Sundqvist likely to debut for St. Louis Thursday; Perry to make season debut for Los Angeles
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues hope to build off their most complete game of the season when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (7 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The Blues (3-2-0) were efficient from start to finish in a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, and after coach Jim Montgomery voiced his displeasure with practice on Monday, he was much more pleased with the focus and work ethic for the morning skate on Tuesday.
And it starts with the leaders.
“I want them to start pushing our habits and our team identity and making sure that that’s the main focus that they’re leading with when it comes to games,” Montgomery said. “That we start on time. Like tonight’s a perfect example of that. We had success last game, committed to a checking game and we need to be committed to checking game every game if you want to give yourself a chance in this league. It doesn’t mean you’re going to win games 3-1, but it means you’re going to win games 4-3, 5-4 because you’re always committed to checking, you might score more offense. You might give up a little bit more at times, but it’s the checking mentality you need to have in this league to have offense and defensive success.”
One player who had one of his most complete games as a Blue was Jordan Kyrou, who opened the scoring in the second period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
“I think last year I was pleasantly surprised how much growth he’s had (with the) play without the puck,” Montgomery said. “Especially in the offensive zone getting back above pucks. I the D-zone, we play a little differently than we used to and I personally think it’s easier on wingers and he’s really grasped it and executed it well.”
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Montgomery has expressed a desire for some of his top end guys to get their production going in this early season; he’s mentioned Kyrou and Robert Thomas, who has just two points (one goal, one assist) in five games, but then there’s also Dylan Holloway, who has just one goal and is a minus-4 in the early going.
“I think he’s just thinking too much,” Montgomery said. ‘When he’s just playing hockey, he’s naturally on top of pucks. It doesn’t matter what zone it is, and he just has the puck. It could be one against three and he’s coming out with it or he’s sneaking through people because of his speed and skill and right now I think he’s thinking, and when you think on the ice, you look slow. Not that he looks slow because he’s such a gifted skater, but he looks slower than usual.”
Holloway is coming off surgery in the off-season on a torn oblique from his hip bone and it could be affecting his play as he’s ingratiating himself back into full swing.
“You’ve got to realize, the guy’s coming back from a significant injury, and your body, when you come back from an injury, it’s not only the area that you hurt, it’s the areas that over-compensate for it,” Montgomery said. “You see guys get sports hernias after they had groin issues or hip issues. You see a lot of guys develop some arm issues after they had shoulder problems. Your body naturally over-compensates because that area pulls on muscles from different areas. That’s what our bodies do. He’s a player that will play through any kind of pain and we know that. I’m not saying that’s what’s happening to him, but it’s just natural. You watch guys come back from a knee injury, especially if they’ve had an operation and you watch him six months later or a year later, completely different player. I’m not saying that’s going to happen to him because he looks real fluid out there, but there is a mental component to it.”
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One guy Montgomery is pleased with is the play of Pius Suter, whose empty-net goal Saturday that sealed the win was the perfect example and trust that the coaching staff has putting the 29-year-old on the ice in key defensive situations.
“Just execution and effort. For him, I think it’s more execution,” Montgomery said. “His brain is high-end. So his offensive and especially his defensive support, it’s very random that he’s in the wrong place defensively. He had a couple of three high-end plays defensively with his stick or being in the right position on Saturday night. I knew he was going to be one of our six forwards going when are in a pulled-goalie situation and he executed really well there too.”
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Defenseman Matthew Kessel will play in his second game Tuesday after making his season debut on Saturday.
Kessel played 9:11 on Saturday and was a plus-1 playing alongside Tyler Tucker after replacing Logan Mailloux.
“I thought he was good,” Montgomery said. “I thought he was aggressive and that’s what you want. You got a guy who hasn’t played yet, he’s going to come in and if he makes mistakes, make them out of being aggressive. The one mistake was because he was being aggressive trying to kill a play and nothing bad happens when you’re being aggressive. When you stand and watch, that’s when you get worried about any player, I’m not talking about ‘Kess.’
“… Know what your role is on the D-corps, know what we value and create an identity for yourself of being an aggressive player that finishes checks, is firm on pucks, that wins 1-on-1 battles, that gets us out of our zone, that keeps pucks in the offensive zone.”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Dylan Holloway-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours
Pavel Buchnevich-Pius Suter-Jimmy Snuggerud
Mathieu Joseph-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Alexandre Texier-Nick Bjugstad-Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
The healthy scratch is Logan Mailloux. Oskar Sundqvist (lower body) is likely to return Thursday, Alexey Toropchenko (lower, upper body soreness) remains day to day.
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Kings Projected Lineup:
Andrei Kuzmenko-Alex Laferriere-Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala-Quinton Byfield-Joel Armia
Warren Foegele-Phillip Danault-Trevor Moore
Jeff Malott-Alex Turcotte-Corey Perry
Brian Dumoulin-Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson-Brandt Clarke
Mikey Anderson-Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper is expected to start in goal; Anton Forsberg would be the backup.
The healthy scratches include Jacob Moverare, Samuel Helenius and Pheonix Copley. Anze Kopitar (foot), and Kyle Burroughs (upper body) are out.
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