The St. Louis Blues are running through the gamut of injuries at the moment and will have at least one new face in the lineup when they begin a three-game road trip against the Boston Bruins on Thursday (6 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
But there will be some reinforcements also as Pius Suter, who has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, will be back in the lineup and centering a line with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou, a line that got plenty of looks during training camp and preseason.
“Suter looks really good,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’ll be a player for us tomorrow.”
Also Robert Thomas, who did not skate during an optional practice or Wednesday’s full practice, will be in the lineup.
“Just maintenance,” Montgomery said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’ll be a player tomorrow.”
The Blues are down three forwards (Jimmy Snuggerud, left wrist; Alexey Toropchenko, leg burns; and Nathan Walker, upper-body injury), and they’ve had to recall Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, who will make his NHL debut Thursday, and Matt Luff
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Montgomery will be facing the Bruins for the first time since he was fired there on Nov. 19, 2024.
The Blues faced the Bruins twice last season but they both were among the final games Montgomery coached Boston, on Nov. 12 in St. Louis (a 3-2 Bruins win, Montgomery’s last win there) and Nov. 16 in Boston, a 3-2 Blues win in overtime.
Montgomery, who was coach of the Bruins for two-plus seasons, was part of the greatest regular-season team in NHL history when the Bruins were 65-12-5 in his first season of 2022-23 but bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Florida Panthers in seven games. He was fired after going 8-9-3 to begin the 2024-25 season; the Blues hired him five days later on Nov. 24.
Montgomery was 130-41-23 in his time as Bruins coach.
“Personally and professionally, it was a great time for my family,” Montgomery said. “We really enjoyed Winchester (a suburb north of Boston) where we lived. Still have tremendous friends that live in the area. Professionally, it’s a bag of mixed emotions. Some great times and some very, very disappointing times.”
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Per the team, Jordan Binnington will get the start in goal on Thursday, three days after being pulled from a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in which the goalie allowed two goals on five shots and had a verbal spat with Montgomery upon being pulled from the game.
Binnington addressed the situation on Tuesday and considers the situation done and will get a shot at redemption.
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Brayden Schenn-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours
Dylan Holloway-Pius Suter-Jordan Kyrou
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki-Dalibor Dvorsky-Pavel Buchnevich
Mathieu Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Nick Bjugstad
Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko
Tyler Tucker-Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler-Logan Mailloux
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Matthew Kessel and Matt Luff. Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Alexey Toropchenko (leg burns) and Nathan Walker (upper body) are all out long-term.
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Bruins Projected Lineup:
Alex Steeves-Elias Lindholm-Morgan Geekie
Casey Mittelstadt-Pavel Zacha-Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner Jeannot-Fraser Minten-Mark Kastelic
Marat Khusnutdinov-Sean Kuraly-Michael Eyssimont
Hampus Lindholm-Andrew Peeke
Nikita Zadorov-Jonathan Aspirot
Mason Lohrei-Victor Soderstrom
Joonas Korpisalo will start in goal; Jeremy Swayman will be the backup.
The healthy scratch includes Jeffrey Viel. David Pastrnak (undisclosed), Charlie McAvoy (upper body), Jordan Harris (ankle), Matej Blumel (lower body), Henri Jokiharju (undisclosed) and Michael Callahan (lower body) are all out.
Blues Recall Another Forward From SpringfieldMatt Luff called up for reinforcements amidst injuries to Snuggerud, Toropchenko, Walker up front
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