Blues continue to find ways to remain competitive, top team despite injuries

Team has maintained its depth through organization, proving plenty of 

value with key pieces missing, still bagging points in process over the years

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- It happens to every team, the injury bug.

Some get hit at once, some get hit with a sprinkling throughout a season with a player here or a player there, and some, if lucky, are able to go as close to unscathed as possible.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Defenseman Justin Faulk (left) feels the Blues are a deep team and can

absorb the kinds of injuries they've taken and still remain competitive. 

That's a rarity in the NHL, and it's certainly a rarity for the Blues, who like any other team year after year, sustain injuries to key players that tests their strength and mettle.

It didn't take long for players' impact to start being felt, and it started with Vladimir Tarasenko and his never-ending process for peace in fixing his left shoulder. Now it's on to Tyler Bozak, who was the recipient of an unnecessary and blindside hit from Vegas captain Mark Stone that's left Bozak out of the lineup now for nine games and quite a few more, and it's impacted Sammy Blais (upper body) in recent games; Marco Scandella (upper body) has played in just nine of 16 games; Colton Parayko is playing through something and certainly isn't himself; Robert Thomas broke his left thumb and has missed the past the past three games and will be out 4-6 weeks; Robert Bortuzzo was the recipient of a check from behind in the second game of the season by Colorado's Valeri Nichushkin that left him sidelined for 10 games (he's played in just six games). Jaden Schwartz is now dealing with an issue that forced him to miss the last game and at least Thursday against San Jose.

It's a long laundry list, and one that bears some noticeable names, but the Blues (9-5-2) know nobody will feel sorry for them. So when it's happened in the past and happening right now, all they can do is plug-and-play. Fill those voids, move along, and bank points.

How is it possible?

Well, the Blues have touted their depth for the longest of time, feeling they have players that don't necessarily deserve to sit but those players are there at their disposal.

So when Scandella goes down, Niko Mikkola, a 2015 fifth-round pick, can come in and help the Blues not miss a beat. And take this group of forwards out, and they're more notably fourth-line skaters, but Mackenzie MacEachern, Jacob de la Rose and Austin Poganski have filled roles well. Heck, when the season started, Blais, who was in the lineup for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019 at Boston, wasn't even in the opening night lineup this season thanks to the play of Jordan Kyrou.

That's where the Blues are.

"It's a deep team," defenseman Justin Faulk said. "I think that's the simplest way of putting it. There's guys up and down the lineup that can play any position at any moment's notice. I think we're seeing that now. Guys are banged up and missing some games and that depth is getting tested. I think we're doing a good job with it. On the other side of it, I've said it before, it's a mature group in there, a veteran group that's been through a lot. Obviously there are plenty of guys there that have won the Stanley Cup and done what's been needed to get to that point. The confidence in that room has never wavered and it doesn't if guys are in and out of the lineup. I think the young guys have a lot of confidence too. With that combination of the depth, maturity and confidence, we just try to treat it as another day and keep on going forward."

How else can the Blues (9-5-2), who host the San Jose Sharks to open a four-game homestand Thursday at 7 p.m. (FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM), approach it?

Nobody will feel sorry for them, so they have that mentality of next-man-up, and it's worked well for them in banking points when it looked like the opponent would have the kind of stacked lineup that would overwhelm them on certain nights.

"We have a lot of depth and I think that has been a key for us," goalie Jordan Binnington said. "A lot of depth, a lot of character being there for each other and taking advantage of opportunities and just stepping up in times when the team needs you, putting the team first. I think we have guys who don't play as much as they should really and they can. It's good to see things come together and guys step up.

"Everyone is a professional and knows what they have to do to be prepared for the opportunity if it comes. They've done a good job of that."

That's why you're seeing the likes of de la Rose, MacEachern, Poganski, Blais when he's in there, Mikkola when he's in there, doing all they can to try and convince the coaching staff that they belong, and they're playing like they're fighting for a job.

"I think you've seen that with anyone that obviously didn't start the year in the lineup," Faulk said. "Obviously with Mac, Rosy and Poganski right now, guys are playing hard, they're skating, they're finishing checks, they're getting pucks in and coming back on the back check in the d-zone. They're doing everything that's asked of them and that's what you want. That's what I was saying. You've got guys at any position. We have three guys that didn't start in the lineup in Game 1 and probably obviously weren't happy with where they were and have stepped into the lineup and helped the team. That's what we have here and that's where we are and why we can get to where we want to be. We're happy with that and hopefully we can continue on and keep playing good hockey."

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Austin Poganski (53) has stepped in and filled a role for the Blues in light 

of a number of injuries to their lineup.

Blues coach Craig Berube and his staff are in charge of putting in what they believe to be the best 20-man lineup. Some nights it's an easy decision, like perhaps it may be now with all the skaters that are unavailable, and then there are nights when the Blues are completely healthy, someone has to sit.

"Whether they're unhappy or happy they're in the lineup or out of the lineup on opening night, they're on the team and when you get in there, you've got a job to do," Berube said. "That's the best way I can put it and just go do your job. I get it. Everybody wants to be in the lineup every night. That's not the case, that's not the way it is, but I understand totally. I played the game for a long time and I've been scratched and sat out and all that. I know what they're going through, but when you get in there for the St. Louis Blues, you've got a job to do. Just go do it.

"I think it's a team game. I really do. I think that we stress team play all the time and team first. I think that approach, they take onto the ice with guys missing. With good players, scorers, it doesn't really matter. I think the guys that go in there and do the job, they play hard, they compete and they play for the team."