The St. Louis Blues resume the second leg of a four-game homestand with the first of two matchups against the Calgary Flames Tuesday night (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network, 101 ESPN, Blues App).
Coming off a 2-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, the Blues know the importance of amassing points this week, as Calgary currently sits five points ahead in the Western Conference Wild Card race.
“The opportunity in front of us creates excitement,” Head Coach Jim Montgomery said. “Calgary’s playing really good hockey here, especially in their last 5-7 games… we will see when we drop the puck tonight, the determination and the North hockey that we need to have to be able to establish ourselves against a real good hockey team.”
Montgomery is expected to make a few key changes to Saturday’s lineup, including moving Jake Neighbours to the first line for Brandon Saad alongside Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.
“I thought in the last 3-4 games, Jake Neighbours’ second, third effort on pucks, turning over pucks, being in the right areas, being physical, has really had a big uptick," Montgomery said. "It’s really important to have a player with those traits, especially when you’re playing with a puck possession center like Thomas, and a puck possession/ 200-foot winger like Buchy.”
Additionally, Alexandre Texier will re-enter the lineup for Zack Bolduc on the third line, while Mathieu Joseph will re-enter the lineup for Nathan Walker on the fourth.
“[We’re looking] for a spark," Montgomery said. "Joseph is someone who we think can help our penalty kill and hopefully create a little more offense… and Texier is a guy that’s gone in and done a really good job – but both of them need to bring the consistency that we’re looking for in our team.”
All defensive pairings are expected to remain the same, and Jordan Binnington is expected to start in net.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Jake Neighbours – Robert Thomas – Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway – Brayden Schenn – Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad – Oskar Sundqvist – Alexandre Texier
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faksa – Mathieu Joseph
Defense
Cam Fowler – Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter – Tyler Tucker
Goalie
Jordan Binnington