By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Sammy Blais will get the latest turn with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron.
ST. LOUIS -- Sammy Blais will get the latest turn with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron.
No offense to Jordan Kyrou, who had good moments playing with O'Reilly and Perron, but Blais will take the latest turn with them in hopes of making things click when the Blues (10-7-2) look to end a two-game losing streak against the surging Los Angeles Kings (8-6-3) at 8:30 p.m. (NBCSN, ESPN 101.1-FM).
It's not the first tango for Blais on that line. He's taken a spin there before, including Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. Blais was on the ice with that line to help set up O'Reilly's goal on the first period to make it 1-0.
"I think it's important for the guy that clicks with O'Ry and I to be really strong on the forecheck and be at the net obviously," Perron said. "It gives us a lot of space. Sammy is a big body too and teams might start to realize how big he is, how strong he is on his skates. He's tough to move when he's net front. He's got good hands to and can make plays. It's not to say when it's your time to drive the middle of the ice, you do it, you've got to do it, we've all got to do with it. But certainly I think that the focus is good when it's on a good forecheck here and a guy want to play simple as well. We've got to be strong against our matchup too. If we've got to play (Anze) Kopitar again, or any top line, we've go to be strong both ways. We get that it's O'Ry that plans down low, but there's (Brent) Burns, there's (Drew) Doughty, there's guys up top that can really do a lot of damage, so we've got to be strong."
Ivan Barbashev, who is out with a hairline fracture in his left ankle and had surgery Tuesday, was making progress on that line when the Blues bumped him up there off the fourth line. Kyrou was helping here but more so with speed. What it did was take away some of the luster being produced on Brayden Schenn's line, so Kyrou will go back with him and Mike Hoffman.
"We're trying to find some combinations here amongst all the lines," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I thought that Kyrou did a great job up with those guys, but I didn't see much from the other line, Schenn's line. We've got to get some balance there and Blaiser's played with those guys before and has been successful. He needs to obviously get in on the forecheck tonight. The way that LA plays in the neutral zone, it's imperative that your forecheck's the key to the game. You've got to get in there. There's no room to really attack this team through the neutral zone. You've got to get pucks deep and get on it. He's going to have to get on that forecheck, be physical and create with his stick and create loose pucks for O'Reilly and Perron and then he should get to the net."
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With news of Carl Gunnarsson's season ending with a right knee injury, sustained with 9:20 left of Monday's 3-0 loss to the Kings, and with Colton Parayko still out of the lineup, Niko Mikkola will get the chance to cement his role not only in the lineup but his career.
Mikkola is really just getting his feet wet still, but now will see the lineup with the Blues down two d-men.
"He just takes up so much space out there," defenseman Justin Faulk said of Mikkola. "Watching him on the D side of things, his stick, he's got one of the longest sticks on the team I think and he uses it so well I think it makes it tough on opponents. He's been on the penalty kill, he's just in the way of the other team and that makes it hard. You like that. It closes plays in the D-zone and helps us transition and get to offense and onto our forecheck, which is where we're pretty good too.
"I think he's done a great job of doing what's asked of him. He's open to everything. He listens, he works hard. As a young guy that continues to do that, it generally makes your job a bit easier and you start to settle in and get more comfortable. He hasn't played a ton of games, but he's going to have an opportunity here most likely to cement his spot in the lineup and show what he can do. We all he's capable of taking the reigns and stepping up back there. We're excited for him."
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With seven players out of the lineup because of injuries, the Blues are hoping they can tread water until some bodies can return.
Some injuries are more serious than others, but the schedule will motor on, and teams will not take the Blues for granted.
"It is what it is," Perron said. "I think guys should be excited whoever's got more ice time, bigger opportunity and it's right through our lineup to be honest with you right now. When all the guys are coming back, we would have a much different lineup than we had the first couple games of the year. Anybody that's in the lineup should be excited. I thought our fourth line last game had really good energy down low, Rosy Mac, Cliff, those guys obviously in on the forecheck. And then you see the way the year started, Sammy was on the outside. Now he's got a chance to play with O'Reilly. It's always exciting and even for me, I know we've played for three years together, but I never want to take that for granted. That's what I see out of it. There's opportunities out there. Guys should be excited. Wins aren't easy, but you've got to grind it out, find a way and you start going the other way."
The psyche of the team isn't shaken, according to Faulk.
"It's alright. Tough things happen," he said. "We've been put in a tough spot with a lot of injuries and certain injuries that are worse than others. It's tough on the group, but at the same time, we all know that things happen like that and we've got to just rebound. Tough stretches happen throughout the year. Obviously injuries are a different part of that, but we've got a lot of capable guys in this room and just trying to stay positive, keep the work ethic up and go from there."
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The Blues, who've been outscored 8-4 in their two losses in a row here, continue to be plagued by inconsistent play in their own d-zone. Breakouts just haven't been clean enough, and the opposition is doing to the Blues what the Blues used to do to them.
"Execution for sure is a part of it," Berube said. "Wall play is another part of it. The way the forechecks are now, people come hard with forechecks, there's going to be pucks put on walls and you've got to have good wall play and you've got to have composure. There might be a play to be made underneath to a centerman coming or a D, but also you've got to chip pucks out sometimes to a slash forward and that's the plays that are there, but execution's a big part of it."
"... You've got to get back hard. These teams come so fast and forechecks are hard. It's important that we've got five guys back in the zone quickly and it's easier to break the puck out."
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Among the injured, Vladimir Tarasenko continues to ramp up his intensity and production as he gears towards a return.
Tarasenko, who hasn't played this season because of a left shoulder injury that's needed three surgeries, with the most recent Sept. 17. is a regular on the ice now at practices and taking part in all drills with light to minimal contact still.
"It's cool to see Vladi, excited as he inches closer," Perron said. "I just leave him space. Any guy that's injured, a lot of times all they're being asked around the room ... obviously he's not talking to media, but he's got it in his head, 'How are you doing', things like that. I honestly don't even try going there. I don't even try to judge him when he's on the ice. I'm just excited for him to be out there. And it goes for all the other guys. It's great. I think he's really excited. You finally see him around a lot right now and that's what I think of him."
Tyler Bozak, who has an upper-body injury and hasn't played since Jan. 26, took the ice on Monday for the morning skate and skated on his own Tuesday, did not skate on Wednesday, as far as Berube knows.
"No, I don't believe he did today," Berube said. "He's not feeling ready yet. We'll have to look at it."
Parayko and Jaden Schwartz (lower body) are not on the ice and no indication on when they will be.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Sammy Blais-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron
Mike Hoffman-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Zach Sanford-Oskar Sundqvist-Austin Poganski
Kyle Clifford-Jacob de la Rose-Mackenzie MacEachern
Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Vince Dunn-Robert Bortuzzo
Niko Mikkola-Marco Scandella
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso is the backup. The Blues report no healthy scratches. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Colton Parayko (undisclosed), Jaden Schwartz (lower body), Tyler Bozak (upper body), Robert Thomas (thumb), Ivan Barbashev (ankle) are out. Carl Gunnarsson (knee) is out for the season.
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The Kings' projected lineup:
Alex Iafallo-Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown
Adrian Kempe-Gabriel Vilardi-Jeff Carter
Carl Grundstrom -- Blake Lizotte -- Trevor Moore
Andreas Athanasiou -- Michael Amadio -- Austin Wagner
Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty
Tobias Bjornfot-Matt Roy
Olli Maatta -- Sean Walker
Calvin Petersen will start in goal; Jonathan Quick will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Lias Andersson, Matt Luff and Kurtis MacDermid. Jaret Anderson-Dolan (upper body) and Martin Frk (lower body) are out.
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