Blues have lost two straight, outscored 13-3, including 8-1 loss to Senators; coaching staff shaking up lineup; Walker, Perunovich inserted in for Kapanen, P.O. Joseph
Outscored 13-3 the past two games, including an 8-1 pasting at the hands of the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, changes were only a matter of when, not if, for the St. Louis Blues (5-5-0), who conclude a four-game road trip today against the Philadelphia Flyers (3-6-1) at 6 p.m. (FDSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The Blues have taken their line combinations and really thrown them into a blender for this game, flipping Jake Neighbours and Jordan Kyrou, moving Dylan Holloway to play second-line center; Brayden Schenn on a wing with Radek Faksa to center the third line and Oskar Sundqvist back in the middle. Nathan Walker is back after being a healthy scratch the past three games, replacing the injured Kasperi Kapanen (upper body), who was injured on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators.
Also, defenseman Scott Perunovich, who was a healthy scratch Tuesday but played the previous two games, will come back in and play for P.O. Joseph, who will be scratched after playing the previous six games. Joseph was a minus-3 in the loss Tuesday.
---
* Jordan Binnington, who will get the start after relieving Joel Hofer on Tuesday, needs one win to tie Jake Allen for second on the Blues' all-time franchise list (148).
* Philip Broberg, who has a point in eight of 10 games this season (two goals, six assists), has already matched his career-high in points (one goal, seven assists in 46 games in 2022-23 with the Edmonton Oilers).
* The Blues have not allowed a power play goal against the Flyers in six straight matchups, going 14-for-14.
* Holloway will play in his 100th NHL game tonight.
* The Blues have won three of four in their past four visits to Wells Fargo Center.
---
Blues Projected Lineup:
Alexandre Texier-Pavel Buchnevich-Jake Neighbours
Brandon Saad-Dylan Holloway-Jordan Kyrou
Brayden Schenn-Radek Faksa-Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker
Ryan Suter-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Scott Perunovich-Matthew Kessel
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
The healthy scratch includes P.O. Joseph. Robert Thomas (ankle), Nick Leddy (lower body), Mathieu Joseph (lower body) and Kasperi Kapanen (upper body) are out.
---
Flyers Projected Lineup:
Travis Konecny-Sean Couturier-Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett-Morgan Frost-Tyson Foerster
Joel Farabee-Scott Laughton-Bobby Brink
Noah Cates-Ryan Poehling-Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim-Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler-Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae-Erik Johnson
Samuel Ersson will start in goal; Aleksei Kolosov will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nicolas Deslauriers, Egor Zamula and Ivan Fedotov. Cam York (upper body) is out.
