Neighbours returns after missing 12 games; Texier designated non-tender, placed on waivers; Joseph a healthy scratch; Hofer to get start
Jake Neighbours will return for the St. Louis Blues ahead of schedule on Thursday when they play the second of a season-long five-game road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers (6 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
Neighbours was activated off injured-reserve on Thursday morning after missing 12 games with a right leg injury stemming from a blocked shot Oct. 25 against the Detroit Red Wings.
The original time line for Neighbours’ prognosis was that he would be reevaluated in five weeks, putting that time frame at the time as being in the first week of December. But the 23-year-old started skating more regularly in the past week and it was determined that he would go on this trip and return to it at some point.
“Yeah, he's a couple of days ahead of schedule,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “The earliest we thought would be Islanders on Saturday and it could have been as much as the last game of the road trip (Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils).
“Yeah, it's good news. He was our leading goal scorer when he left the lineup. The character, how hard he is, all that stuff, it really matters to the little things that make up real success in a locker room, on the bench and on the ice.”
Neighbours made a decision after a skating session on Wednesday. The Blues were 3-5-4 without Neighbours in the lineup.
“Yesterday after practice. Yeah, I felt really good at practice and had a discussion with the doctors and Ray (Barile) and his team and all came to an agreement that I felt I was ready to go, so here I am,” Neighbours said. “… When you're dealing with what I was, you've just got to make sure that it's healed and you've taken the proper time to make sure it's ready for contact, all that kind of stuff. I'd say I felt good for three or four practices in a row and no problems, no issues with it.”
Neighbours blocked a shot from Detroit defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka in the second period and somehow finished the game despite the pain.
“It's not often you hear about a guy finishing a game with a broken bone,” Montgomery said. “It just speaks volumes, again, about his character as a young man and how much he's a team-first guy.
“… He looked really good yesterday. With how he felt and looked ... there was a 3-on-3 portion of it where he was on a breakaway and (Colton) Parayko was chasing him, and he cut inside his arms and got a shot off. That lets you know that his burst of speed, when someone that fast is chasing you, it's there.”
Yeah, if I'm going to be back in the lineup, I've got to be comfortable doing my job. That entails going to the net, being hard in the corners, being physical. As soon as I felt that my leg was ready to go, it was kind of a no-brainer."
“Yeah, it's exciting for me,” Neighbours said. “I take a lot of pride in being a good teammate, I love being around them, I love competing with them. That's what I live for, that's why I play the game. So to be away from that for a month was very difficult and yeah, I'm filled with a lot of excitement and ready to get back in the lineup with these guys and help any way I can.”
Neighbours will play on a line with Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud.
“Yeah, my last game was in Detroit and we had success -- the three of us -- in the half a game that we played together,” neighbours said. “Obviously very familiar with ‘Tommer,’ played with him lots. And ‘Snuggy’ is ‘Snuggy,’ he's ready to shoot at all times. I think just the three of us is a good combination, what each of us brings, I think it blends together pretty well. I'm excited for that and ready to go.”
With Neighbours being activated, the Blues designated forward Alexandre Texier a non-roster player, went on waivers Thursday.
“For ‘Tex,’ he's an outstanding young man and just didn't find any kind of path this year to consistently stay in the lineup,” Montgomery said.
Texier had one assist in eight games and just six goals, six assists with the Blues in 39 games over two seasons after acquiring him from the Columbus Blue Jackets June 28, 2024 for a 2025 fourth-round pick.
With Neighbours returning, Mathieu Joseph will be a healthy scratch. And Joel Hofer will get the nod in goal against Dan Vladar. Jordan Binnington and Samuel Ersson were the goalies in last Friday's wild Flyers 6-5 shootout win in St. Louis.
- - -
Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Jimmy Snuggerud
Brayden Schenn-Dalibor Dvorsky-Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway-Pius Suter-Jordan Kyrou
Alexey Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker
Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler-Justin Faulk
Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel
Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nick Bjugstad, Mathieu Joseph and Hunter Skinner. The Blues have no injuries.
- - -
Flyers Projected Lineup:
Matvei Michkov-Sean Couturier-Bobby Brink
Trevor Zegras-Christian Dvorak-Owen Tippett
Tyson Foerster-Noah Cates-Travis Konecny
Nicolas Deslauriers-Rodrigo Abols-Garnet Hathaway
Cam York-Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler-Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae-Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar will start in goal; Samuel Ersson will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nikita Grebenkin and Egor Zamula. Rasmus Ristolainen (triceps) is out.
Blues Get Huge Boost With Return Of Forward
Jake Neighbours activated off injured-reserve, St. Louis Blues designate Alexandre Texier non-roster player
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.