With Oskar Sundqvist suspended, Vince Dunn out and Robert Thomas questionable for Game 3, St. Louis is going to have to rely on the 'next man up' mentality. Luckily for the Blues, their depth has proven it can deliver.
ST. LOUIS – Clearly, goaltender Jordan Binnington has the market cornered in St. Louis on the redemption story, but Oskar Sundqvist is a pretty close second. From missing the first eight games of the season with a concussion after being blown up by Tom Wilson in a pre-season game to putting up the best offensive season of his career, Sundqvist has found a home on the fourth line and probably put himself in line for a tidy raise on the $700,000 he made this season.
His one-game suspension for his hit on Matt Grzelcyk of the Boston Bruins in Game 2 will hurt the Blues, but if there is one organization that can absorb another body blow, it’s this one. With Vince Dunn out since Game 3 of the Western Conference final with a broken jaw, Robert Thomas questionable after being drilled by the Bruins' Torey Krug in Game 1 and Sundqvist serving a time out, the Blues depth will once again be tested. (And what’s up with Vladimir Tarasenko? He missed practice Friday with the ubiquitous ‘maintenance day,’ but there is speculation about both his shoulder and his ankle and, for some reason, he had some blood on his sweater by the end of Game 2.) But ���next man up’ has worked pretty well for this team so far.
“For sure our depth is being tested, but it’s been tested all year,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “But (Blues GM) Doug Armstrong has done a great job of giving us good depth throughout the year on the back end and the front. And with the suspension, another guy is going to have to come in and play well.”
That other guy appears to be utility man Zach Sanford, who actually adds some size to an already big team with his 6-foot-4, 207-pound frame. Sanford played 60 games during the season and three in the playoffs, so the transition should be relatively seamless. He hasn’t played since Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs, but he’s a good pro. A native of Salem, Mass., Sanford grew up an enormous fan of the Bruins and said his mother had to catch herself a couple of times in Game 2 when she started cheering for the Bruins.
“A big thing for me is keeping it simple and using my speed and my size,” Sanford said. “We’ve seen what we can do when we play physical and play hard, so that’s it for me. Keeping it simple and playing hard.”
There are no real secrets there. The Blues were a collective wrecking ball in Game 2 of the final and their chances of winning this series are directly proportional to how much they continue to punish their opponent. One of the keys to that is they can’t allow the Sundqvist suspension, which came when he hit Grzelcyk in a vulnerable position along the boards, to change the way they play. The suspension was a good call by the Department of Player Safety, by the way. It wasn’t malicious to be sure, but there is a degree of responsibility on the player applying the hit to recognize his opponent’s vulnerability. It’s one of the few things on which this department has been consistent this season.
If anything, the Blues will have to temper their emotions when it comes to handling the atmosphere. But they have no intention of letting up on the physical play that has served them so well. “We just go about our business as usual,” Berube said. “We’ve got to play physical. We’re going to play physical.”
It’s been a bit of a strange series so far. The only thing keeping the Bruins' top line from being invisible is that they’ve actually played so badly. In a series where depth has been such an issue, it’s important to have all hands on deck. Boston's fourth line basically won the game for the Bruins in Game 1 and the Blues' fourth unit has been instrumental in keeping the Patrice Bergeron line off the scoresheet. So when the depth is tested the way it has been in St. Louis, it’s crucial to have the players who can handle the situation.
“We have a good team, anyone is able to come in,” said Blues defenseman Colton Parayko. “We’ve done it all season with guys stepping into different roles at different time and that’s the character of our group.”
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