The St. Louis Blues will have a new face in the lineup Thursday when they meet the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena (6 p.m. CT, Bally Sports, 101 ESPN).
Adam Gaudette, who was acquired by the Blues last February in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs that sent Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari to Toronto, will make his Blues debut on the third line with Brandon Saad and Oskar Sundqvist.
Gaudette was called up Wednesday in response to Kasperi Kapanen being placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Gaudette has spent the season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds and leads the league in goals (24) and ranks third overall in points (36) through 37 games this season. He has played in 218 NHL games in stints with Vancouver, Chicago and Ottawa, recording 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists) and 84 penalty minutes.
“He shoots the puck. He likes to shoot, he likes to score, he had a lot of success when I was there [in Springfield] and he’s continued that success,” Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister said. “He’s really competitive, strong on his stick, battles for pucks, he’s not going to be shy to shoot the puck, for sure.
“Once you give him (the puck), get to the net - because if it’s not in the back of the net, there’s going to be a rebound… Now he gets a chance to be rewarded by coming up here and getting in some games. Hopefully he can have the same success up here as he’s had down there.”
With Kapanen expected to be out for four weeks, Bannister is also making other changes, including moving Jake Neighbours to the top line with Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas and shifting Jordan Kyrou to a second line made up of Kevin Hayes and Brayden Schenn.
Nikita Alexandrov also will enter the lineup, replacing Sammy Blais.
Below is a projected lineup for Thursday’s matchup against the Capitals.
