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Blues player to watch vs. Flames: Brandon Saad

Thu, 03/28/2024 - 12:56pm

ST. LOUIS -- Brandon Saad just quietly goes about his business.

The St. Louis Blues forward has once again reached and surpassed the 20-goal mark on the season; he's been supplying timely, important goals too with the Blues (38-30-4) still holding onto hope of a playoff spot, trailing the Vegas Golden Knights by six points with 10 games remaining.

Blues player to watch vs. Flames: Brandon Saad (1:26)

Saad has scored in three straight games for the second time this season and has five points in those three games. He will be counted on again on Thursday when the Blues host the Calgary Flames (33-33-5) and is our player to watch.

Saad has 23 goals on the season and has scored in each of the Blues' previous two games against the Flames this season, including a game-winner with 48 seconds remaining of a 4-3 win on Jan. 23 in Calgary.

With the Blues going for a season sweep of the Flames tonight, Saad and his 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 28 games against the Flames could have a strong bearing.

Jake Neighbours watching, learning, trying to follow in footsteps of Matthew Tkachuk, Zach Hyman regarding net front presence

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 8:55pm

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Being a net front pest is an art.

Jake Neighbours knows it, and he knows there comes a price with it.

But the St. Louis Blues forward, a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, continues to not only be a student of it but one who's thriving at it.

If there's action by the Blues around the opposition's net, Jake Neighbours (63) is usually front and center as he is here against the Edmonton Oilers and goalie Stuart Skinner (left) earlier this season.

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

And Neighbours, who is tied with Jordan Kyrou for the team lead with 25 goals, knows there's more to learn, and the fellow NHL skaters he tends to watch, or follow are two players who continue to thrive in those roles, and oh by the way, one just became a 50-goal scorer.

"I think Matthew Tkachuk's one and Zach Hyman is the other," Neighbours said. "Just those two play a lot of their minutes in front of the net and are really good around the net, score a lot of goals from that area and create a lot of offense from there. You try and pick up little tips and tricks that they do that could maybe add to my game. I think it's obviously a learning process and still continuing to work on it."

View the original article to see embedded media.

Neighbours' 25 goals are obviously a breakout year for him after he had just six in his first 52 NHL games the past two seasons. Of those 25 goals, 19 of them have come in high-danger areas either in the crease or in the inner low slot areas. He's making that living pay off despite the punishment these guys can receive trying to make that living there.

"He's done an excellent job this year growing into a player we all saw coming," Blues center Robert Thomas said. "He's got a lot more to go. I think if he keeps focusing on looking at different guys and finding a path for himself, I think if you look at development over the years, this year is a huge jump for him. That's really exciting. Sometimes you take a huge jump, you take a little one, but those huge jumps are really exciting to see."

Neighbours is particularly impressed by what Hyman has done with the Oilers this year when one considers that 44 of his 51 goals have come from high-danger areas or below the circles.

"It's a mindset to go there and want to play that way," Neighbours said. "Obviously Hyman works extremely hard and kind of was looked down upon his whole career and has worked his way into being a superstar in this league and be real effective.

Another day, another Jake Neighbours goal. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/Lye9tHxhcR

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 22, 2024

"I think it's just all about hard work and believing in yourself and obviously the product of a lot of good players around me and around a lot of us. You need guys that are going to find you down there, but it's just about working hard and going there."

It's the precise reason why Thomas likes playing with someone who will muck and grind, fight through the feistiness and physicality and present himself as an option.

"His effort alone other than his skill is something that's amazing to play with," Thomas said. "He's always giving second and third effort. He's giving it all every night. That's all you can ask for from somebody on your line. Obviously he's got a great scoring touch and he makes some good plays. Our line just complements that."

Neighbours would make his predecessors proud that made their careers out of the position, including most recently David Backes and Matthew Tkachuk's dad, Keith Tkachuk.

The Hockey News Archive

For Hayes, Forsberg goal attempt Monday not his first

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 5:16pm

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Kevin Hayes has been down this road before.

This wasn't the St. Louis Blues' center's first rodeo.

It's a calculated move where a player skates in alone on a goalie, pulls the puck to his backhand and tries tucking it on the backhand behind him.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

For Hayes this time, Vegas Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson got the best of Hayes in a 2-1 Vegas overtime win on Monday.

drop your reaction to this Thompson save below

our was 😱 pic.twitter.com/0Zd83PbVug

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 26, 2024

"I was low. I actually talked to 'Binner' about it," Hayes said Wednesday. "I think it would have went in if the goalie wasn't opposite. His hands were off. He's different than most goalies. When your hands are off, your shorter side is usually your glove side. That's what I usually do it on. ... It was a good save. It was No. 1 on SportsCenter Top 10. So I'm famous."

It came with 16:35 remaining in the third period of a 1-0 deficit for the Blues that had 18,096 on their feet ready to explode with anticipation.

View the original article to see embedded media.

"It was a great try," Blues center Robert Thomas said. "It got stuck on his toe. When he's that big and has a long stick, it's hard for him to come in on that side angle to really get around the goalie. I thought it was a good try."

It's not the first time Hayes has tried to pull it off.

We found a successful one as a member of the New York Rangers nine years ago to the day in 2015 when Hayes scored against the Washington Capitals.

"I have a super long reach so usually, I thought it was going to go in when I pulled the move, to be honest," Hayes said.

There have been some, including from the orchestrator himself that have pulled it off, including a familiar face at the start of this video:

It does beg the question of when to try and and would a player try it.

"I don't know. I actually feel like in the situation sometimes when you're coming in on such a sharp angle that you kind of have to. So maybe," Thomas said. "I think it's all about the angle you're coming in on. Some goalies are pretty aggressive. When they're out up high, you can kind of get it right around them."

Sundqvist to miss rest of season with torn right ACL

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 2:14pm

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Oskar Sundqvist has a torn right ACL and will miss the rest of the season for the St. Louis Blues.

The center was injured midway through the second period of a 2-1 overtime loss against the Vegas Golden Knights when he was checked in the offensive zone corner boards by Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb at 9:50.

Sundqvist will have surgery and be re-evaluated in six months, meaning he will miss an entire summer of training and likely the start of training camp for the 2024-25 season.

It's the same knee he injured March 19, 2021 against the San Jose Sharks in a collision with then-teammate Kyle Clifford.

View the original article to see embedded media.

"It was unfortunate obviously," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said said after practice Wednesday at Centene Community Ice Center before the announcement was made. "A lot of those injuries are just bad breaks. Unfortunate he got his foot caught there and went into the boards. It's an unfortunate injury for him and certainly we're going to miss him while he's out, but we've got lots of guys capable of filling that role. Guys are going to get more opportunity."

With Sundqvist, who has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 71 games this season, sidelined, forward Zach Dean will play in his second NHL game; the 30th pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights acquired for forward Ivan Barbashev on Feb. 27, 2023, made his NHL debut in a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on March 21.

"'Deaner' will get another opportunity here tomorrow," Bannister said. 'It's good to get him back in the lineup. We're going to get fresh legs in and give him an opportunity to play here."

Sundqvist has been a workhorse for the Blues this season playing on a one-year, $775,000 contract, but the 29-year-old signed a two-year, $3 million ($1.5 million average annual value) contract extension.

Golden Knights-Blues takeaways: St. Louis plays well enough to win, lose crucial ground in wild card chase with 2-1 overtime loss against Vegas

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 1:54am

ST. LOUIS -- There was a pre-game feel to the buzz surrounding the St. Louis Blues game against the team they're chasing for the Western Conference wild card, the Vegas Golden Knights.

Four points just separated the teams heading into a Monday battle at Enterprise Center and it was expected to be a tight affair.

It played out just as advertised, but it was a game in which the Blues needed a regulation win as the hunters to really give themselves a terrific chance at staying in it until the end.

Golden Knights-Blues takeaways (3-25-24) (5:54)

It wasn't the worst possible outcome, but one almost as bad, falling 2-1 in overtime and losing ground in the standings.

When Jonathan Marchessault scored 49 seconds into OT, the Blues (38-30-4) fell five points out with 10 games to play; Vegas has 11 games remaining, including Tuesday night against the red-hot Nashville Predators.

"You don't want to come out of the game being one point less than you started, but the reality is they have a tough schedule too and we feel good in our locker room right now," said Blues captain Brayden Schenn. "We're obviously going to have to get some help along the way, but where our game's at right now, we feel like we're capable of grabbing two points each night."

Let's look at the takeaways from the game and touch on some of the key points that were crucial to the outcome:

* Not a ton of juice from the Blues -- Whether it was Vegas' style of play or not quite being up to snuff on what mattered most, the Blues didn't seem to have the bite from an execution standpoint to grab an early lead.

Their puck possession and movement of it was off kilter, whether Vegas had something to do with it or not. But it was evident that the Golden Knights (39-25-7)fel the intensity of the matchup and wanted push the Blues further back in the rear view mirror.

* Vegas strikes first -- It was unfortunate how it happened, but Vegas struck first when Pavel Dorofeyev stuffed in a shot from the top of the crease at 5:59 for a 1-0 Golden Knights lead.

With the puck over along the boards, Nathan Walker got there to forecheck Dorofeyev off the puck but he was shoved and down, creating some space. Anthony Mantha was along the wall and for the puck but for whatever reason, Scott Perunovich went to go and challenge Mantha when Walker was there along with Pavel Buchnevich, creating a void down low. Mantha got Dorofeyev the puck and Justin Faulk was alone to man the slot area or go challenge the puck handler. Pick your poison since Perunovich made an ill-advised play. Faulk protected the slot and Dorofeyev took the puck to the net and beat Jordan Binnington.

this Anthony Mantha x Pavel Dorofeyev collab goes hard 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZmbLO6pc9i

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 26, 2024

"Yeah, so there was a battle in the corner there," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "'Walks' losing his footing. I think it was Scotty Perunovich probably should've just held his ice, let him get up and recover in that situation and probably that play wouldn't have happened."

* Schenn sticks up for Saad -- The Blues had the game's first power-play midway through the first and the feel for the game had some high heat.

Brandon Saad moved down along the wall to play a puck but was belted by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb, with Saad smacking his head off the glass and shaken up at 9:50. Schenn was there to stick up for his teammate, fighting his Saskatchewan buddy.

"He's a buddy. He's from Saskatchewan. I train with him," Schenn said of McNabb. "That's just the playoff style atmosphere and you stick up for your teammates. I'm a firm believer in it doesn't matter who it is, you have to show that you care about your teammates. Obviously a hard hit by McNabb. Good to see Saader's OK."

Vegas led 1-0 after 20 minutes and 13-10 on the shot clock.

* Sundqvist injured -- Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist was injured at 9:50 of the second period on the Blues' second power play when he was popped from the side by, you guessed it, McNabb, and Sundqvist's right leg cracked into the boards and he needed help off the ice favoring his right leg.

With the Blues already playing 11 forwards and seven defensemen, they were now down to 10 forwards in the game, thanks to Saad being able to return and Schenn finally out of the box after serving seven minutes.

"I felt that we went to 11 forwards in the third period (against Minnesota Saturday) and we seemed to get a lot of energy," Bannister said of his rationale using 11/7. "I wanted to get my best players the most ice time here tonight. Obviously it's an important game for us, and we felt we put the 20 best players on the ice that deserved to be out there tonight."

* Binnington makes key saves -- Binnington, who had 32 saves in the game, was called upon for key stops in the game. One in particular was on Nicolas Hague's one-timer at the end of the second period to keep it a 1-0 game when the Blues weren't moving the puck as well as they needed to, to gain strong offensive zone time.

He made a timely save on Mantha's breakaway in the third period that likely would have put the game away.

* The Blues pressed hard -- The Blues finally came out with a solid purpose in the third period.

They outshot Vegas 14-8 in the third period and hit three posts and one near-miss by Buchnevich on a redirect that just clipped off the bar and the top of the net.

Schenn hit a post, Krug did it twice.

"I was shooting, so I had a lot of chances tonight," said Krug, who had six shots on goal. "I saw it hit his shoulder and hit the bar and was hoping it went in. Obviously it didn't. In the third period we were skating and we were making plays. That's just another example of one of the many chances that we couldn't get to go behind him."

* Thompson was matching Binnington -- Vegas goalie Logan Thompson was not to be denied in the 1-on-1 goalie battle.

The Vegas goalie also had his moments, including sticking with Blues center Kevin Hayes trying to get creative and score a Peter Forsberg-style goal at 3:24.

drop your reaction to this Thompson save below

our was 😱 pic.twitter.com/0Zd83PbVug

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 26, 2024

* Saad finally breaks barrier -- All the chances, all the near-misses, the Blues finally broke the Thompson barrier.

Saad tied the game 1-1 at 14:53 of the third after Jordan Kyrou's forecheck to win a puck, gain some speed through the neutral zone, feed Schenn along the right, and the captain scooped a long-range sauce pass across the goal mouth to Saad to finish at the back post.

NOT SAAD ABOUT THIS AT ALL. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/ANS5vafx0g

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 26, 2024

The Blues pushed in the final five minutes and had a couple more near-misses but each team gained a point through regulation.

* Buchnevich chance to win it -- The Blues won the opening face-off again, and Buchnevich saw an opening to dart through two Vegas skaters, including Noah Hanifin, who took the Blues forward down driving the net resulting in a penalty shot at 30 seconds.

Game on the line, extra point on the line, and the Blues could pull within three points, but Thompson gloved Buchnevich's cut to the left and the game continued.

"Certainly he's a player you want that opportunity," Bannister said. "The goalie made a good save. That's part of the game.

"We had the opportunities. In the third period, we had some good looks and the goalie was able to keep the puck out of the net. But it wasn't from the lack of opportunities. We had them. We had to finish on our chances."

"Marchessault goes long post from deep on the left side!"

"Overtime win for Vegas! 2-1 in St. Louis!"

🎙 @Dan_DUva

Logan Thompson extends the game with a penalty shot save and 19 seconds later Jonathan Marchessault wins it in OT. pic.twitter.com/exhmPvl0nG

— Golden Knights Radio (@VGKRadioNetwork) March 26, 2024

* Marchessault wins it for Vegas -- Thompson's key save turned into Marchessault's winner that developed on a puck to the right corner, and both Krug and Schenn converged on William Karlsson. A 2-on-1 puck battle should come out in the Blues' favor, but Marchessault, opportunistic, poked the puck free, came around the net with it and fired past Binnington at 49 seconds.

"We tried to double [Karlsson] up behind the net so that we could regain possession of the puck and their guy got to it," Krug said. "I just couldn't get back out in front. My stick was stuck and too much time for a good player. Ultimately, it's going to end up in the back of the net."

Schenn added, "It looked like the d-man fumbled it coming in on Kruger, puck went in the corner, we had a 2-on-1, just tried to outnumber him early and I think the puck just popped to Marchessault and me and 'Kruger' got hung up and he was able to make a good shot."

In the end, the Blues lose a valuable point but in going 6-1-1 their past eight games, they will continue to fight. But time is running out.

"Yeah it was great and games like this are why you want to play in St. Louis," Krug said. "Great home ice advantage, fun atmosphere. This time of year, you want to be playing important hockey games. Good for us to hang in there, but we just couldn't get that extra one to push forward in the playoff race."

"Obviously big game for us, important points. We're going to go down swinging. I felt like we carried the momentum in the third period and just couldn't get more than one by him. Obviously in overtime, anything can happen. That's just tough not getting that extra one."

The Hockey News Archive

Blues player of the game vs. Golden Knights: Brayden Schenn

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 12:40am

ST. LOUIS -- The moment Brandon Saad went down and looked wobbly for a moment, there was no question who was jumping in to stick up for a teammate.

Even though Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb delivered a good hit that sent Saad into the boards and his head hitting the glass, Brayden Schenn was there to deliver a message.

Blues player of the game vs. Golden Knights: Brayden Schenn (2:28)

It was the kind of message the captain has been delivering his entire NHL career and should be no surprise to those that have been cheering for him in St. Louis since 2017 before delivering a beautiful assist on Saad's tying third-period goal of a 2-1 overtime loss against the Golden Knights at Enterprise Center on Monday.

Schenn, who played 15:52 with four shot attempts, three hits and was 5-for-11 in the face-off dot, didn't hesitate to jump in when Saad, who missed the remainder of the first period, was belted at the 10:41 mark of the first period.

Schenn doesn't hesitate to stick up for his guys 👊 #stlblues

Watch on the Bally Sports app, brought to you by @BommaritoAuto. pic.twitter.com/pcWrJcQrE5

— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 26, 2024

With the Blues trailing 1-0 in the third, he delivered a beautiful assist, a backhand sauce feed to Saad with 5:07 to play in the game to help the Blues (38-30-4) gain at least a valuable point. He also had a chance to score in the third period, one of three posts/cross bars the Blues hit trying to win a game they desperately wanted in the third period.

"They're a good team; we fought hard," Schenn said. "You're not going to dominate the whole game, but I thought we came hard in the third and had some chances, lots of chances to score. ... It's nice to come away with one point, had a chance in OT.

"We played them hard and we're going to carry the momentum over to the next game. This team isn't going to quit fighting. We're going to go all the way to the finish. We still believe in here we can make the playoffs."

Blues lose Sundqvist to injury during 2-1 OT loss against Vegas

Tue, 03/26/2024 - 12:08am

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues have been virtually injury-free, as amazing as that sounds, during this 2023-24 season.

But they lost one of the guys they consider a heart-and-soul player.

Oskar Sundqvist went down in a heap and was in obvious pain, favoring his right leg while on the power-play of a 2-1 overtime loss against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.

Sundqvist was hit while retrieving a puck in the offensive zone corner boards by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb, his right leg hitting the boards hard and in obvious pain.

View the original article to see embedded media.

The center was favoring his right leg while being helped off the ice at the 9:50 mark of the second period. The Blues quickly announced that Sundqvist sustained a lower-body injury and would not return.

"I don't have an update, so I'll wait and see," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "I'll probably have an update for you guys on Wednesday for that."

#stlblues C Oskar Sundqvist was walking on crutches and had a brace on his right knee after departing tonight's game with a lower body injury.

— David Solomon (@solomonsside) March 26, 2024

Sundqvist, who was a healthy scratch and missed his first game of the season last Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 70 games this season.

"He's a guy that brings everything every game for us," Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. 'He does the dirty work, goes to the front of the net and may not get rewarded all the time. He's a solid team guy and hopefully he's OK and hopefully get him back here soon."

Sundqvist recently signed a two-year, $3 million extension to remain in St. Louis, and the hope is it's not a knee injury that has been an issue for him in the past.

"Always tough. He's a heart and soul of this team, a warrior that brings it every single night," defenseman Torey Krug said. "You know what you're going to get out of him. Any time you see a guy like that go down, you feel for him. I think guys in the room were hoping it was nothing going to be serious and we were just trying to push to get a win for him tonight."

With 10 games left in the season, there's no telling what the extent of the injury is yet, but it could open the door for 2021 first-round pick Zach Dean to stick around and get some playing time, or perhaps Nikita Alexandrov gets in some games. Stay tuned.

(3-25-24) Golden Knights-Blues Gameday Lineup

Mon, 03/25/2024 - 12:59pm

ST. LOUIS -- Call this the season.

Well technically, it isn't, but in reality, it is for the St. Louis Blues (38-30-3), who begin a four-game homestand on Monday at 7 p.m. (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM) against the Vegas Golden Knights (38-25-7), the team they're chasing for the second wild card into the Western Conference.

Morning skate report vs. Golden Knights (3-25-24) (1:59)

The scenario is simple: win the game in regulation, and for the Blues, who have won six of seven, they're two points out of the wild card and it's game on for the rest of the season. A regulation loss, and it's all but done from a Blues perspective.

Winning in overtime or a shootout would gain a point, which wouldn't be the worst outcome, but losing a point is also not ideal. So the best-case outcome would be a regulation victory to keep this ship afloat.

"It's a fun day to come to the rink," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said with a smile. "It's an exciting day for the guys to play meaningful hockey. This is where we want to be."

The Blues are two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild, and it seems to be a three-team race for that last remaining wild card.

"Every game's the biggest one coming up. It's the team we're chasing," Blues center Kevin Hayes said. "We're a resilient group. We put ourselves in this position after a couple bad stretches there. We've kind of been in playoff hockey mode for a while now and I think everyone's stepped up."

The mix of veterans that have been there, done that, combined with the young players experiencing this for the first time has seemed to being the right combination together at the right time, something guys like Jake Neighbours said goes a long way for a player like him experiencing this for the first time.

"Yeah I think so. The experience of playing meaningful games and trying to get points and get into the playoffs, it's what you want as a young player, older player, any player," said Neighbours, who is riding a career-high six-game point streak (five goals, two assists). "It's obviously very important. Just taking it day by day.

"It's tight. There's not a lot of room out there. Pace of play's very high. Guys are just competing. It's guys are wanting to get in or move up in the standings or whatever the team's case may be. Points are huge this time of year and guys are fighting for them and the intensity of the game's way higher.

"I don't think we ever had a thought in our brain that we were out of it. A lot of things can happen in a 15-game stretch and we knew if we put our best foot forward and started winning some hockey games, we're going to give ourselves a chance and that's what we've been doing. We've got a lot of character in this room, a lot of veterans that are leading the way. Young guys are stepping up and playing hard. Our vets, they know how to win and they're kind of handing that down to us younger guys and we're finding ways."

Blues captain Brayden Schenn, a Stanley Cup winner in 2019, is one leading by example.

"It takes everyone and past experiences," Schenn said. "Down the stretch, you have to find ways to step up your game. It's every little details in the game that's going to win hockey games. If most nights, when the veteran guys are doing that, everyone else follows. I think we've got a lot of veteran guys in this locker room that are playing some good hockey right now. It starts with our goalies. When we've got good goaltending each night, you're giving yourself a chance to win and it gives you confidence in the room."

- - -

The Blues appear to be altering their lineup for tonight, perhaps going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

At the morning skate, they had Sammy Blais skating on the fourth line in place of Zack Bolduc, but it doesn't appear he's going to be in the lineup but defenseman Marco Scandella will.

"That'll be a game time decision what we plan to do," Bannister said.

The Blues have shortened their bench in recent games, more so during the later stages, including Saturday's win at Minnesota with Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich getting more ice time.

"I thought going into the Minnesota game, obviously there's never a plan to shorten the bench; you don't want to, but I thought Kyrou and 'Buchy' were really going in that game and I felt at the time in the third period that was the right thing to do with where the game was at being down by one, we wanted to get our offensive players out on the ice more," Bannister said. "Obviously for us, it worked out in our favor."

Scandella played in a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators last Thursday, his first game after being a healthy scratch the previous five games.

"He'd been out for a while, but I thought as the game went on, his kills were great," Bannister said. "He brings a lot of energy and compete to our lineup. He's a great teammate inside the dressing room, brings a lot of energy to our group, a very positive guy and he's somebody that has been real important to us this year."

- - -

Former Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo (illness) did not accompany the Golden Knights to begin a four-game road trip and is out tonight.

Former Blues forward Ivan Barbashev is here and will play.

Vegas will start Logan Thompson in goal with Adin Hill (lower-body injury) out after being injured in the third period of a 4-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Brayden Schenn-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours

Brandon Saad-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou

Alexey Toropchenko-Kevin Hayes-Kasperi Kapanen

Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Matthew Kessel

Scott Perunovich-Justin Faulk

Marco Scandella

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Sammy Blais, Nikita Alexandrov, Zach Dean, Zack Bolduc and Tyler Tucker. The Blues report no injuries.

- - -

The Golden Knights' projected lineup:

Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Jonathan Marchessault

Chandler Stephenson-Nicolas Roy-Anthony Mantha

Pavel Dorofeyev-William Karlsson-Michael Amadio

William Carrier-Brett Howden-Keegan Kolesar

Noah Hanifin-Nicolas Hague

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton-Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson will start on goal; Jiri Patera will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Alec Martinez and Paul Cotter. Tomas Hertl (lower body), Alex Pietrangelo (illness), Mark Stone (spleen) and Adin Hill (lower body) are all out.

(3-25-24) Golden Knights-Blues Gameday Lineup

Mon, 03/25/2024 - 12:59pm

ST. LOUIS -- Call this the season.

Morning skate report vs. Golden Knights (3-25-24) (1:59)

"It's a fun day to come to the rink," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said with a smile. "It's an exciting day for the guys to play meaningful hockey. This is where we want to be."

The Blues are two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild, and it seems to be a three-team race for that last remaining wild card.

Blues captain Brayden Schenn, a Stanley Cup winner in 2019, is one leading by example.

- - -

The Blues appear to be altering their lineup for tonight, perhaps going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

At the morning skate, they had Sammy Blais skating on the fourth line in place of Zack Bolduc, but it doesn't appear he's going to be in the lineup but defenseman Marco Scandella will.

"That'll be a game time decision what we plan to do," Bannister said.

The Blues have shortened their bench in recent games, more so during the later stages, including Saturday's win at Minnesota with Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich getting more ice time.

Scandella played in a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators last Thursday, his first game after being a healthy scratch the previous five games.

- - -

Former Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo (illness) did not accompany the Golden Knights to begin a four-game road trip and is out tonight.

Former Blues forward Ivan Barbashev is here and will play.

Vegas will start Logan Thompson in goal with Adin Hill (lower-body injury) out after being injured in the third period of a 4-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Brayden Schenn-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours

Brandon Saad-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou

Alexey Toropchenko-Kevin Hayes-Kasperi Kapanen

Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Matthew Kessel

Scott Perunovich-Justin Faulk

Marco Scandella

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Sammy Blais, Nikita Alexandrov, Zach Dean, Zack Bolduc and Tyler Tucker. The Blues report no injuries.

- - -

The Golden Knights' projected lineup:

Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Jonathan Marchessault

Chandler Stephenson-Nicolas Roy-Anthony Mantha

Pavel Dorofeyev-William Karlsson-Michael Amadio

William Carrier-Brett Howden-Keegan Kolesar

Noah Hanifin-Nicolas Hague

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton-Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson will start on goal; Jiri Patera will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Alec Martinez and Paul Cotter. Tomas Hertl (lower body), Alex Pietrangelo (illness), Mark Stone (spleen) and Adin Hill (lower body) are all out.

Blues player to watch vs. Golden Knights: Jordan Kyrou

Mon, 03/25/2024 - 12:40pm

ST. LOUIS -- In the biggest game of the season for the St. Louis Blues, they will need their biggest players to be their best players against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Blues player to watch vs. Golden Knights: Jordan Kyrou (1:47)

Needless to say, Kyrou's scoring touch, along with his confidence, has surfaced again at the right time; he scored his second hat trick of the season on Saturday in a 5-4 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild, giving him four goals and two assists the past two games and three multi-point games in the past five.

There seems to be good chemistry there with Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad.

"I think you have to give him credit," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said of Kyrou. "He's made adjustments to his game that what we're trying to do. And then he's having success and with that it breeds confidence in his game itself. But I think it starts with the player doing the right thing.

"He's starting to use his speed to his advantage wide instead of bringing into the middle of the ice. That's probably the biggest thing and then simplifying when he has to. When he doesn't have time and space, I see a person that's more willing to put pucks in and go get it back first and staying in on battles and the forecheck."

Kyrou had a goal and an assist the last times these teams met and has 10 points in 17 career games against Vegas.

COLUMN: I wrote Blues off three weeks ago; they deserve credit for scratching, clawing, making these games meaningful down stretch

Sun, 03/24/2024 - 11:10pm

ST. LOUIS -- Nearly three weeks ago in this space, I had written the St. Louis Blues off.

They had just blew a 2-0 lead against the New York Islanders and had one game remaining until the NHL Trade Deadline and gone through a stretch where the Blues could have increased a Western Conference wild card lead to six points starting Feb. 17 against the Nashville Predators.

But instead, they sputtered off just three wins in 11 games (3-7-1) and dropped out of the race, fell in with a pack of wolves also looking to make inroads.

The Blues (from left, Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn, Jake Neighbours, Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas) are playing relevant games down the stretch of the season, including Monday's huge tilt against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

I called it a flawed roster that needed to be fixed. It wasn't their fault. "It is what it is," I said at the time. And in the words of Jim Mora, "Playoffs! Don't talk about playoffs! You kidding me? Playoffs. I just hope we can win a game." That's sort of how I felt about the Blues then. It was inevitable that there would be no playoffs for a second straight season.

After that dreadful performance on March 9 against the New York Rangers, a 4-0 loss, it would have been easy for Tony "Duke" Evers, Apollo Creed's trainer in Rocky 4, to be there with the team after that game and yelling, "throw the damn towel!"

The Blues were eight points out of the second wild card, and there were four teams for them to leapfrog to get into the wild card. With 18 games remaining, it wasn't impossible but it was most certainly daunting.

Well, they haven't thrown in "the damn towel." In fact, in the two weeks since, the "flawed" Blues, as I called them, have reeled off six wins in seven games, brushed aside the Calgary Flames, the Seattle Kraken, and moved past the Minnesota Wild, who they've beaten three times in March, including 5-4 in overtime on Saturday, with one obstacle in sight: the Vegas Golden Knights. The defending champion Vegas Golden Knights, who come calling on Enterprise Center Monday at 7 p.m. holding that second wild card.

The deficit is four points. A Blues regulation win will put them, for the third time since Thursday, two points behind Vegas, positioning themselves like a police officer ready to turn the sirens on to begin the chase. Even winning a three-point game pulls them closer and makes things interesting.

Interim coach Drew Bannister has been calling their games playoff games for weeks now, so the Blues (38-30-3), who have already surpassed last year's 37-win total, have been locked in playoff mode now for at least a few weeks.

Speaking of Bannister, I need to give him some credit here for not just holding the ship afloat with his coaching staff but making this group relevant. I didn't give him much of a chance, if at all, when he replaced Craig Berube on Dec. 14, but he definitely deserves it.

Monday's game will most certainly have a playoff feel to it. The building should be vibrant.

View the original article to see embedded media.

It's a chance for the Blues to continue to prove all the doubters, including myself, wrong. I will be the first to admit I'm surprised they're still in this race. I still don't think this roster, even if they manage to get in, is equipped enough to make any kind of a playoff run, but they do have a goalie (Jordan Binnington) that can steal games, so if they get in, it wouldn't be wise to doubt that guy. But what is encouraging here more than anything is that there are players going through this grind for the first time that need to feel it firsthand what this is all about.

Brayden Schenn knows it. Oskar Sundqvist understands it. Colton Parayko has felt it. Nick Leddy and Brandon Saad have been through it with the Chicago Blackhawks. Torey Krug has been through it. Justin Faulk has been part of it.

Imagine what this must feel like for Jake Neighbours, who is tied for the team lead with 25 goals, to experience this adrenaline rush for the first time; how about Alexey Toropchenko, who has been through it before two years ago but not from this vantage point of pushing to get in and gaining this valuable experience; or how about Scott Perunovich, Zack Bolduc, Matthew Kessel, Joel Hofer, even guys that aren't playing regularly like Tyler Tucker, Nikita Alexandrov and Zach Dean to get to learn in this experience? It can only go a long way for these guys moving forward when they do improve and continue their growth. Robert Thomas was these guys in 2019.

Yes, goaltending has been a large factor here with Binnington and Joel Jofer keeping them in this race, having a save percentage of .933 when they're seeing an average of 34 shots per game, second most the past seven games, but in these past seven games, five of them (Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, Neighbours, Saad and Faulk) each are averaging a point per game or better, and all but three are even or better in plus-minus.

As a team, their 12 points the past seven games is tied with the Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers for second behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who have played nine games. They're fifth in goals scored (27) and eighth in goals against (16); eighth in power play percentage (26.3 percent) and eighth in penalty kill (85.7 percent).

I do have to say, the Blues are most certainly trying to will this to the finish line, and that's a positive no matter if they make it or not. Last year, as a fan, how much fun was this that at this point in the season, they were just playing the string out? Not a lot. It's not something as a fan you're used to.

Their only loss in the past two weeks was against the Avalanche, 4-3, and they even played well in that game; it was nothing to scoff at. The Avalanche are a juggernaut right now, but coming out of that game, it wasn't a sense that the Blues just got obliterated like some of their losses earlier in the season where it it looked like they weren't even competing.

Even if the Blues slip up and lose Monday, it's OK. They weren't supposed to compete for anything purposeful, and when I say that, I mean for the Stanley Cup. But for the first time, I am seeing the grassroots being sprouted for a foundation to success again.

Blues goalie Joel Hofer is 3-0-0 in his past three starts.

Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

I stand by my stance that for the organization to take that next step back to relevancy, the roster needs some overhauling. I still think there are guys playing higher in the lineup than they should be, but this can be fixed.

Some of these guys won't be back next season, and that's fine. What Doug Armstrong and Co. must do is make the correct, adequate replacements for those players moving forward, because along with the young skaters that are already here working their tails off, there will be more talent looming in the not-too-distant future.

But I have to give credit where credit is due to this bunch for not staying down for the count every time they got smacked to the ice. It would have been easier that way, but as they've exhibited recently, the Blues don't want easy, and that's the way it should be.

Win or lose, they will come ready to play Monday. The compete is there, and as a fan, that's all you can ask for, even if the result isn't what you want. And that deserves to be recognized.

Blues-Wild takeaways: Jordan Kyrou's confidence has surfaced, scoring second hat trick this season; Saad nets OT winner for St. Louis in 5-4 win against Minnesota

Sat, 03/23/2024 - 5:57pm

The St. Louis Blues continue to defy the odds, including those in this publication.

The Blues haven't been given much chance to be in, let alone remain in the Western Conference wild card chase, but they just won't go away.

Blues-Wild takeaways (3-23-24) (5:20)

The Blues used Jordan Kyrou's second hat trick this season, Pavel Buchnevich's three assists, and Brandon Saad's overtime winner in defeating the Minnesota Wild for the third time this month, 5-4, at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

And in doing so, the Blues (38-30-3) moved eight games over .500 for the first time this season and first time since the end of the 2021-22 regular season. They've won six of seven and for the second time in as many games, pulled within two points of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card in the Western Conference, pending the Golden Knights' result later Saturday night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blues won a game in which it was expected to a bit lower scoring, more tight checking with the stakes as high as they were for each team coming in.

But they got the job done in Nick Leddy's 1,000th NHL game.

Let's look at the takeaways and key points to the matchup that leaves the Blues two points back and the Wild (34-28-9) four points back, pending Vegas' result:

* Taking advantage of limited odd-man rushes -- The game certainly had a playoff feel to it, and it was tight-checking, not a ton of space. Although the Wild had its moments of extended zone time early.

But when there was an odd-man opportunity, the Blues took it, and Jake Neighbours cashed in for his team-leading 25th of the season (for like an hour), by -- take a 'wild' guess! -- being around the net and pouncing on a loose puck for a 1-0 lead at 10:07 of the first period.

Neighbours led the rush up the left side after a Minnesota offensive zone turnover that left defenseman Jake Middleton caught up ice; Neighbours tried threading a cross-ice pass to Robert Thomas that got deflected away, but Brayden Schenn put the backhand on goal that created a rebound that Neighbours put away.

This is not deja vu - Jake Neighbours scored AGAIN! #stlblues pic.twitter.com/tqwxvRQ0tI

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 23, 2024

* Fleury with first big save -- It was shaping up to be a goalie's duel at first, and Marc-Andre Fleury came up with the first key stop when he denied Colton Parayko on the backdoor with 55 seconds left in the first, flashing the glove on the short side after Thomas found the defenseman with a seam pass to the back side. And it was a solid first for the Blues, who outshot the Wild 11-5.

Did Colton Parayko just congratulate Marc-Andre Fleury on that save?

WHAT A GUY!!! 😂😂😂 #stlblues pic.twitter.com/24ZZrBRySP

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 23, 2024

* Wild starts getting opportunistic -- Minnesota evened the game 1-1 when Marcus Johansson finished off a give-and-go in the Blues' zone, after the Blues had a puck in the offensive zone that they lost, the puck gets to the neutral zone, and in a theme that started in the second period, the Blues got caught back-pedaling in, and the Wild exposed them.

Once Neighbours came out to challenge Johansson by sliding, Johansson dished to his right to Brock Faber, got it back into the open slot and fired past Binnington at 4:45.

* Fleury big again -- Fleury thwarted another Grade A scoring chance, this time by Robert Thomas at 7:27 off a 2-on-1 with Neighbours to keep it 1-1.

* Crazy sequence -- The Blues did everything but score, and only they could pass themselves out of a sure goal and turn it into a goal against when Marco Rossi made it 2-1 at 11:44 on a breakaway.

It came after Schenn and Neighbours missed connecting on what would have been an open-net goal, the puck came back to the right side, Schenn gave it up, and somehow, Scott Perunovich and Matthew Kessel didn't see Rossi behind them and be beat Binnington squeezing a shot through the five-hole.

* That's what you're looking for from Kyrou -- The goal Kyrou scored to tie it 2-2 at 12:49 is the kind of play you've been looking for from Kyrou on a consistent basis. Imagine how much better he'd be if the Blues get it?

After initially losing a puck, instead of giving up on the play, he hounds and forechecks Zach Bogosian into a turnover, then goes to the net and bangs home a loose puck to tie the game 2-2. It's a not always about the flash-and-dash plays. That's what he's capable of.

WE. ARE. TIED. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/SKtahhzA4j

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 23, 2024

* Another back-pedaling play typifies second period -- But again, the Blues were in retreat mode, which doesn't mode well when they don't have the puck.

Rossi's second at 15:11 made it 3-2 Minnesota, a goal that the Wild carved the Blues into the zone, Brandon Saad was late on the back-check and a puck from right in front off a Mats Zuccarello pass went off Rossi's skate and in to give the Wild a 3-2 lead after two.

* Kyrou kept heating up -- Trying to chase games down in the third period usually means you need to jump on it fairly quickly before teams get into that lockdown mode.

Kyrou made sure the Wild couldn't get there when he tied it 3-3 at 3:50 with Leddy moving the puck up the ice quick to Buchnevich, who left it off to Kyrou with Saad driving the middle of the ice to provide some type of a screen.

Kyrou, recognizing that, also just shot a puck from distance past Wild defenseman Declan Chisholm past Fleury, who had no idea the puck was coming.

Jordan Kyrou scores again - this time from downtown Minneapolis. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/78iaMlRlQ2

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 23, 2024

* Throw those hats -- The hats started to come down in enemy territory when Kyrou tied Neighbours for the team lead with his 25th, giving the Blues a 4-3 lead at 10:01 taking a feed from Saad, chipping the puck at center ice past Zuccarello with open ice, then darting into the zone before letting go that pinpoint wrister from the inner part of the right circle.

Confident players don't look to pass there, and Kyrou was focused on shooting the puck, which he did.

Jordan Kyrou's fourth career hat trick has us a 4-3 lead in a HUGE game. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/zLaRoMNbT9

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 23, 2024

* The Wild counter-punch -- Minnesota wasn't about to let the Blues take the two points, and the Wild tied it 4-4 when Brock Faber got in on a defensive pinch and poked a loose puck past Jordan Binnington at 14:51 that developed off a Wild face-off win, puck to the right point, shot, rebound, and Neighbours was a little tardy getting to Faber in the slot area.

With all the playoff feels, Neighbours and Faber each were involved in a tussle at the end of regulation that started when Kirill Kaprizov, poking away at a puck Binnington had covered at the end, put his mitt in Leddy's face as the Blues defenseman was trying to move the Wild forward away from his goalie and everybody began to skirmish.

So Neighbours and Faber, who the Wild could have used in the OT, each sat for two minutes.

* Binnington's turn -- Binnington was working his way into the game. He didn't have a ton of work in the early stages, but his save on Rossi bidding for a hat trick at 1:29 of overtime saved the Blues at the time, since Rossi skirted in alone after Schenn turned the puck over.

* Saad ends it -- Saad's overtime winner had one key element that led to his goal, which was slick in itself.

The Wild put a puck in on Binnington with Matt Boldy charging in. Instead of making Binnington freeze the puck for an offensive zone draw, Boldy skated by, allowing Binnington to play the puck.

It turned out to be just what the Blues needed when they moved it up the ice, Kasperi Kapanen fed Saad down the middle, he cut to his left and slid it home past Fleury, who broke his stick on the post, for the game-winner.

SAAD CALLED GAME! 🫡

Brandon Saad's 22nd of the season wins it for the @StLouisBlues in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/UCa2F9Cipo

— NHL (@NHL) March 23, 2024

The win for the Blues sets up a huge showdown with the Golden Knights on Monday at Enterprise Center.

Blues player of the game vs. Wild: Jordan Kyrou

Sat, 03/23/2024 - 4:42pm

Jordan Kyrou was a succinct as he could be after he scored a goal, and added a shootout winner against the Minnesota Wild a week ago.

"Obviously when you score a big goal like that, it gets your confidence up a little bit," he said.

Blues player of the game vs. Wild: Jordan Kyrou (3:18)

It was pretty obvious the confidence had been lagging for the St. Louis Blues forward, who had ran into the previous 10 games with a goal and two assists. But since that 3-2 shootout win against the Wild on March 16, Kyrou is slowly but surely starting to regain that confidence. And it may have found him again on Saturday when he ripped off his second hat trick this season, and fourth of his NHL career, in a crucial 5-4 overtime win against the Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

He scored a tying goal twice in this game for the Blues (38-30-3), one at 2-2 in the second, another at 3-3 in the third, and his third gave the Blues a 4-3 lead.

In 19 games against the Wild, Kyrou now has 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists).

It got obvious for Blues interim coach Drew Bannister in the third period that Kyrou was playing with confidence, not only was he playing on his line with Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad, who by the way scored the game-winner at 2:05 of OT, but Bannister was double-shifting No. 25 with Oskar Sundqvist and Alexey Toropchenko on the fourth line.

The motor was revving, the shot was pinpoint, there was no hesitation, and that now gives Kyrou eight points (five goals, three assists) his past five games, including six points the past two games and a plus-5 rating. He finished with seven shot attempts (four on goal) and a key, key takeaway that led to his first goal in 17:49 ice time.

The masses are screaming at the top of their lungs, "Can he impact games like this consistently?" If he can down the stretch here, it will surely make this playoff chase that much more interesting.

Blues player to watch vs. Wild: Jordan Binnington

Sat, 03/23/2024 - 10:24am

When the cards are on the table for this afternoon's 1 p.m. matchup against the Minnesota Wild, who else will be counted on more than Jordan Binnington?

The St. Louis Blues goalie, and his partner Joel Hofer, have been the rocks of the team thus far this season and the biggest reason why the Blues (37-30-3) are in the thick of the Western Conference wild card chase.

Blues player to watch vs. Wild: Jordan Binnington (2:46)

Someone will get two points today at Xcel Energy Center and will apply pressure to the Vegas Golden Knights, who lead the Blues by four points and the Wild (34-28-8) by five.

The two teams will face each other for the third time the past four Saturdays, with the Blues winning each, 3-1 on March 2 and 3-2 in a shootout one week ago today.

It seems the standard and target number is three for the winner -- Minnesota won 3-1 on Nov. 28 -- and if that's going to be the case here again, Binnington, who is 2-1-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in three games against the Wild this season, will be counted on again.

Minnesota will want to be more shot-centric on their home ice, and with the Blues allowing 32.4 per game, Binnington will have to be locked in for the Blues to come away with two points, and the Wild's crowd will be all over him too, but it's not like he's never heard the noise before.

Leddy to reach gold standard for NHL players in his 1,000th game in home state

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 6:39pm

Nick Leddy wasn't sure what he wanted to do at the time.

Football and baseball had consumed much of the Eden Prairie, Minn. native's early life, as a running back, and as an outfielder, and those were viable options moving forward through his early teen years, but "more eighth, ninth grade, hockey kind of took over," the St. Louis Blues defenseman recalled. "That was kind of the sport I fell in love with. ... I had more of a passion for it. At that time, hockey was turning into a summer sport as well, so that's kind of why it took over."

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy (right) will become the latest player to play in 1,000 games in the NHL on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild.

Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

Took over so much that 20 or so years later, the 33-year-old will become the 391st player in NHL history to suit up in 1,000 games, in his home state and against the team that drafted him when the Blues play against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

"It's definitely a special one," Leddy said. "It's kind of hard to put into words. I think it's always been a goal since a certain point in my career. I never really thought about it growing up. Just thought about making it to the league and trying to have an impact. But as an individual goal, I think it's very special.

"I've been talking to family and friends about that (1,000 will be in Minnesota). I don't know what the odds are for that to happen, but very minimal. It's obviously great for me, easy for my family, friends that are there to make it.

"I don't know if that's the (gold) number, but I think it's just a special milestone. The crazy part is you look at a guy like [Patrick] Marleau or [Nicklas] Lidstrom that are like (500) to 700 more games and you're just like, 'Oh my gosh.' So many more games, years. Those are the idols. If you look at them and how long they've lasted as well, you see how well they take care of their body, how good players they are over long periods of time."

Leddy, who has 407 points (73 goals, 334 assists) in 999 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings and now the Blues, ascended into the sport playing for Eden Prairie High School before by the United States National Team Development Program's U-18 squad in 2007-08, then playing in an upper-elite high school hockey league before spending a year at the University of Minnesota before finally being drafted with the 16th pick in 2009 by the Wild:

He will be the fifth in his draft class (John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene) to reach the milestone.

It couldn't have been a better story written for the beginning of one's career, to play professionally in one's home state. But Leddy never wore a Wild jersey. On February 12, 2010, Leddy's NHL rights were traded to the with defenseman Kim Johnsson in exchange for defenseman Cam Barker.

* Blackhawks, NHL journey begins

Leddy split his first professional season between the Blackhawks, where he played 46 games, and Rockford of the American Hockey League. He said his first defensive partner was shot-blocking extraordinaire Niklas Hjalmarsson because of an injury to Brian Campbell.

He played in his first NHL game on Oct. 7, 2010 against the Colorado Avalanche and played 19:21 that night; he would score his first NHL goal four nights later in Buffalo against the Sabres, his third NHL game.

"I would say a lot of nerves, excitement," Leddy said regarding his first game. "I think the biggest thing was probably just nervous not to let anyone down, especially with the team. I think the biggest thing was try and go play my game and go from there."

He played for Joel Quenneville, who began his NHL coaching career with the Blues who won three Stanley Cups in Chicago; Leddy won his only Cup in 2013 with current Blues teammate Brandon Saad.

Nick Leddy (left) and Brandon Saad were once teammates when both entered the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

"Yeah, and I think after winning one, it makes you hungrier to do it again," Leddy said. "Once you have that success, you want it more and more. Winning is the name of the game. You would definitely want to do that again.

"The ups and downs. Looking at two of the series, we were down 3-1 to Detroit, we ended up coming back and winning that one. You just learn that anything can happen with a little bit of luck, guys stay healthy and good play."

That same season, Leddy's first goal was a memorable one, in overtime Jan. 27, 2013 against the Red Wings:

Saad burst onto the NHL scene a year after Leddy and remembers someone that didn't bask in the limelight but was very helpful.

"He's a soft-spoken, mild-mannered guy, very humble," Saad said. "He's accomplished a lot and it's pretty impressive. I think coming up for me, we were around the same age, so he kind of took me under his wing, whether it was getting dinner or taking care of me on the road. It was just nice to have someone looking out for you, showing you the ropes.

"... It's pretty impressive. Time flies. It's pretty awesome that I got to start my career with him and then see him come to fruition here with hitting 1,000 games. It goes by quickly and I think he's got a lot of miles left on him."

Leddy's last memory in Chicago was an unfortunate one, however, when in Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings, Alec Martinez's wrister deflected off Leddy past Corey Crawford in overtime sending the Kings to the Stanley Cup Final.

Leddy was traded Oct. 4, 2014, along with goalie Kent Simpson to the Islanders in a cap-saving move for defensemen Ville Pokka and T.J. Brennan and the rights to goalie Anders Nilsson.

Four seasons and 258 games in Chicago, with 93 regular-season games (20 goals, 72 assists) had come to an end.

* On to Long Island

Leddy's move to the Islanders was projected with some uncertainty until he signed a seven-year, $38.5 million extension ($5.5 million average annual value) and spent seven seasons there, helping the Islanders reach the playoffs five times, including the Eastern Conference Final in his final two seasons there (2019-20, 2020-21) playing alongside Johnny Boychuk.

Nick Leddy (left) spent seven seasons with the New York Islanders after he was traded there by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2014.

Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

"Johnny Boychuk, I played with him on the Island for seven years," Leddy recalled. "He was my d-partner, six years. I was really close with him. We got traded there on the same day. Ever since that moment, we've been very close.

"Obviously the whole Islander team, still talk to a few guys from Chicago and my short stint in Detroit, obviously I made some quick connections as well there."

This was Leddy's longest stop, and 243 (45 goals, 198 assists) of his 407 points in 518 games came as an Islander.

* Next stop: Motown

With one year remaining on his contract and a looming Seattle Kraken Expansion Draf with the Islanders possibly not protecting the defenseman, New York traded Leddy to the Red Wings on July 18, 2021 for forward Richard Panik and a second-round pick in 2021.

Nick Leddy's stay with the Detroit Red Wings was relegated to 55 games before being traded to the St. Louis Blues on March 21, 2022.

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

But his stop in Detroit didn't last long; he played 55 games (one goal, 15 assists) with the Red Wings before heading south to the Gateway City.

* Hello St. Louis

The Blues were riding high that season and made a rather controversial move, in the fans' eyes at least, when they acquired Leddy and defenseman Luke Witkowski in exchange for popular forward Oskar Sundqvist, defenseman Jake Walman and a 2023 second-round pick on March 21, 2022.

Sundqvist was -- and again is -- a polarizing figure with the Blues, having helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2019 and will forever be etched in Blues fans' eyes. But Leddy came on and was paired with Colton Parayko; he helped the Blues eliminate the Wild in six games, including scoring the opening goal of Game 6 in St. Louis:

Leddy has played just 168 of his 999 games thus far in St. Louis, and after being a big part in helping shut down Kirill Kaprizov in that opening-round series against the Wild in 2022 and putting up a valiant fight against the eventual Stanley Cup champ Colorado. He re-signed in St. Louis, a four-year, $16-million contract in 2022 and after going through a tough season with the rest of his Blues teammates when they fell out of postseason competition, he and Parayko have been a steadying combination this season.

"Obviously last year, we've been kind of building on a little bit and trying to find tendencies and just finding our games a little bit, but this year, I think we're finding that we're playing as ourselves," Parayko said. "That's kind of allowing us to build, just find how we can make ourselves better as a two-man unit. I think when we're playing better, everyone else is playing better too, not just us two. It obviously helps the team. Just trying to maximize our game as much as possible and help as much as possible."

Leddy has already put up one more point (24) in 70 games this season than he had in 78 games last season; his plus-10 is second-best on the Blues behind Robert Thomas and it's his best since he was a plus-18 with the Islanders in his first season there (2014-15). And his 22:17 average ice time is the most since 22:25 with the Islanders in 2017-18, all being a steady partner with Parayko.

Leddy has 55 points (seven goals, 48 assists) in St. Louis.

"It's been great," Parayko said. "Been in the league for a while now, you always keep learning and playing with Colton, I've learned so much I think off the ice as well on the ice. I think this year especially we've really connected and played how I think we can play together as a d-partner. We always keep learning and keep playing.

"Obviously it's a special milestone. Obviously a great teammate, great guy, great player. Just super happy for him. Definitely get to see all the hard work he puts in every day and stuff like that too, to stay healthy and obviously one of the top d-men in the league. It's special to be able to play along side of him and to be his teammate. It's a privilege to play with him every game."

And it's been one pairing the Blues have consistently stuck with this season, under Craig Berube and now, interim coach Drew Bannister.

"Very impressive the longevity to be able to play a thousand games and go back to your hometown and be able to play it in front of your friends and family," Bannister said. "That's pretty special for him. Happy that he's able to play in that game and have his family and friends for it and do it in his hometown. It speaks to him how he carries himself, whether it's the work in the summer and to be able to go into those games and play in the grind that it takes. It says a lot about his character. Very low maintenance. Just comes to play and he's a real good pro."

Leddy purchased a suite at Xcel Energy Center for the game Saturday and said there will be roughly 20-30 family and friends and whoever they decide to bring to the 1 p.m. puck drop. He will become the 45th active player to reach 1,000 games, following along in the footsteps of some of those he grew up idolizing, and doing so in full circle.

Nick Leddy (4) has spent the past two-plus seasons with the Blues and will play in his 1,000th NHL game on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild.

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

"My dad [Mike] always told me to watch Lindstrom and Ray Bourque," Leddy said. "When I got traded to Chicago when I was still in college, Duncan Keith was the one I really watched, always tried paying attention to and kind of try and model myself after him on and off the ice.

"Crazy. Chances are so minimal. I don't even know what the odds would be, but it's going to be hopefully really special. I know it'll be special whenever it happens, especially to have family and friends there."

As for reaching Marleau's NHL record of 1,779 games played, or even Lidstrom, who is 14th at 1,564, Leddy laughed and said, "I don't know about that. We'll take it year by year."

The Blues will celebrate Leddy's 1,000th game prior to Monday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights at Enterprise Center. Leddy will be presented with gifts from the organization and his teammates to commemorate the milestone before the opening face-off.

The Hockey News Archive

Blues-Senators takeaways: Hofer was exceptional with 37 saves; Kyrou with goal, two assists; Neighbours scores twice, Saad with goal, assist in game St. Louis had to have, 5-2 against Ottawa

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 2:00am

As the season progresses and games dwindle, the St. Louis Blues are almost in a situation where they simply continue to need to win and bag points.

Blues-Senators takeaways (3-21-24) (5:24)

Thursday was no exception starting a short two-game road trip against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre, a game in which the Blues had to have and had a chance to apply some pressure on the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card into the Western Conference.

It started with Joel Hofer's 37-save performance, followed by multi-point games from Jordan Kyrou (one goal, two assists), Jake Neighbours (two goals) and Brandon Saad (one goal, one assist) as the Blues did their part with a 5-2 win against the Senators, who are just playing out the string on the season.

One common theme from the game for the Blues (37-30-3), who have won five of six, is the goaltending, and Hofer improved to 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in his past three starts.

He and fellow goalie Jordan Binnington continue to be the backbone for the Blues' playoff push, which for a few hours put the pressure on the Golden Knights and pulled within two points until Vegas scored late to defeat the Seattle Kraken, 3-1.

The Blues mixed up their lineup a bit on Thursday besides putting Hofer between the pipes, defenseman Marco Scandella played his first game since March 9 against the New York Rangers with Torey Krug missing his first game this season with a lower-body injury, and forward Zach Dean, the 30th pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Golden Knights before being traded to the Blues on Feb. 27, 2023 for Ivan Barbashev, made his NHL debut just on the other side of the Ottawa River where he played his junior hockey for the Gatineau Olympiques.

Let's dive into the key points from the Canadian capital:

* Blues were playing dangerously -- It was another one of those starts for the Blues that dictated who they were playing and where they were in the standings.

It was a team below them in the standings, albeit a dangerous one with some solid weapons but shoddy goaltending, but the unlike Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche in which the Blues played pretty well in a 4-3 loss, they were playing too loose in their own zone early and the Senators seemed ready to pounce.

* One save leads to a goal -- Joel Hofer tossed his name into the ring that things were going to be just fine despite the looseness in front of him. His save on Tim Stutzle cutting in past Colton Parayko at 11:32 set up the opening goal.

Hofer was up to the task a number of times early before Saad's 21st of the season at 11:54 made it 1-0, a goal scored off a rebound, where the Blues knew they could make their living.

🗣️ BRANDON SAAD, EVERYBODY pic.twitter.com/BqbyfK5hyx

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 21, 2024

* Joining the rush critical -- The lead was doubled but it was anything but a walk in the park for the Blues, who needed Hofer to be special, including making consecutive saves on Jakob Chychrun at 12:48, then another acrobatic stop at 12:51.

Just one quick question on this Joel Hofer save........HOW?!?!?!?!#stlblues | @pncbank pic.twitter.com/AqTUXULSGi

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 21, 2024

Getting in and around Forsberg was going to be key, and Colton Parayko joined in on the fun when he made it 2-0 at 14:47 of the first when Kyrou found the big man at 6-foot-6, coming down the slot uncontested to tie his career-high 10th (also matched in 2018-19 and 2019-20).

That's a career-high tying goal No. 10 this season for #55. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/CfWTH2SOfO

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 21, 2024

The Blues got out of the opening period ahead 2-0 despite getting outshot 12-7.

* Another costly mistake -- The Blues were their own worst enemy on Tuesday with costly mistakes Colorado took advantage of, and the Senators took advantage of a puck mistake when Nick Leddy's cross ice pass into the neutral zone was behind Neighbours and Mark Kastelic made it 2-1 at 4:34.

It was a backdoor pass from Mathieu Joseph that Hofer had no chance on Kastelic's goal.

* Regaining momentum -- When the Senators would claw within one, the Blues had an answer each time and it was important.

Kastelic's goal re-energized the Senators, but living around the blue paint was good advice for the Blues, who had Neighbours restore their lead to 3-1 at 13:11.

There was another goalmouth scramble that Neighbours won living in the right areas.

Another day, another Jake Neighbours goal. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/Lye9tHxhcR

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 22, 2024

* Hofer holding down fort -- And it was big because another Hofer key save came off native St. Louisan Brady Tkachuk, who like Neighbours lives around the net but wanted to break his stick over his head at 16:40 of the second with Zack Bolduc on the box for tripping.

.@Jkellyhockey: "Call the cops! I don't believe it!" Joel Hofer robs Brady Tkachuk! #stlblues

📺: Bally Sports | 📱: Bally Sports app pic.twitter.com/RrKCKaUxKl

— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 22, 2024

* Bad penalty -- Kyrou committed a costly penalty on Tuesday that cost the Blues a goal, and Neighbours committed one too when he hooked Tkachuk just 19 seconds into the third of a two-goal game.

The Senators capitalized and made things interesting when Dominik Kubalik tapped in a rebound at 1:58 to make it 3-2 and really make things interesting.

Hofer was an acrobat leading up to the goal making four saves trying to get the kill but couldn't make a fifth.

* Another answer -- But for the second time in the game, the Blues had an answer on Kyrou's goal and a 4-2 lead at 5:43 on a spin and shot from the slot bar down past Forsberg.

Alexey Toropchenko took a pass into the zone on the left and put the puck into the slot, and Kyrou recovered it before beating the Senators goalie.

The 3 S's of hockey: spin, shoot, score. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/vUn5fsG42F

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 22, 2024

* Manage the game, put an end to it -- Leading by two, the Blues managed the game the right way, Hofer kept making saves, and they iced it with Neighbours scoring his 24th into the empty net at 18:32.

A two-goal game for Jake Neighbours! #stlblues pic.twitter.com/7QpjJewIpF

— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 22, 2024

It was a must-game for the Blues and they had to have it. They got it and now move onto Minnesota for a pivotal game Saturday.

The Hockey News Archive

Blues player of the game vs. Senators: Joel Hofer

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 12:38am

It's still a longshot for it to happen, but if the St. Louis Blues are to somehow climb back into the top eight in the Western Conference and steal a wild card spot, they can thank their goalies for yet another terrific outing.

Blues player of the game vs. Senators: Joel Hofer (2:44)

This time, it was Joel Hofer, who has caught fire at the right time.

When it looked like -- where have we heard this before -- the Blues weren't at their best, their back-stopper was there to take care of matters, this time with a 37-save performance in a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

Between Hofer and Jordan Binnington, it's been quite the 1-2 punch for the Blues (37-30-3), who momentarily pulled within two points of defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card but fell four points back again after Vegas knocked off the Seattle Kraken 3-1.

Hofer, who is 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in his past three starts against the Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks and Senators, made several high-danger saves and you can take your pick as to which ones were the best in this game.

This sequence in the first period when he robbed Senators defenseman Jacob Chychrun probably stand out.

SPIN-O-RAMA! Joel Hofer shows off his flexibility with a series of incredible saves. #stlblues
Watch on the Bally Sports app, brought to you by @BommaritoAuto. pic.twitter.com/AJ8bxluiIS

— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 21, 2024

With Hofer and Binnington playing in top form, the Blues, who have 12 games remaining this season, will have a chance until their either get in or are officially eliminated.

(3-21-24) Blues-Senators Gameday Lineup

Thu, 03/21/2024 - 12:13pm

No loss is a good loss, especially when it's in the case for the St. Louis Blues, who are trying to chase down a Western Conference wild card spot.

But in the case of their 4-3 loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, it's one of those losses the Blues (36-30-3), whose four-game winning streak came to a halt, can live with considering they didn't just flat-out play poorly. They actually played a pretty darn good game against one of the upper-echelon teams in the league.

Morning skate report vs. Senators (3-21-24) (3:01)

Now as they open a mini two-game road trip beginning today against the Ottawa Senators (28-35-4) at 6 p.m. (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM), the focus once again has to be on bagging points, as many as they can, with just 13 regular-season games remaining and four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final wild card spot.

"Guys are playing with confidence again, which was lacking or struggling when we were going through that little stretch in 10 days or two weeks where we were fighting our game," St. Louis interim coach Drew Bannister said. 'We've seemed to find it back here and we'll just keep moving forward.

"... I thought we generated a lot of offense [Tuesday]. I thought against a good team that plays fast, I thought at times we made pretty good puck decisions. We were able to get it to the goal line when we needed to and we got some pretty good chances off the cycle and guys were getting to the net. There's a lot of pucks directed towards the net, the chances were there for us. We'd certainly like to see us cash in on a couple of those extra chances that we had, but offensively, I thought our guys played well."

If there's such a thing as a good, or OK loss, that was it. The timing just stinks since it's late in the season, and the Blues had a chance to move within two points of Vegas, which lost 5-3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

"I thought we played pretty well," said Blues forward Nathan Walker, who had a goal and an assist Tuesday. "We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in the first with the turnovers, but besides that, I thought we played pretty well.

"You play one of the top teams in the league and you're right in the thick of it until the end of the game, that's always a good sign. Definitely would have been nice to get the two points, but I think we have to keep our heads up high, walk out of here and back to work.

"I think we just really came together as a team and did the right things, whether it's managing the puck at both blue lines and managing the clock. I think we really did a good job of that these past few games here."

The Blues, who doubled up the Senators 4-2 on Dec. 14 in Bannister's debut after replacing the fired Craig Berube, will need to find a way again. They can ill-afford to at this point consecutive losses.

"Just keep the confidence going," Blues defenseman Nick Leddy said. "We didn't get the outcome [Tuesday], but I thought we did a lot of good things."

"It’s how we respond from this now," captain Brayden Schenn said. "We had a good stretch of four games. Obviously, would have been nice to come away with some points (against the Avalanche), but we’re playing a whole lot better. Now is the chance, obviously you can be mad about this one, but we put it behind us and we go on the road here, and we’ve got to win two hockey games. That’s the reality of it, and you can’t dwell on a tough loss."

- - -

There will be a couple lineup changes for the Blues for the game, with defenseman Torey Krug, who did not practice Wednesday but was not expected to miss the game.

Well, Bannister confirmed to reporters this morning that Krug has a lower-body injury and will likely miss the game, and in his place will be veteran Marco Scandella, who was in Krug's spot alongside Justin Faulk at practice on Wednesday.

Scandella, who last played on March 9 against the New York Rangers, has been a healthy scratch the past five games; he has two goals and six assists in 59 games this season.

Also, Zach Dean, the 2021 first-round pick (30th overall) of the Vegas Golden Knights, will make his NHL debut just 15 minutes south and across the Ottawa River from where the forward played his junior hockey with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Dean, acquired on Feb.27, 2023 from the Golden Knights for Ivan Barbashev, has sat out the past five games after being recalled March 11.

"Sometimes it's just good to throw them into the fire kind of thing and let them learn," Bannister said of Dean. "But I think the time spent here has allowed him to become more comfortable with how we do things day to day. We haven't had a ton of skates either, which it's always nice to get into some skates. [Wednesday] was a day where he was able to practice with a line here and feel a little bit more comfortable. For [tonight], at least it gives him a little bit of a heads up to prepare himself to play."

Dean will replace Oskar Sundqvist, who will be a healthy scratch and will miss his first game this season, along with Krug. The Blues will be down to nine players (Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Kevin Hayes, Schenn, Brandon Saad, Alexey Toropchenko, Leddy and Colton Parayko) who have played in every game thus far this season.

Also as expected, Joel Hofer will get the cage tonight against Alton Forsberg, meaning Jordan Binnington will likely start Saturday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup:

Brayden Schenn-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours

Brandon Saad-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou

Zack Bolduc-Kevin Hayes-Kasperi Kapanen

Alexey Toropchenko-Zach Dean-Nathan Walker

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Scott Perunovich-Matthew Kessel

Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Oskar Sundqvist, Sammy Blais, Nikita Alexandrov and Tyler Tucker. Torey Krug (lower body) is likely out.

- - -

The Senators' projected lineup:

Brady Tkachuk-Shane Pinto-Drake Batherson

Mathieu Joseph-Tim Stutzle-Claude Giroux

Ridly Grieg-Zack Ostapchuk-Dominik Kubalik

Boris Katchouk-Mark Kastelic-Parker Kelly

Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot-Erik Brannstrom

Jakob Chychrun-Jacob Bernard-Docker

Anton Forsberg will start in goal; Joonas Korpisalo will be the backup. The Senators have no healthy scratches. Travis Hamonic (lower body) is a game-time decision. Giroux (illness) did not participate in the morning skate and will be a game-time decision.

The Hockey News Archive

Blues player to watch vs. Senators: Robert Thomas

Thu, 03/21/2024 - 12:00pm

Robert Thomas produced his first multi-point game on Sunday when he scored two power-play goals in a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks.

It was just the second time in 12 games the St. Louis Blues top-line center had produced a multi-point game after he had three in the previous six games.

Blues player to watch vs. Senators: Robert Thomas (2:07)

With the Blues (36-30-3) going against the Ottawa Senators (28-35-4) on Thursday, this looks like a prime spot for someone off the Blues' top line to have a big night if they are to produce offense, and Thomas feels like that guy against a team that is 28th in the league allowing 3.57 goals-per-game.

Thomas had a goal and an assist when the Blues doubled up the Senators, 4-2, on Dec. 14 in interim coach Drew Bannister's debut behind the St. Louis bench. He also has six points (three goals, three assists) in six games against the Senators, and since putting Brayden Schenn and most recently, Jake Neighbours, on that top line, there seems to be some nice synergy there.

With 13 games left in the regular season, it's time for the Blues' top skaters to keep taking over games, and Thomas is ripe for one of those games where, if he doesn't score, he's setting up multiple goals. He'll also want to have a good showing against one of his best pals, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

Bannister defends criticism of Kyrou, also acknowledges forward not only one at fault with mistakes made in Blues' 4-3 against Avalanche

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 6:08pm

MARYLAD HEIGHTS, Mo. -- What may have looked soft at the time, turned into a crucial turning point for the St. Louis Blues in their 4-3 loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, ending St. Louis' four-game winning streak.

Jordan Kyrou was whistled for tripping Andrew Cogliano at 18:24 of the second period and the Blues holding a 3-2 lead.

Blues forward Jordan Kyrou (left) was recently moved off the top power play unit and top forward line by interim coach Drew Bannister.

Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Cogliano was chipping the puck along the right wall and Kyrou was in place to perhaps deliver a hip check but instead, Cogliano maneuvered around the backside of him and Kyrou stuck his skate out causing the infraction, as light as it was, it was still an infraction.

Just 22 seconds later, Mikko Rantanen was scoring the second of what turned out to be a hat trick to tie the game 3-3 and instead of leading after two, it was a tie game.

Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said postgame Tuesday that, "It's a penalty you can't take at that time of the game."

View the original article to see embedded media.

He didn't necessarily double up on his comment after practice Wednesday but explained again the ramifications of it. But there were also other factors, including Pavel Buchevich's defensive zone turnover that ultimately led to the game-deciding goal, also scored by Rantanen.

"Going back to the penalty, I don't think there's any good penalties, especially when it ends up in the back of your net," Bannister said. "There were other mistakes made by other players on our team. That wasn't the difference maker. But certainly at that time when you're up 3-2 late in the (period), it does change a little bit of the momentum but I thought in the third period, we came out and still played a pretty solid hockey game and we ended up making one mistake and it would up in the back of our net."

In a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, the coaching staff made two changes to the power play personnel, including moving Brayden Schenn into Kyrou's spot on the left flank, that led to three man-advantage goals, and on Tuesday, Jake Neighbours was moved up to Kyrou's spot alongside Thomas and Schenn and Kyrou was slotted with Buchnevich and Brandon Saad.

"As for Jordan, two games ago, we just felt our power play was stagnant at that point and we wanted to make some changes," Bannister said. 'He was one of the players that came off it and we obviously had success and we wanted to stick with that last night. Just bumping him down that one line, I felt at that time we needed a bit more from both lines and I thought putting 'Jakey' up there against their top line would allow us to be a little bit more direct and open up Jordan a little bit more because he had more ice. They skate well and they make you pay for your mistakes. I thought the adjustment was good. I thought 'Jakey' handled that very well and I thought that line played really well together."

Neighbours remained with Thomas and Schenn at practice Wednesday and Kyrou, who has just two goals the past 14 games, was with Buchnevich and Saad.

The Hockey News Archive

St Louis Blues on The Hockey News

Blues player to watch vs. Flames: Brandon Saad

Jake Neighbours watching, learning, trying to follow in footsteps of Matthew Tkachuk, Zach Hyman regarding net front presence

For Hayes, Forsberg goal attempt Monday not his first

Sundqvist to miss rest of season with torn right ACL

Golden Knights-Blues takeaways: St. Louis plays well enough to win, lose crucial ground in wild card chase with 2-1 overtime loss against Vegas

Blues player of the game vs. Golden Knights: Brayden Schenn

Blues lose Sundqvist to injury during 2-1 OT loss against Vegas

(3-25-24) Golden Knights-Blues Gameday Lineup

(3-25-24) Golden Knights-Blues Gameday Lineup

Blues player to watch vs. Golden Knights: Jordan Kyrou

COLUMN: I wrote Blues off three weeks ago; they deserve credit for scratching, clawing, making these games meaningful down stretch

Blues-Wild takeaways: Jordan Kyrou's confidence has surfaced, scoring second hat trick this season; Saad nets OT winner for St. Louis in 5-4 win against Minnesota

Blues player of the game vs. Wild: Jordan Kyrou

Blues player to watch vs. Wild: Jordan Binnington

Leddy to reach gold standard for NHL players in his 1,000th game in home state

Blues-Senators takeaways: Hofer was exceptional with 37 saves; Kyrou with goal, two assists; Neighbours scores twice, Saad with goal, assist in game St. Louis had to have, 5-2 against Ottawa

Blues player of the game vs. Senators: Joel Hofer

(3-21-24) Blues-Senators Gameday Lineup

Blues player to watch vs. Senators: Robert Thomas

Bannister defends criticism of Kyrou, also acknowledges forward not only one at fault with mistakes made in Blues' 4-3 against Avalanche

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