ST.
LOUIS – There
will be a number of changes and a couple new – and familiar –
additions to the St. Louis Blues lineup when they close a four-game
homestand on Thursday against the Utah Mammoth (7 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN
101.1-FM).
Oskar
Sundqvist will make his season debut after the forward missed the
first six games with a lower-body injury. He told us on Monday that
the plan was for him to be back on Thursday.
“It’s
more what he adds to our team,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.
“He adds a warrior mentality. He’s hard to play against. He’s
hard in the hardest areas, whether it’s walls or net fronts,
offensively and defensively, and his detail. He adds an exceptional
defensive stick. Whether it’s on the PK or whether it’s in our
own end, whether he’s playing wing or he’s playing down low, he
kills a lot of plays and he knows how to build our team game
offensively.”
All
four lines and all three defensive pairings will have a different
look than the 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
It
includes the re-insertion of defenseman Logan Mailloux, who was a
healthy scratch the past two games; the 22-year-old will be paired
with veteran Cam Fowler.
“He’s got a ton of experience and
I think he’s been through it all,” Mailloux said of Fowler. “And
he’s still doing it at a really high level, so it’s just able to
feed off him should be beneficial for me.
“You look around the room, we’ve
got a handful of guys like that. Him, ‘Pars’ and ‘Flacker.’
It’s definitely cool to look over there and have him by your side
and just be a sponge off of him.”
Montgomery added, “It’s
very beneficial. Breaking into this league, I saw an article on
(Chris) Pronger and I was talking to Chris Wideman at dinner last
night, he talked about it takes at least 200 games to really
understand how to manage a game. Not so much to play it, but how to
manage it. It’s two significantly different things and it’s much
harder as a defenseman that it is as a forward. Playing with someone
like Fowler who really takes pride in being a great teammate and
helping others, and he helps others better is very beneficial because
he defends and he possesses the puck a lot, it allows a partner to
really watch and learn while you’re playing with someone, and the
two of them together skate so well and they’re so long that they’re
going to be able to defend really well tonight as well.”
Mailloux
has spent some time the past two games sitting with Hall of Famer Al
MacInnis and now-retired former Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
“It’s guys who have kind of done
it all and been through it all,” Mailloux said. “Just being a
sponge around them and pick up some little tips and tricks.
Definitely had some good chats. I think it was good for me to have a
little reset. I’m looking forward to getting back in there.
“It’s a different game from when
you’re watching up top. The reset was good. I just want to play
hockey. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and playing
my game.
“There’s some things that you kind
of see up there that you don’t see when you’re on the ice. It’s
definitely a lot slower up there and you kind of see stuff, but I
think it kind of helps you realize that sometimes you have more time
than you think or you have less time in some areas. It’s good to
get a different view and I was sitting with some pretty good
ex-players. So just kind of being able to learn from them is
definitely cool.”
When Montgomery pulled Mailloux from
the lineup, he said the next time the defenseman comes back in, he
doesn’t expect him to come out again.
“I
think that’s my goal,” Mailloux said. “I came into the year
hoping to play every game and obviously I wasn’t off to a hot
start, but I think it was good to have a little reset. I feel like I
was feeling a little rushed out there at times. I just wasn’t
playing my game, I wasn’t being myself. I think I just took some
time to settle down and then hopefully come in there tonight and
stick for good. That would be nice.”
–
– –
Blues
forward Jimmy Snuggerud will be in the lineup with Pius Suter and
Mathieu Joseph on Thursday.
Snuggerud,
who has played just 13 regular-season games, was held on the bench
for all but one shift in the third period and overtime on Tuesday and
is determined to have a more efficient game Thursday.
“Just
go out and play hard,” he
said. “Just go out
and play hard when your number’s called. There’s a lot of ups and
downs, but it’s just staying level-headed, staying parallel knowing
there’s going to be off nights and there’s going to be good
nights. Just try and work my butt off as much as I possible can and
just try and play hard.”
Snuggerud
and former college teammate at the University of Minnesota, Logan
Cooley, will lock up going against each other for the second time in
the NHL. They played together as Gophers in 2022-23 and the previous
two years with the United States National Team Development Program
the previous two years.
Snuggerud
got the best of Cooley in the final game of the regular season last
year when the Blues won 6-1.
“It’s
always fun to go up against him. We’re good buddies,” Snuggerud
said. “We’re
pretty good friends. I was going to go eat with him last night, but
my sister’s in town and I went out with her. We stay in touch a
little bit.
“It’s
nice to see him succeeding and things like that and playing well with
Arizona and then Utah. He’s so skilled and such a good skater and a
great mind for the game, fast and things like that. He’s got such a
great skill set and stuff like that. Not surprised to see how he’s
doing.”
Cooley
added, “Great buddy of mine. Obviously had the chance to play with
him in Minnesota. Unbelievable player and it’s fun to get to see
him again.
“You’re
used to passing him the puck. Now you’re trying to defend him, hit
him a little bit. It’s different but it’s obviously cool to see
him in the NHL now and going up against him is obviously special.
“He’s
an elite shooter. He’s really good at finding open ice and finding
the soft areas that gives him the chance to score. I think he’s
going to score a lot of goals in this league.”
–
– –
Montgomery
said on Wednesday one of the reasons he’s assembled Pavel
Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou together on a line
Thursday is he wants that line in a matchup going against the red-hot
line of Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton.
Keller,
who has 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games against his
hometown Blues, has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a
three-game point streak; Schmaltz, who has 37 points (14 goals, 23
assists) in 37 games against the Blues, has eight points (four goals,
four assists) in a four-game point streak.
“The
last two times we played Salt Lake, that’s the matchup I wanted and
in Salt Lake, they wanted it too (and) we won both games,”
Montgomery said.
“And they (scored) the game-winning goal in Utah. Last time we
played them I think we had three power play goals and it was a little
different. I think the game was 6-0 (6-1 actually) if I can remember
correctly.
“(Keller
is) just a dynamic player. Typical of an elite player in the
league. He gets better every year. He seems to be off to a better
start this year than I’ve ever seen him. He’s had some incredible
starts. He understands where he has success off the rush and in zone
now. He’s so compatible with Schmaltz and the two of them are off
to a great start this year. So you’ve got to be aware of them.
You’ve got to be aware of them on face-offs, you’ve got to be
aware of them on the power play. He presents a lot of problems just
because of his dynamic skill and competitiveness.”
–
– –
A
couple noteworthy items:
*
Buchnevich will be playing in his 600th
NHL game.
“Overall
I thought he had a great camp,” Montgomery
said. “I thought he
started the year off playing well. Hasn’t had puck luck, and I
think like anyone that’s a gifted offensive player when you don’t
have the production that you’re used to, it gets magnified early in
the year. But I know by the end of the year he’s going to be a 25
to 30 goal scorer for us with 70-80 points for us.”
*
Blues forward Nick
Bjugstad will face
the Mammoth for
the first time since signing a two-year, $3.5 million ($1.75 million
average annual value) contract with the Blues on July 1. Bjugstad
spent one season in
Utah last year;
he was
with Coyotes franchise for previous two seasons
before they relocated
to Salt Lake City.
*
Thomas
needs one point for 400 in his career (472 games).
– – –
Blues
Projected Lineup:
Pavel
Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Dylan
Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jake Neighbours
Mathieu
Joseph-Pius Suter-Jimmy Snuggerud
Nathan
Walker-Oskar Sundqvist-Nick Bjugstad
Philip
Broberg-Colton Parayko
Tyler
Tucker-Justin Faulk
Cam
Fowler-Logan Mailloux
Joel
Hofer will
start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy
scratches
include Alexandre
Texier and
Matthew
Kessel. Alexey
Toropchenko (lower, upper body soreness) is
out.
– – –
Mammoth
Projected Lineup:
Clayton
Keller-Barrett Hayton-Nick Schmaltz
JJ
Peterka-Logan Cooley-Dylan Guenther
Lawson
Crouse-Jack McBain-Michael Carcone
Liam
O’Brien-Kevin Stenlund-Brandon Tanev
Mikhail
Sergachev-Dmitri Simashev
Nate
Schmidt-John Marino
Ian
Cole-Olli Maatta
Karel
Vejmelka will
start in goal; Vitek
Vanecek will
be the backup.
Healthy
scratches
include Nick
DeSimeone and
Kailer
Yamamoto. Sean Durzi (upper body) and
Alex
Kerfoot (lower body) are
out.
