ST. LOUIS – The close of a six-game homestand is here for the St. Louis Blues (26-26-6), who entertain the Seattle Kraken (25-30-4) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The Blues are coming off one of their best performances of the season Sunday, a 3-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche, and want to keep the wave going in their push to stay relevant in the playoff push.
It’s the first matchup between the Blues, who are 2-1-2 on the homestand, and Kraken since the season-opener on Oct. 8 when the Blues overcame a 2-0 second-period deficit to earn a 3-2 win.
“They’re a real good defensive team,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of the Kraken. “They’re one of the top 10 teams in giving up Grade A chances (against). Penetrating their net, creating offense, getting second-chance opportunities is not going to be easy tonight. They don’t give up a lot of odd-man rushes either, so defensively, you’re going to have to earn what you get. Offensively, they’re a good hockey team, but they haven’t produced the way I would imagine they would like.”
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The Blues will not make any lineup changes from Sunday’s win, including leaving forward Mathieu Joseph in.
Joseph did not see the ice and was kept to the bench for the second half of the game Sunday.
“It was a coach’s decision,” Montgomery said. “I’m not going to get into the details of it, but there’s an expectation of everybody within their role. If they don’t meet that expectation, ice time’s going to be the consequence.”
It will be Joseph's 400th NHL game.
It means Jordan Binnington will remain in goal and start a second straight game, defenseman Nick Leddy remains in for Tyler Tucker and Alexandre Texier, who was part of the morning skate, remains out due to illness.
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Those that filled in and double-shifted in the game Sunday were Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko.
Walker was involved in a fight early in the game and then was playing the physical brand of hockey to ignite the fire.
“Nathan Walker is a great example for everybody,” Montgomery said. “For whatever their role is on the team, that’s relishing your role. He had a kick save in the second period eating a puck in a situation that our D-zone coverage was really good. A puck bounced to them, and there’s a 2-on-1 up high and he played it perfectly, but not only that, he starts the game, gets our crowd into it, starts in a fight and then he comes out and a big body check the next shift. That’s the kind of energy and the selflessness and the team-first attitude that we’re looking for from every player.
“’Torpo’ gives it to you every night. Absolutely. He’s finishing checks, he’s hard on the forecheck, and the routes he’s running on the PK now has really helped with the PK and with the little success we’ve had here, if you call it success, just two games.”
Walker’s ice time (14:48) was his third-highest of the season.
“You play a team like that, we’re battling with them,” Walker said. “They’re obviously in our division. I think it’s easy to get up for those games.
“For the most part, (fighting) happens organically unless you can kind of feel the building needs a bit of energy and the boys. … Whenever you have the opportunity to (make an impact), you want to try and stay in the lineup and do the best you can.”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter-Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
The healthy scratch includes Tyler Tucker. Alexandre Texier (illness) is out.
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Kraken Projected Lineup:
Jaden Schwartz-Matty Beniers-Kaapo Kakko
Eeli Tolvanen-Chandler Stephenson-Oliver Bjorkstrand
Jared McCann-Shane Wright-Andre Burakovsky
Brandon Tanev-Mitchell Stephens-Jordan Eberle
Vince Dunn-Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak-Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans-Josh Mahura
Joey Daccord will start in goal; Nikke Kokko will be the backup.
The healthy scratch includes Tye Kartye. Yanni Gourde (lower body) is out.