Alexey Toropchenko (lower, upper body
soreness) remains day to day.
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– –
Kings
Projected Lineup:
Andrei
Kuzmenko-Alex Laferriere-Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala-Quinton Byfield-Joel Armia
Warren
Foegele-Phillip Danault-Trevor Moore
Jeff
Malott-Alex Turcotte-Corey
Perry
Brian
Dumoulin-Drew Doughty
Joel
Edmundson-Brandt Clarke
Mikey
Anderson-Cody Ceci
Darcy
Kuemper is expected to start in goal; Anton
Forsberg would
be the backup.
The
healthy scratches
include Jacob
Moverare, Samuel
Helenius and Pheonix Copley.
Anze Kopitar (foot), and
Kyle
Burroughs (upper body) are
out.
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