Suter joins injured list, will be reevaluated in four weeks with a high ankle sprain; Blues try to get to .500 against red-hot Sabres, who have won eight in a row
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues will have to play without another injured forward for the foreseeable future.
Pius Suter is the latest to hit the injury list after the Blues (15-16-8), who host the red-hot Buffalo Sabres (19-14-4) on Monday (7 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM). The forward will be reevaluated in four weeks with a right high ankle sprain sustained in the third period of a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators on Saturday after getting an MRI on Sunday.
Suter, who has seven goals and seven assists in 37 games this season, did not practice on Sunday.
It means Robby Fabbri will go back into the lineup in Suter’s spot after being a healthy scratch on Saturday. Also, Mathieu Joseph will re-enter the lineup on the fourth line, and go in for Jonatan Berggren.
But what the Blues will miss in Suter is a plethora of things.
“We haven’t had enough forwards grab and taking ownership of being reliable, trustworthy and really good at their habits and details defensively, and that’s why you see different people in there in different games, because when guys are on their details, they get that opportunity and there’s an opportunity for people to grab that,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We have certain players we know are going to be there, but it’s not like we have two lines of it, and that’s up to the players to grab it. It’s very similar to the discussion we had yesterday about coming into our lineup and who does. We don’t want guys to come out of the lineup, and when you go into the lineup, it’s up to you to be really good at those habits and details so that we don’t take you out. That’s for everybody.”
Could Otto Stenberg, a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, be the guy to replace Suter’s wealth and many things be brings to the game? We’ll have more on that in an upcoming story.
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The Blues will look to derail the Sabres express. In winning eight in a row, the Sabres, who lost 3-0 to the Blues in early November, have scored three or more goals in each game and won four of them by multiple goals, four of them by one goal, outscoring their opponents 25-15.
“It’s a lot different. Just their confidence, their swagger, you could see it,” Montgomery said of the Sabres. “They expect to score goals, they are scoring goals, they’re scoring gritty goals at the net front now besides the skill level that they have, and they have skill on three lines. That’s why your details and in the D-zone off the rush have to be good. And I think that if our details are good there, we’re going to get opportunities going the other way. And then it’s up to us. Last game we were 8-2 in odd-man rushes for. You keep getting those numbers and we get better at executing off the rush, we’re going to start scoring a lot more goals. It’s up to us to be really good at those odd-man rushes.”
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said in beating the Blues, there are several key factors.
“I think the numbers say they’re a great team to get interior shots too so we can’t let pucks go through us,” Ruff said. “I think their speed is evident. Their ‘D’ get up ice. Similar to us, our ‘D’ are heavily involved, their ‘D’ are heavily involved. We’ve got to make sure we don’t turn it into a track meet, that we’re weary of their guys coming.”
The Blues have another opportunity here to get to the .500 mark with a win.
“I think results are secondary right now to our process,” Montgomery said. “I talk about habits and details a lot and our process, the things that we believe in, winning the net fronts, winning special teams, winning the Grade A chances. There’s a lot of things, details that go into those major part of the process, and if we continue to be better at those things in the process, the results will take care of themselves. I’ve always believed that, and I will always believe that as I am a coach.”
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It will be another homecoming for a St. Louis kid playing in the NHL when O’Fallon’s own Josh Dunne, who previously played in two preseason games in St. Louis with the Columbus Blue Jackets, will make his first regular-season appearance here tonight with the Sabres.
I’ll have more on Dunne’s return to St. Louis later, and also got a chance to catch up with goalie Colten Ellis and get his thoughts in being waived by the Blues and what it means to be in the NHL and have this opportunity.
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Otto Stenberg-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Robby Fabbri-Dalibor Dvorsky-Jimmy Snuggerud
Alexey Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Mathieu Joseph
Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko
Tyler Tucker-Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler-Logan Mailloux
Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Jonatan Berggren and Matthew Kessel. Dylan Holloway (high ankle sprain), Pius Suter (high ankle sprain), Nathan Walker (upper body) and Nick Bjugstad (upper body) are out.
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Sabres Projected Lineup:
Peyton Krebs-Tage Thompson-Josh Doan
Noah Ostlund-Josh Norris-Alex Tuch
Zach Benson-Ryan McLeod-Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway-Josh Dunne-Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson-Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power-Michael Kesselring
Bowen Byram-Zach Metsa
Alex Lyon will start in goal; Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Isak Rosen and Jacob Bryson. Tyson Kozak (upper body), Conor Timmins (broken leg), Jason Zucker (upper and lower body), Colten Ellis (concussion), Jiri Kulich (blood clot) and Justin Danforth (lower body) are all out.
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