Neighbours, Snuggerud, Suter all expected to play for Blues on Saturday against the hot Blue Jackets
ST. LOUIS – It’s trending that each of Jake Neighbours, Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter will be in the lineup when the St. Louis Blues (20-25-9) close out a four-game homestand against the Columbus Blue Jackets (26-20-7) at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Neighbours and Snuggerud each missed practice on Friday with lower-body ailments but took part in an optional morning skate on Saturday and Suter, who has missed the past 15 games with a high ankle sprain and hasn’t played since Dec. 27 against the Nashville Predators, appears on target to make his return and come off injured reserve. In that case, Matt Luff will be assigned to Springfield of the American Hockey League after being recalled under emergency conditions.
“They’re all right now taking the optional and we’ll know for sure,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said before Saturday’s optional skate. “We want all three to play, they all want to play. We’ll have a definitive answer here shortly.”
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The Blues and Blue Jackets wrap up their season series and Columbus comes in red hot, winners of seven of eight and tying a season high four in a row, all under new coach Rick Bowness, who replaced the fired Dean Evason on Jan. 13.
The Jackets downed the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday.
“They’re playing with great pace and great competitive spirit,” Montgomery said. “Their will is very obvious. I think because of that, they’re scoring a lot. Structurally, I don’t think he’s made that many changes. I don’t think they’ve had time. Maybe he’s had two practices, so they’re still doing stuff in the neutral zone, in the defensive zone that I don’t see as ‘Bones.’”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Brayden Schenn-Dalibor Dvosky-Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou
Jonatan Berggren-Pius Suter-Nick Bjugstad
Alexey Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker
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, Robby Fabbri and Mathieu Joseph. Pius Suter (high ankle sprain), Robert Thomas (lower body) and Dylan Holloway (high ankle sprain) are out.
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Blue Jackets Projected Lineup:
Mason Marchment-Adam Fantilli-Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner-Sean Monahan-Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger-Charlie Coyle-Mathieu Olivier
Dimitri Voronkov-Isac Lundestrom-Miles Wood
Zach Werenski-Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov-Denton Mateychuk
Jake Christiansen-Erik Gudbranson
Jet Greaves is projected to start in goal; Elvis Merzlikins would be the backup.
Healthy scratches could include Danton Heinen and Egor Zamula. Brendan Smith (knee surgery) and Dante Fabbro (lower body) are out.
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