(10-30-25) Canucks-Blues Gameday Lineup

ST. LOUIS – Dalibor Dvorsky isn’t being brought up by the St. Louis Blues to be the savior, but the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft will be given a bigger role when he plays in his third NHL game on Thursday when the slumping Blues (3-6-1) host the Vancouver Canucks (5-6-0) at 7 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

Dvorsky, called up from Springfield of the American Hockey League, will be in the lineup and center a line with Mathieu Joseph and Jordan Kyrou looking to infuse some spark into a group that is right now searching for answers in the midst of a five-game skid (0-4-1).

“It feels amazing obviously,” Dvorsky said. “I love being here and it feels great.

“I’m just going to try to play my offensive game, the things that I do best and of course be responsible defensively. I’ll just try to play my game, shoot pucks, make plays, be responsible in the D-zone.”

Dvorsky, who had four points (two goals, two assists) in his last two games with the Thunderbirds, will also be utilized on one of the flanks on the power play with Jimmy Snuggerud:

It’s a different call-up considering the 20-year-old was used in a limited role in his two previous NHL games.

“Of course it’s different, different time of year,” Dvorsky said. “Also the team is doing a little different. NHL is the NHL. Doesn’t matter when, but it does feel a little different. I’m just going to try to go out there like always and try to do my best.

“I’m a little older, more experienced I think. Also I’ve learned more stuff in this year’s camp. I feel like I am more experienced than last year.”

In finding the right linemates, or ones that can complement his game.

“We want to give the kid a chance to have success, so let’s give him a really dynamic offensive winger and let’s give him a winger that checks and really goes hard at both ends of the ice and knows the details of our game, so I think it’s a good mix of wingers and I think ‘Matty Jo’ also has been doing a lot of good things offensively so his speed, driving the net, being at the net,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think there’s a lot of things to complement ‘Dvo,’ who we think is an offensive centerman that can drive wide.”

Kyrou, who is sporting a career-best tying eight-game point streak (four goals, four assists), will be the catalyst of the line and try to lead by example and help the kid along.

“I think he’s a super-smart player,” Kyrou said of Dvorsky. “I think he’s got a great shot. Maybe I can try to find him a little here and tell him to use his shot a little bit.

“The one-timer, his catch and release, even his snap shot. It’s a quick release, so try to find him a little bit here.

“(Joseph’s) got unbelievable speed, he hounds the puck, he’s on the pucks, he creates turnovers, reloads hard. He’s fun to play with, so it will be exciting.”

Dvorsky will do everything he can to pick Kyrou’s brain when necessary.

“Obviously he’s an amazing player,” Dvorsky said. ‘Joseph as well. I’m going to just try to make plays, shoot the puck when I can. Kyrou is super-fast, great shot. Same thing with Joseph. Just going to try and do my best every shift. I think we’re going to have a good game.”

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Another line combo look that will be new on Thursday includes two linemates familiar with one another (Dylan Holloway and Pius Suter) but they will get Oskar Sundqvist there.

Why?

“All three of them work, all three of them can check,” Montgomery said. “It’s a line that I feel comfortable if I need to, to match up against, maybe (Elias) Pettersson’s line or whoever.

“Sundqvist, he's like a binkie for a kid for a coach because you put him anywhere you want on the ice and he's going to do the right thing. Defensively, offensively, he covers. He goes to the hard areas. So he allows 81 to hunt pucks, get pucks, skate pucks and hang onto pucks on the outside so he can get to the interior ice. … It’s his intelligence. He has a team-first attitude. He doesn’t care about getting any credit. He doesn’t. Anything in his fiber is whatever needs to get the job done to help the team win. And that’s what makes him as a binkie as a coach.”

And Suter makes two, right?

“I’ve got two binkies on the same line now,” Montgomery said. “I feel the same way. His intelligence, he never leaves bad ice for no reason and give up a danger chance. We just did that D-zone coverage and he’s holding the net front, they pass it right on his tape. In the game, we’d be ready to go the other way. He just understands that part of managing the game really well.”

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The Blues were doing a drill at the morning skate focusing on protecting the middle of the ice in the defensive zone when Montgomery stopped. The words were pointed and direct.

“Just protecting middle ice. The numbers analytically don’t make sense,” Montgomery said. “O-zone time and D-zone time that we’re spending. We’re fourth in the league in D-zone time. Usually that’s a great thing, but we’re giving up home runs, like I said after last game too quickly. We get into our zone, and like six seconds, there’s a chance in the middle of the ice, and that’s what the purpose of the drill was.

“We’re not playing well defensively. We’re not spending a lot of time in our end. That doesn’t mean we’re playing well defensively. That was my point, that the analytics don’t match the eye because the analytics usually if you’re not spending a lot of time in your D-zone, it’s because you’re spending a lot of time in the O-zone and you’re catching people in three-quarter ice or you’re doing a real good job defensively. But we’re not coming into our D-zone doing a good enough job defensively, so that’s the premise of protecting good ice, spending a little more time in your own end, but make sure they’re not getting a one-timer from the slot.”

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As for that eight-game point streak by Kyrou, perhaps this comment shows some maturity, not wanting to talk about potentially earning a career-best point streak on Thursday and instead, focusing on a team mentality.

“It’s different every year,” he said. “Just go into the season, obviously you want wins here. I think we need to just clean up a little more defensively as a group and hopefully we can start winning more games. That’s all that really matters.”

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Blues Projected Lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Brayden Schenn-Jimmy Snuggerud

Dylan Holloway-Pius Suter-Oskar Sundqvist

Mathieu Joseph-Dalibor Dvorsky-Jordan Kyrou

Alexey Toropchenko-Nick Bjugstad-Nathan Walker

Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko

Cam Fowler-Justin Faulk

Tyler Tucker-Logan Mailloux

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Alexandre Texier and Matthew Kessel. Robert Thomas (upper body) remains day to day; Jake Neighbours (leg) is on injured-reserve and will be reevaluated in five weeks.

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Canucks Projected Lineup:

Jake DeBrusk-Elias Pettersson-Brock Boeser

Evander Kane-Lukas Reichel-Kiefer Sherwood

Drew O'Connor-Aatu Raty-Mackenzie MacEachern

Arshdeep Bains-Max Sasson-Linus Karlsson

Marcus Pettersson-Filip Hronek

Elias Nils Pettersson-Tom Willander

P.O Joseph-Tyler Myers

Kevin Lankinen will start in goal; Thatcher Demko will be the backup.

The healthy scratch includes Kirill Kudryavtsev. Conor Garland (undisclosed), Victor Mancini (undisclosed), Quinn Hughes (lower body), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Jonathan Lekkerimaki (upper body), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body) and Derek Forbort (undisclosed) are all out.

Jim Montgomery On Blues: "Almost Every Team In The NHL This Year Will Go 3-6-1 In 10 games. We Did It In Our First 10 Games." St. Louis Blues coach believes team will turn things around but, "We have to start turning the corner with our habits. The habits get you through this."

Blues Not Wasting Time, Will Play First-Round Pick Dalibor Dvorsky Immediately 10th pick in 2023 NHL Draft will make season debut Thursday against Canucks, play center, get power-play time for slumping squad that's in 0-4-1 skid

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