UPDATE (5:30 PST) - Craig Berube confirms Robert Bortuzzo will play in place of Marco Scandella on defense.
After a team practice on Friday at the Toyota Performance Center, Blues Head Coach Craig Berube promised that there would be changes on defense before the St. Louis Blues begin a back-to-back set featuring two road games less than 24 hours apart.
The first one is Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings at 9:30 p.m. CT (Bally Sports, 101 ESPN).
“(I’m) going to make a couple switches on D for (the) game,” Berube said. “We’ve got back-to-back games, so I want to keep fresh guys going there. We’ll make a decision on the D (before Saturday’s game).”
While the change isn’t confirmed, Robert Bortuzzo was paired with Scott Perunovich in Marco Scandella’s spot in practice Friday afternoon. Scandella was instead skating on a pairing with Tyler Tucker, who last played Nov. 7 vs. Winnipeg.
Berube is expected to speak with reporters at Crypto.com Arena prior to Saturday's game. If he confirms the defense tweaks, they will be updated below.
No changes are expected to the forward lines based on Friday’s practice.
