(2-17-22) Blues-Canadiens Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
The Blues will continue their four-game road swing, three games in Canada, against the league's worst team tonight.

The Blues (28-14-5) are in search of their third win in a row against the Montreal Canadiens (8-33-7), who are 0-8-2 their past 10 games and a shell of what was a representative in the Stanley Cup Final last season.

Montreal has made sweeping changes to their organization since they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Cup Final in 2021, including a general manager (former player agent Kent Hughes) and most recently, naming Martin St. Louis as the team's head coach.

"They've played better since the new coach," Blues coach Craig Berube said of the Canadiens, who the Blues beat 4-1 in St. Louis on Dec. 11. "They're playing differently, they're more aggressive. We've got to approach it a lot like the Ottawa game, Chicago game. We want to play our game, we want to get to our game. We've got to focus on our game, playing that hard offense, that connected offense and when the puck turns over, we've got to make sure we're working back hard and we're tracking back and killing plays. They're a good rush team, they have some pretty good high-end players over there. They do make a lot of plays off the rush. We've got to limit that.

"It's been a lot better and it's been really good, but we've got to continue to push on it and harp on it. We've got to continue to do it."

The Blues are coming off wins against the Blackhawks (5-1) last Saturday and Senators (5-2) this past Tuesday and are looking to keep the needle going in the right direction after stumbling out of the All-Star break in a 7-4 loss against New Jersey.

"I think it's always tough coming back from a break to be sharp and paying attention to the details, but I think since the first loss, we've gotten better, getting sharper," center Ryan O'Reilly said. "We know that we're preparing for the playoffs, we're obviously trying to make the playoffs and preparing, be at our best game. The coaching staff's done a good job of emphasizing those good habits and playing hard, finding the proper way of playing. It's good, it's still got to get a lot better, but I think we're building."

The Blues can't afford to look past Montreal, even though the Canadiens are decimated with injuries and have been foundering all season, having been outscored 52-23 in their 10-game losing streak.

"It's very much like the other games recently that we played, Chicago, Ottawa," winger David Perron said. "They have some really good players over there that are pretty speedy wingers and centermen, all that stuff. They have really good transition at times where they're rush game can take over. So that's something we have to be aware of. When you have a new coach, I think the excitement rises for a while and they've shown that already. They put a lot of shots on net against the other teams that they've played so far. It's something that's got to be about us, how we play, how we manage the game. We have to be aware of that."

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The Blues are expected to go with the same lineup for the game with puck drop at 6 p.m. (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

Jordan Kyrou, who got dinged up in the game against the Senators on Tuesday, and Ivan Barbashev, who blocked a shot with his right skate in the same game, got in a light skate on Thursday, according to Berube, are expected to play.

"[Barbashev] was out there, he was quick," Berube said. "Just checking out getting hit by that puck, but he's fine, Kyrou's fine. I expect both of them in the lineup."

The only lineup tweak is expected to be O'Reilly centering a line with Perron and Brandon Saad, and Barbashev skating with Brayden Schenn and Kyrou. 

Berube made those changes on Tuesday, citing wanting to get more production out of those groups, and it gives O'Reilly a chance to skate with his pal Perron again.

"We've played multiple times throughout the year and probably just haven't been as consistent as we want, but we've done really good things together," O'Reilly said. "I thought last game, I think we switched towards the end of the second period there. I thought it was good, I thought we really know where each other are at times and we work hard together. I'm excited. I think it's something hopefully we get back going and help contribute and be one of those lines that's frustrating the opposition."

Perron scored against the Blackhawks, his first goal since the Winter Classic and is hopeful of providing more offensive production moving forward; he has 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 34 games this season but just two goals and two assists in 14 games since returning from a concussion and bout with COVID-19.

"I think it's tough obviously the concussions and having the issues before with it, it's never easy and it takes some time," O'Reilly said. "I felt last game was much better. To be able to play with him too, you see firsthand. He's one of those guys, one of the most competitive I've ever played with, how hard he is on pucks and how much he wants to win and compete. More and more, I think he's getting the feel back and being himself, which is awesome."

O'Reilly who has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 43 games this season, has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) his past 13 games.

"I don't think it's where I really want it to be. I think I could make a lot more better plays," O'Reilly said. "I think it's coming, I think it was a little slow off the break but starting to get back going. I thought last game was a little bit better towards the end there. I've just got to keep building it. I think my game too is being hard to play against, playing against other top lines and frustrating them. I think if I do that, the other stuff comes, but I think I'm slowly getting better and got to keep going that way."

As for defenseman Marco Scandella, who has missed two games with a lower-body injury, Berube said he skated on Thursday and, "It didn't go well. That's where he's at. That's all the info I could give you on that. We've got to be patient here until he feels right."

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Perron returned to his home area when the team arrived in Montreal after the game in Ottawa on Tuesday and was able to get to visit his parents and friends on Wednesday.

A native of Sherbrooke, Quebec, which is roughly an hour and a half drive to the east of Montreal, Perron was last able to get back home last summer.

"I was able to briefly go home yesterday after practice," Perron said. "It's always fun obviously just kind of getting to see the winter environment that we don't get in St. Louis and seeing my parents, a couple buddies. It was great.

"To play a game here, it's probably been a while, probably 3-4 years already. It's always special skating here at Bell Centre. It's a great environment to play a game normally. It's not the way that we'd like it to be tonight, but for me personally as a kid, kind of growing up around here and watching this team, coming into the building early in my career, always being impressed. It doesn't seem to go away. We're excited to be here and it's a fun feeling."

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There were some pleased Canadian Blues waking up on Thursday seeing that Canada's women's ice hockey won gold at the 2022 Beijing Games when it defeated USA 3-2 on Wednesday night.

"Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to watch the game, but I got to see some of the highlights this morning and I could not be more happy for the women's hockey team and Canada," O'Reilly said. "That's something to be so proud of, those games. I wish I would have been able to watch the game. I think that's one of the best rivalries in sports is the Canada-US women. It's so fun to watch. Congratulations to them. It's an amazing thing."

Marie-Philip Poulin was the star of the biggest stage for Canada again, scoring twice. She is from Beauceville, Quebec, two hours to the north, northeast from where Perron is from.

"I only caught guys talking about it and how much she is scoring every gold medal game, the game winner," Perron said. "Obviously we're extremely proud of her, proud of the whole team bringing gold back here to Canada. We saw them in Calgary just before they went out to China to get to the Olympics. I'm happy for them and a great performance by them again."

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* The Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Vladimir Tarasenko line will look to remain hot. Each player collected three points (Tarasenko had two goals, one assist; Thomas had a goal and two assists; Buchnevich had three assists) in the win at Ottawa.

* Berube will coach his 238th game with the Blues, which will move him into a tie with Scotty Bowman for sixth on the all-time franchise list.

* Schenn leads the Blues with 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) since Jan. 1; he has eight points (four goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak and 14 points (eight goals, six assists) his past nine games. He needs one goal for 100 with the Blues.

* Since Jan. 1, goalie Ville Husso is 8-1-0 with a 1.40 goals-against average, a .950 save percentage with one shutout. He leads the league in both categories.

* Kyrou has 18 points his past 16 games (nine goals, nine assists).

* Tarasenko has 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) his past 15 games.

* Defenseman Justin Faulk has a four-game point streak (one goal, three assists).

* Saad needs one goal for 200 in his NHL career.

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The Blues' projected lineup:

Brandon Saad-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Vladimir Tarasenko

Ivan Barbashev-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Klim Kostin-Dakota Joshua-Oskar Sundqvist

Niko Mikkola-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Jake Walman-Robert Bortuzzo

Ville Husso is projected to start in goal; Jordan Binnington would be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Tyler Bozak and Logan Brown. Marco Scandella (lower body) is out.

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The Canadiens' projected lineup:

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Josh Anderson

Red Pitlick-Jake Evans-Paul Byron

Arturi Lehkonen-Ryan Poehling-Joel Armia

Mike Hoffman-Laurent Dauphin-Brendan Gallagher

Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry

Corey Schueneman-Alexander Romanov

Kale Clague-Chris Wideman

Sam Montembeault will start in goal; Andrew Hammond will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Michael Pezzetta and Cedric Paquette. Carey Price (knee), Jake Allen (lower body), David Savard (ankle), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (lower body), Joel Edmundson (back) and Ben Chiarot (lower body) are all out with injuries.