ST.
LOUIS – The
St. Louis Blues will have to play without another injured forward for
the foreseeable future.
Pius
Suter is the latest to hit the injury list after the Blues (15-16-8),
who host the red-hot Buffalo Sabres (19-14-4) on Monday (7 p.m.;
FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM). The forward will be reevaluated in four weeks
with a right high ankle sprain sustained in the third period of a 3-2
win against the Nashville Predators on Saturday after getting an MRI
on Sunday.
Suter,
who has seven goals and seven assists in 37 games this season, did
not practice on Sunday.
It
means Robby Fabbri will go back into the lineup in Suter’s spot
after being a healthy scratch on Saturday. Also, Mathieu Joseph will
re-enter the lineup on the fourth line, and go in for Jonatan
Berggren.
But
what the Blues will miss in Suter is a plethora of things.
“We
haven’t had enough forwards grab and taking ownership of being
reliable, trustworthy and really good at their habits and details
defensively, and that’s why you see different people in there in
different games, because when guys are on their details, they get
that opportunity and there’s an opportunity for people to grab
that,” Blues
coach Jim Montgomery said.
“We have certain players we know are going to be there, but it’s
not like we have two lines of it, and that’s up to the players to
grab it. It’s very similar to the discussion we had yesterday about
coming into our lineup and who does. We don’t want guys to come out
of the lineup, and when you go into the lineup, it’s up to you to
be really good at those habits and details so that we don’t take
you out. That’s for everybody.”
Could
Otto Stenberg, a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, be the guy
to replace Suter’s wealth and many things be brings to the game?
We’ll have more on that in an upcoming story.
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The
Blues will look to derail the Sabres express. In
winning eight in a row, the Sabres, who lost 3-0 to the Blues in
early November, have scored three or more goals in each game and won
four of them by multiple goals, four of them by one goal, outscoring
their opponents 25-15.
“It’s
a lot different. Just their confidence, their swagger, you could see
it,” Montgomery
said of the Sabres.
“They expect to score goals, they are scoring goals, they’re
scoring gritty goals at the net front now besides the skill level
that they have, and they have skill on three lines. That’s why your
details and in the D-zone off the rush have to be good. And I think
that if our details are good there, we’re going to get
opportunities going the other way. And then it’s up to us. Last
game we were 8-2 in odd-man rushes for. You keep getting those
numbers and we get better at executing off the rush, we’re going to
start scoring a lot more goals. It’s up to us to be really good at
those odd-man rushes.”
Sabres
coach Lindy Ruff said in beating the Blues, there are several key
factors.
“I
think the numbers say they’re a great team to get interior shots
too so we can’t let pucks go through us,” Ruff said. “I think
their speed is evident. Their ‘D’ get up ice. Similar to us, our
‘D’ are heavily involved, their ‘D’ are heavily involved.
We’ve got to make sure we don’t turn it into a track meet, that
we’re weary of their guys coming.”
The
Blues have another opportunity here to get to the .500 mark with a
win.
“I
think results are secondary right now to our process,” Montgomery
said.
“I talk about habits and details a lot and our process, the things
that we believe in, winning the net fronts, winning special teams,
winning the Grade A chances. There’s a lot of things, details that
go into those major part of the process, and if we continue to be
better at those things in the process, the results will take care of
themselves. I’ve always believed that, and I will always believe
that as I am a coach.”
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It
will be another homecoming for a St. Louis kid playing in the NHL
when O’Fallon’s own Josh Dunne, who previously played in two
preseason games in St. Louis with the Columbus Blue Jackets, will
make his first regular-season appearance here tonight with the
Sabres.
I’ll
have more on Dunne’s return to St. Louis later, and also got a
chance to catch up with goalie Colten Ellis and get his thoughts in
being waived by the Blues and what it means to be in the NHL and have
this opportunity.
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Blues
Projected
Lineup:
Jake
Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Otto
Stenberg-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Robby
Fabbri-Dalibor Dvorsky-Jimmy Snuggerud
Alexey
Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Mathieu Joseph
Philip
Broberg-Colton Parayko
Tyler
Tucker-Justin Faulk
Cam
Fowler-Logan Mailloux
Joel
Hofer will
start in goal; Jordan
Binnington will
be the backup.
Healthy
scratches
include Jonatan
Berggren and
Matthew
Kessel. Dylan
Holloway (high ankle sprain), Pius Suter (high
ankle sprain),
Nathan Walker (upper body) and
Nick
Bjugstad (upper body) are
out.
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Sabres
Projected
Lineup:
Peyton
Krebs-Tage Thompson-Josh Doan
Noah
Ostlund-Josh Norris-Alex Tuch
Zach
Benson-Ryan McLeod-Jack Quinn
Jordan
Greenway-Josh Dunne-Beck Malenstyn
Mattias
Samuelsson-Rasmus
Dahlin
Owen
Power-Michael Kesselring
Bowen
Byram-Zach
Metsa
Alex
Lyon will
start in goal; Ukko-Pekka
Luukkonen will
be the backup.
Healthy
scratches include Isak
Rosen and
Jacob
Bryson. Tyson
Kozak (upper body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jason Zucker (upper
and lower body), Colten Ellis (concussion), Jiri Kulich (blood clot)
and
Justin
Danforth (lower body) are
all out.
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