By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- There were happy teammates and a happy coach to announce that defenseman Jay Bouwmeester will make his season debut for the Blues, who host the Edmonton Oilers today (7 p.m.; NBCSN, KMOX 1120-AM) for the start of a five-game homestand.
The Blues (15-5-1), going for their third straight win, will welcome Bouwmeester back for the first time this season after the veteran sustained a fractured left ankle on Sept. 17.
"I'm happy to have him back," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "A veteran presence, defender, skating ability, definitely have missed him on the penalty kill, looking forward to getting him back."
Bouwmeester will play alongside Colton Parayko.
"Awesome. Obviously took a lot longer than expected," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "Frustrating on everybody's part, but a veteran guy, a calming influence. The list goes on and on about the affect that that he'll have."
With Bouwmeester returning, it removes someone from the blue line that's been playing well, and keeping the left-right combos in tact, Carl Gunnarsson becomes a healthy scratch for the second time this season.
Gunnarsson, who is fourth on the team in plus-minus at plus-10, missed a game on Oct. 25 against Calgary for the birth of his daughter.
It keeps both Robert Bortuzzo and Vince Dunn in the lineup as the third defensive pair.
"It's the decision we made today," Yeo said. "It's not an easy decision. He's a quality player and quality person. You know what, it's been a tough decision. Everyone's played well for us. 'Dunner's played really well, 'Borts' has played really well. I think the other guys have sort of established themselves as top four guys. We've got some competition now.
"I think (Dunn and Bortuzzo have) defended hard. What I like is for a third pairing, we have not sheltered them, we have not tried to hide them. They can play against any line. They can be effective in their defensive game and be effective in executing and helping our team get to our game. I think it's a difficult pairing to play against. Again, they've given us consistent hockey."
Dunn, who has played some strong hockey in his rookie season, has five points two goals, three assists); he said he feels well in his first NHL season but starting to feel some of the physical toll and adding Bouwmeester strengthens the blue line.
"It's getting beat up a little more than I thought, but at the same time, I'm feeling great," Dunn said. "Obviously we have the training staff here to take care of us. I think that's just kind of a big change for me. I'm just listening to my body a lot more than I'm used to, taking my rest when I need it. It's been a pretty good adjustment so far. I think playing in the American [Hockey] League, you're playing a lot of games too and a lot of three-in-three's and stuff like that, so your body can kind of prepare for this level.
"... Anybody that's going to be thrown in to the lineup on the back end, it's a good feeling. I don't see any weak links, and I don't think anybody else does either. Obviously 'Bouw' is a veteran guy. ... It' a big confidence-booster for us. Obviously, a big piece that was missing."
Getting Bouwmeester back pleases the starting goalie, especially.
"Solid play, consistent play, penalty kill, eats up big minutes against opposing teams, which is tough to do," Blues goalie Jake Allen said.
Where Bouwmeester will help most for the Blues is in their penalty kill, which is tied for 22nd in the league at 78.3 percent.
"First and foremost, when he can skate, when you have reach and range like he does, I believe guys like that have the ability to break plays us," Yeo said. "When that happens, you spend less time killing. But he's an outstanding shot blocker. I think it's his play around the net. I think that's going to be a real big difference. We gave up a goal against [Edmonton] last time we played these guys, a flank shot, he would be coming out and he would be blocking in that situation. Some of the goals we've given up around the net, he's a guy that's real strong in those areas.
"I just want to make sure we all know, again, we're not going to be expecting him to be at the top of his game right away. We're going to have to give him some time here. He's obviously missed a lot of hockey, he's missed training camp. He's going to come in, he's going to be effective, and he's going to help us get to our game, he's not going to be completely there yet."
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The Blues and Oilers met just five days ago with the Blues winning 4-1 in Edmonton.
In that game, Brayden Schenn had two goals and an assist as part of his career-high seven-game point streak (five goals, 10 assists).
"I don't know that we should dwell on the last game we played them," Yeo said. "I know there were areas they weren't pleased with. So I think if we're sitting around thinking things are going to unfold the same way, that would be a bad mistake on our part. The way that they came out and played against us in that game, the way that they came out and played against Dallas to start the game, I know this is a desperate team, I know they're going to come out and play physical and obviously very aggressive. You mix in some of the skill players they have over there, it's going to be a good test."
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Oilers captain Connor McDavid will be in the lineup tonight after missing practice Monday with the flu.
"Connor's been sick for a week to 10 days now and hasn't practiced at all," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "He is getting better and he'll play tonight. If we need to give him some rest over the next few days we'll give him some rest. He's been giving us everything he has energy wise; his minutes have come down a little bit but he'll be fine."
McDavid, who leads the Oilers in goals (10), assists (15) and points (25), has six points the past three games (three goals, three assists) but was shut out against the Blues when the teams met last Thursday.
"He likes that neutral zone speed coming in on the rush," Pietrangelo said of McDavid. "If we can kind of slow the game down, keep him from gaining that speed in the middle, that's how we're going to get our chances to stop him. He's obviously still going to do some dangerous things out there. We're just going to try and eliminate the amount that he can do."
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Count McLellan as an opposing coach who's impressed with the Blues.
McLellan, who has coached against the Blues a number of times going back to his days with the San Jose Sharks, feels the Western Conference-leading Blues are as balanced as anyone.
"They're deep from position one, that being the goaltender out all the way to the forward lines," McLellan said. "Their 'D' has been well-documented how active they are on the rush and how much they've scored. Their forwards do a tremendous job in supporting them coming back defensively. They're a tough out. They're a test for every team that plays them in the league right now and another test for us."
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St. Louis native Patrick Maroon has spent the past spent the past three nights in his hometown after the Oilers arrived from their Saturday afternoon road game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.
Maroon, whose son Anthony, fiancee Francesca and parents Philip and Patricia will be in attendance, was glad to spend pre-Thanksgiving time with his family.
"For me, coming home to see Anthony, mom, dad, family obviously, but Anthony's the most important time," Maroon, an Oakville graduate in 2005, said. "We got an extra three days here and I got to spend some time with them. Just seeing family's the most important thing. It's always exciting for that. It's certainly exciting to play in front of your mom and dad. They really don't get to watch you much live, so it's kind of cool coming back home and playing in front of your hometown and playing in front in front of the team where you had season tickets to growing up. It's one of those things where I get up for it every time I play the Blues."
Maroon, a pending unrestricted free agent, has five goals and seven assists in 20 games this season.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Vladimir Sobotka-Paul Stastny-Alexander Steen
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko
Magnus Paajarvi-Oskar Sundqvist-Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Chris Thorburn
Joel Edmundson-Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester-Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn-Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen will start in goal; Carter Hutton will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Carl Gunnarsson and Nate Prosser. Patrik Berglund (shoulder) is getting close to returning after skating again Tuesday morning. Zach Sanford (shoulder) is out long-term, and Robby Fabbri (knee) is out for the season.
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The Oilers' projected lineup:
Patrick Maroon-Connor McDavid-Drake Caggiula
Milan Lucic-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Leon Draisaitl
Michael Cammalleri-Ryan Strome-Jesse Puljujarvi
Jujhar Khaira-Mark Letestu-Zack Kassian
Oscar Klefbom-Matt Benning
Darnell Nurse-Adam Larsson
Kris Russell-Eric Gryba
Cam Talbot will start in goal; Laurent Brossoit will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Iiro Pakarinen, Brad Malone and Yohann Auvitu. Andrej Sekera (knee) and Anton Slepyshev (groin) are out.
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