With back-to-back games, the St. Louis Blues did not hold a morning skate prior to Friday’s matchup with the Florida Panthers (6 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network, 101 ESPN).
Here's what Blues Head Coach Jim Montgomery said about some personnel adjustments:
- Radek Faksa will return to the lineup after missing five games with an injury. Faksa sustained a skate cut near the groin on Dec. 10 in Vancouver.
- Oskar Sundqvist is back in the lineup after sitting out as a healthy scratch n Tampa Bay.
- Philip Broberg returns to the lineup after missing Thursday’s game against the Lightning with an illness.
- Alexandre Texier will play for the second straight game. Montgomery was happy with what he saw from Texier against the Lightning. “The way he hung onto pucks, the way he was very confident, the speed he attacked the middle of the ice with gave us some good looks offensively. He made some real good plays. It was the best game I’ve seen him play and I want him to continue to build off that.”
Montgomery said Brandon Saad, Mathieu Joseph and Tyler Tucker will sit out against the Panthers.
Joel Hofer will start in goal.
