Broberg returns, replacing Perunovich; Buchnevich out, replaced by Texier; Blues try for first three-game winning streak of season
ST. LOUIS -- Philip Broberg will return for the St. Louis Blues (11-12-1) when they host the Philadelphia Flyers (11-10-3) today at 6 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
Broberg, who injured his right knee in a 4-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 2 when Toronto's Mitch Marner fell on his leg, missed the past 12 games; the Blues were 5-6-1 without him. The defenseman was activated off injured-reserve Friday and Corey Schueneman was assigned to Springfield in a corresponding move.
"He impacts the game with the puck and without the puck," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "The transitional game that I think he impacts the most just because of his ability to see plays, end plays, make plays.
"When you get a player that can eat up north of 20 minutes, it allows you to take minutes away from other guys that have been over-taxed, whether it's a [Ryan] Suter, a [Colton] Parayko or [Justin] Faulk. They've been eating up a lot of minutes. We can reduce them by two, add a little bit more to [Broberg] and it strengthens the depth of our third pairing."
And as far as monitoring Broberg's minutes:
"You got a horse, you let the horse run," Montgomery said.
Broberg will be paired with Faulk tonight and will give Montgomery his first look at the Blues' two offer sheet players they acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in August.
"Any time you can acquire not one, but two young players that were drafted in the first round, I think you've got to try and take (it)," Montgomery said. "It just adds quality depth and building blocks for your lineup.
"I've seen for two games what Holloway can do. I'm excited to see what Broberg can do."
With Broberg returning, Scott Perunovich will become a healthy scratch tonight.
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Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich will not play tonight due to a lower-body injury.
Buchnevich was injured in the second period of a 3-0 win against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday and will be replaced in the lineup by Alexandre Texier.
"You don't want to take any risks of exacerbating what's happened to the lower body injury," Montgomery said.
As for Texier, who has been a healthy scratch the past four games and seven of the past 10, will start the game with Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours.
"Go out and have an impact," Montgomery said. "First, you want players to be excited, you want them to use their legs. He's a gifted offensive player. All we ask if get back above pucks when we don't have it."
Suter, who had a maintenance day on Friday, will be in the lineup.
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The Blues are in search of their first three-game winning streak of the season in Montgomery's home debut.
"I think it's actually going to be more peaceful tonight," Montgomery said. "This is home."
The Blues dropped a 2-1 decision in Philadelphia on Oct. 31, a game in which the Flyers blocked 24 shots.
"How good they're playing defensively," Montgomery said when asked about the Flyers, who beat the New York Rangers 3-1 on Friday. "They're on the right side of pucks, they almost have five guys above the puck at all times. In the d-zone, they're collapsing, they're eating pucks, they're blocking shots a lot. And then the rush offense, they've got a lot of players that can make plays off the rush."
So when the Flyers are willing to sacrifice, Montgomery said, "It's even more important that you look to shoot quicker, so that they don't get in lanes, because you know that they're going to sacrifice. So if you wait and look for a passing option instead of having a shot-first mentality, it allows them to get in shot lanes and the other thing is they're going to pack it in the middle of the ice. You can't stop not going and getting bodies to the net."
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Alexandre Texier
Brandon Saad-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Dylan Holloway-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Mathieu Joseph
Ryan Suter-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Pierre-Olivier Joseph-Matthew Kessel
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nathan Walker and Scott Perunovich. Nick Leddy (lower body) and Pavel Buchnevich (lower body) is out.
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Flyers Projected Lineup:
Joel Farabee-Sean Couturier-Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett-Morgan Frost-Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster-Noah Cates-Bobby Brink
Scott Laughton-Ryan Poehling-Garnet Hathaway
Cam York-Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae-Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler-Helge Grans
Aleksei Kolosov is projected to start in goal; Ivan Fedotov would be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nicolas Deslauriers, Egor Zamula and Erik Johnson. Samuel Ersson (lower body) and Jamie Drysdale (upper body) are out.
