Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister said he’s seeking some better chemistry, so he’s making some changes to the forward lines for Thursday’s matchup with the Florida Panthers (6 p.m. CT, Bally Sports, 101 ESPN).
Bannister is expected to keep the first line of Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou in tact, but changes are coming to the remaining three lines based on Wednesday’s team practice in Florida.
“There are areas as a group that we need to get better in,” Bannister said. “I need to find some chemistry, whether it’s the first line, second line, third line or fourth line - until I find that chemistry, we’ll continue to make changes. I made changes during (Tuesday’s) game to find some chemistry, and that didn’t work, so I made (more) changes today. Hopefully that will work for us in the game.”
With Hugh McGing assigned to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday, a roster spot has opened up for Sammy Blais, who will re-enter the lineup on the fourth line. Jake Neighbours was shifted up to the second line with Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen, and Brandon Saad moved to the third line with Kevin Hayes and Alexey Toropchenko.
Defense pairs are not expected to change, although Joel Hofer is expected to start in goal.
