ST. LOUIS -- After a sluggish game in which the Arizona Coyotes had their way in a 6-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, there was some question whether there would be some changes ahead of Saturday's 7 p.m. matchup against the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins.
But coach Craig Berube is keeping his lineup in tact, and one particular pair he's keeping together on defense is Marco Scandella and Tyler Tucker while veteran Robert Bortuzzo and Scott Perunovich continue to wait in the wings.
"I think it's a long year," Berube said Friday. "Right now this is the six we're going with and right now, I don't see a change yet on it. It's hard for the guys who are not playing, but it is what it is. You've got to bide your time and I like the size Tucker and Scandella bring last night. I thought 'Scandy's best game was last night. I thought he had a pretty solid game and I like what Tucker brings, he brings physicality and some bite to the game back there."
Tucker continues to experiment playing on his offside as a left-handed defenseman and said it is a challenge.
"Neutral zone is the biggest thing, especially on your offside," Tucker said. "I think just getting my feet up ice after receiving a pass or what not, getting my head up, making plays I think is the biggest challenge. Just keep working on that. You're always on your backhand, you're making plays from your backhand. Just trying to keep things on your forehand, make simple plays, obviously control what you can control and make the easy play.
"Every game, every practice we're getting more and more comfortable with each other, learning each other's tendencies. I think we've come a long way and we're just continuing to grow on it."
But his bread and butter is playing physical.
"That's what got me here," Tucker said. "Just play like that every night, do what I do best."
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One lineup tweak for the Blues (1-1-1) will be flipping Jake Neighbours and Alexey Toropchenko, with Neighbours moving up to play with Brayden Schenn and former Penguin Kasperi Kapanen and Toropchenko back to his familiar spot on the fourth line with Oskar Sundqvist and Nikita Alexandrov.
"I just mixed it up," Berube said. "I didn't see enough going on. Neighbours, I thought that he was driving hard [Thursday] night, seemed like he was handling the puck pretty well. He's a good player around the net and in tight. He can make some quick plays and things like that. When I put him up there, I was hoping to get a spark, maybe get a goal out of that line or something like that, but it didn't happen."
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Forward Pavel Buchnevich (upper body injury) was on the ice for the morning skate Saturday but will miss his second straight game.
"He's skated the last couple days which is great," Berube said. "It's good to see him out there. He's making progress, which is good. He's going to want contact. Obviously he's really not shooting either very much yet. Timeline's still up in the air for that."
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Pittsburgh's usual cast of characters are off to a solid start scoring-wise with Evgeni Malkin leading the way with seven points (three goals, four assists) in four games, Jake Guentzel with six points (one goal, five assists) in four games, Sidney Crosby with five points (three goals, two assists) in four games and Bryan Rust (four goals), Reilly Smith (two goals, two assists) and Erik Karlsson (one goal, three assists) each with four points in four games. The Penguins are 2-2-0 this season.
"They've got elite players over there," Berube said. "Those guys have been around a long time. We just got to do a good job with the puck, make sure we're managing it properly, executing with it. When you're out there against these guys, being tight to them, being close contact, getting skin on them, slowing them down, frustrating them and protecting the middle of the ice. Got to do a good job."
"Obviously a talented forward group," Tucker said. "I think just be hard on them, get a piece of them every time you can. That's pretty much all you can do."
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Kapanen was placed on waivers by the Penguins on Feb. 24 and will face them for the first time; he has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 26 games with the Blues after he put up 82 points (29 goals, 53 assists) in parts of three seasons (162 games) with Pittsburgh.
"Going against his old team and it didn't work out there," Berube said. "I'm sure he's going to have a little extra motivation tonight."
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Jake Neighbours-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen
Jakub Vrana-Kevin Hayes-Sammy Blais
Alexey Toropchenko-Nikita Alexandrov-Oskar Sundqvist
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella-Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Scott Perunovich and Robert Bortuzzo. Pavel Buchnevich (upper body) is day to day.
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The Penguins' projected lineup:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell
Drew O’Connor-Lars Eller-Matt Nieto
Radim Zohorna-Noel Acciari-Jeff Carter
Ryan Graves-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Chad Ruhwedel
Tristan Jarry will start in goal; Alex Nedeljkovic will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Pierre-Olivier Joseph and John Ludvig. The Penguins report no injuries.
