(4-29-22) Golden Knights-Blues Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- One game. One win. Get some help up north, and the Blues can begin the Stanley Cup playoffs at home.

The Blues (49-21-11) wrap up the regular season today when they host the Vegas Golden Knights (42-31-8) at 7 p.m. (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM) needing a win in any fashion and a regulation loss by the Minnesota Wild, who host the Colorado Avalanche tonight.

The Blues and Wild will face each other in the first round of the playoffs. The series will begin in St. Paul for Games 1 and 2 should the Blues lose in any fashion or the Wild earn at least a point against the Avalanche. 

"We talked about it, we want to go play a good game," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "That's what you've got to just focus on, just go out and play a good game, play to our abilities and what makes us successful."

This season, the Blues are 2-0 against the Golden Knights, who were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in their brief history on Wednesday. They have to prepare for one more game while looking ahead to their first round playoff opponent.

"I don't know if it's tough," Berube said. "We focus on both of it, both sides of things. I think our players do too. We talk about playoffs, but we talk about significant things that need to be done in the playoffs. We still have a game against Vegas and that focus has to be on the game and Vegas."

The Blues have the chance to reach 50 wins for the first time since 2014-15 when they won 51 games.

"Still one game left and one tune-up before we go in, but we know we're going to see Minnesota and it's exciting," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "I thought we've done a great job this year. I think finishing strong and all of the ups and downs throughout the course of the season, but we're doing all the things right right now and it's going to be a heck of a matchup. Minnesota's obviously a very good team, but it's exciting. I think it's going to be a great challenge and an exciting series."

If the Blues should begin on the road, it probably doesn't matter to the team -- aside from ownership, of course, which would want that extra home game -- but finishing 9-1-1 down the stretch away from home has built the confidence in the team. It doesn't mean the players wouldn't want home ice, if possible.

"We've got one more game and win that game," O'Reilly said. "We want to play the right way and have some good momentum going into the playoffs. It's points that we want, and if we get home ice, we get home ice. It all comes down to one game and how they (the Wild) do, but I don't think it's the end of the world if we start on the road. We've had success everywhere and we're a confident group. Either way, it's going to be a battle right until the very end. It's just the way it's going to be."

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The Blues are expected to get some bodies back, not all, for this encounter tonight. 

Forward David Perron is expected to play after missing Tuesday's 5-3 loss at Colorado with a lower-body injury, and Robert Bortuzzo, who also missed Tuesday with a lower-body injury, will return tonight.

However, center Brayden Schenn will miss his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury and defenseman Marco Scandella, who sustained a lower-body injury Tuesday, will also sit out. Schenn and Scandella each practiced the past two days.

Berube said the hope is that everyone will be available for Game 1.

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The Blues' projected lineup:

Brandon Saad-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Vladimir Tarasenko

Ivan Barbashev-Tyler Bozak-Jordan Kyrou

Alexei Toropchenko-Logan Brown-Nathan Walker

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Nick Leddy-Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo

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

The Blues report no healthy scratches. Brayden Schenn (upper body), Marco Scandella (lower body), Calle Rosen (undisclosed), Mackenzie MacEachern (upper body) and Scott Perunovich (wrist) are out.

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The Golden Knights' projected lineup:

William Karlsson-Jack Eichel-Jonathan Marchessault 

Max Pacioretty-Chandler Stephenson-Mark Stone

William Carrier-Nicolas Roy-Evgenii Dadonov

Mattias Janmark-Michael Amadio

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore

Alec Martinez-Alex Pietrangelo

Ben Hutton-Zach Whitecloud

Dylan Coghlan

Logan Thompson is projected to start in goal; Jiri Patera would be the backup. 

The Golden Knights report no healthy scratches. Robin Lehner (shoulder/knee), Reilly Smith (lower body), Nicolas Hague (lower body), Brett Howden (upper body), Keegan Kolesar (lower body), Laurent Brossoit (undisclosed) and Nolan Patrick (undisclosed) are out.