(1-23-21) Kings-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- In order for the Blues to play to their strength, which is at 5-on-5, the plan should be pretty simple: stay out of the penalty box.

That will be one goal in mind when the Blues (2-1-1) open a back-to-back set of home games against the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-2), beginning with today at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

The Blues have taken 22 penalties, good for 11 minutes per game, and although their penalty kill was effective in killing off all seven San Jose power plays in a 2-1 shootout loss on Wednesday, playing 5-on-5 serves them better. They've allowed only six even-strength goals in four games.

"Be more disciplined. I think we've got to stay out of the penalty box," defenseman Justin Faulk said. "We've done that way too much, too many times I think, just overall in the four games. 

"If we're out of the box, we can play 5-on-5 and we like our game there. ... We all believe we're a pretty tough team to play against 5-on-5. We're good in the o-zone, we're heavy. In the d-zone, we're quick on pucks and we swarm pretty good and we can break the puck out. If you're not playing 5-on-5, it's tough to have any flow to the game, especially when it's your own doing. Just sticking with it and staying out of the box, get to that game, we'll be alright."

Too many special teams disrupts the flow of the game, and especially in 5-on-5 situations where the Blues have outscored their opponents 10-6.

"It always does. It just limits guys," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "It overworks people and it doesn't get people out on the ice, they sit there too long."

Case in point, was sitting guys too long in the game Wednesday, and the Sharks were able to tax the Blues' top players and prevent them from spending time in the offensive zone.

"We want to stay out of the box more than we have been," forward Zach Sanford said. "It's been tough for the PK, but I think last game was a step in the right direction. Guys were blocking shots and helping each other out. I think we were working a lot harder last game on the PK than we had on the first three and it showed on the scoresheet. We've just got to stick to that game plan and keep working hard and keep earning those kills."

San Jose outshot the Blues 17-3 in the third and had it not been for the solid netminding from Jordan Binnington, who will make his fifth straight start to begin the season, the Blues would have been left without a point.

"We're working through a few things," veteran forward Kyle Clifford said. "It's only been four games and the goal is to get better every game and I felt like we've done that. It's tough without preseason games. Everybody is on the same level as far as teams without preseason games. We're working on our structure and our discipline here."

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Speaking of Clifford, he will be making his second appearance against the Kings after spending nine-plus seasons in Los Angeles before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.

In these different times, normally a former teammate would spend the night before a game with former teammates/friends out to a dinner but with the COVID-19 situation, it was limited to texts and a hello this morning prior to the morning skate

"It's tough. Had to hook up with them in the hallway here, but obviously we're not allowed to mingle with each other too much," Clifford said. "There's been quite a turnover the last two years here, but there's still some guys that I played 10 years with. Just looking to get out there and having some battles with them. They're a good hockey team. Looks like they've added an extra step to their game. Our job is to be prepared and get ready to compete and battle for two points tonight.

"I've kept in touch with most of them throughout the summer and what not. It's good to see them in person."

Of Clifford's 679 NHL regular-season games and 133 points (62 goals, 71 assists), 660 games, 129 points (60 goals, 69 assists) came with the Kings.

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The Blues begin a stretch of playing six games in nine days and 14 games in 24 days beginning tonight.

And in a 56-game season, the 14 games represents a quarter of the season and means little to no practice time after Friday's workout at Centene Community Ice Center.

"You're probably not going to have a lot of practice time," Berube said. "There's a lot of games being played here, so we're going to have to monitor that, go off how guys feel. I don't look too far ahead. All I care about is tomorrow's game. That's the honest truth. I'm not looking anywhere past that."

There will be days off in between, and three sets of back-to-back games in all.

"A lot of it's going to be on us making sure that we're taking care of the bodies," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "They're not just the games, it's going to be a lot of traveling going out west and coming back home and stuff like that. We've really got to make sure we're doing our best to take care of ourselves, make sure that we put ourselves in good positions and just realize how important each game is and how short this season is. No easy games in this division, no easy games in this league, period. It's going to be on us to make sure we're ready for each game."

"It's obviously a little different than a normal year," Sanford said. "It's back-to-back and then a couple tough games next week. I think it's just taking care of yourself during practice and off the ice too, eating the right things and getting the right rest and making sure you're ready to go every night."

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Marco Scandella, who missed Wednesday with an upper-body injury, will return to the lineup tonight, per Berube, and put Niko Mikkola back in the press box.

Mikkola gives the Blues a solid option when called upon and the Finnish-born tall, lanky defenseman keeps knocking on the door of becoming a regular in the lineup.

Mikkola played 14:25 in the loss Wednesday, his sixth game in the NHL, and logged 4:59 on the penalty kill.

"He's a big body and takes up a lot of space," Berube said of Mikkola. "He's got a long stick and a big stick. That's what you need out there in those situations."

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The Blues are still searching for a goal from one of their top-line forwards in Sanford, Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron.

In four games, that trip has been limited to three assists (one for each) through four games.

"We've got to be more connected, especially on the forecheck," Sanford said. "We haven't been forechecking as good as we have in the past. It's on me, it's on them too, it's on all of us getting in there. It's the F1 breaking plays up and the next guy being right there for a quick little play to attack."

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The Kings come in fresh off a 4-2 win against Colorado, a game in which they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win. After nearly pulling off a first comeback win before falling 3-2 to the Avalanche on Tuesday, Los Angeles has the Blues' attention.

"They're playing better," Berube said. "They're playing hard, they're aggressive. It's going to be a hard game. They're an up-and-coming team. They still have some very good players from the old Stanley Cup teams. It'll be a hard game. Every game's hard.

"They've revamped their team obviously, added some more speed, things like that to their lineup. They're working hard. They've got some speed in their lineup now, they go to the net hard, and they still have some really good veterans that were on those winning teams, (Anze) Kopitar, (Jeff) Carter, (Drew) Doughty, (Jonathan) Quick, (Dustin) Brown. They still have a good core of veterans and they're building with their young guys."

Seemingly gone are the days of the big, heavy, burly Kings that grounded and pounded teams in winning two Stanley Cup titles (2012 and 2014). There are more younger players sprinkled into the lineup with a good cast of veterans.

"They seem to play a pretty quick game," Faulk said. "Based on what we've seen, they're pretty quick in the offensive zone. They hound, they're pretty quick on the forecheck, they send two guys and then even in the d-zone, it looks like they swarm pretty good around their net. It looks like they're trying to play quick and make things tough on us on both ends of the ice. We've just got to be prepared for that and stick with our systems and make it tough on them as well."

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The Blues' projected lineup:

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Mike Hoffman-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Carl Gunnarsson

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.

Sammy Blais and Niko Mikkola are healthy scratches. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out with injuries.

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The Kings' projected lineup:

Alex Iafallo-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe 

Andreas Athanasiou-Blake Lizotte-Jeff Carter

Lias Andersson-Gabriel Vilardi-Dustin Brown

Carl Grundstrom-Michael Amadio-Trevor Moore

Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty

Kale Clague-Matt Roy

Kurtis MacDermid-Sean Walker

Calvin Petersen will start in goal; Jonathan Quick will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Olli Maatta, Austin Wagner and Mark Alt. Matt Luff (undisclosed), Martin Frk (lower body) and Alex Turcotte (lower body) are out.