Offense has been a struggle, it's no secret, for Blues, having scored two or fewer in nine of past 10 games; team is 30th in league averaging 2.54 per game, 1.9 in last 10; Kessel in for Tucker, Hofer in goal with back-to-back slated this weekend
The St. Louis Blues enter their matchup on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators 30th in the NHL in goal scoring (2.54 goals per game) and scoring two or fewer in nine of the past 10 games.
They’ve scored a grand total of 19 the past 10 games (1.9 per game), with the line game they’ve scored more than two: the Senators, who the Blues beat 4-3 in come-from-behind fashion on Nov. 28.
And in an ever-changing lineup for the Blues (9-12-7) where consistency seems to be a monumental task of achieving, the coaching staff continues to search for combinations that they hope get them out of the doldrums of scoring. But when you're also 29th in goals against (3.50) per game, it makes it awfully tough to secure wins, and the Blues are the only team in the league with single-digit wins at this point of the season.
Saturday was an optional skate, but according to the team, there will be changes throughout the forward group (listed below).
The only actual lineup change will be Matthew Kessel going back in on defense for Tyler Tucker, and with the Blues set for a back-to-back this weekend, including a Sunday night game against the Montreal Canadiens, Joel Hofer will get the start on Saturday, with Jordan Binnington then slated to go on Sunday.
The Blues’ come-from-behind win against the Senators was their only one of the season when trailing after two periods, when they were down 2-1 and rallied to score three in the third, a rarity of scoring more than one goal in a period of late.
It'll be the second of a three-game trip after a poor loss Thursday against the Boston Bruins, 5-2.
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway-Dalibor Dvorsky-Jordan Kyrou
Pius Suter-Brayden Schenn-Nick Bjugstad
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki-Oskar Sundqvist-Mathieu Joseph
Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko
Matthew Kessel-Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler-Logan Mailloux
Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Tyler Tucker and Matt Luff. Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Alexey Toropchenko (leg burns) and Nathan Walker (upper body) are out.
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Senators Projected Lineup:
Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stutzle-Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron-Dylan Cozens-Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio-Ridly Greig-Claude Giroux
Nick Cousins-Stephen Halliday-Hayden Hodgson
Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub
Tyler Kleven-Jordan Spence
Nikolas Matinpalo-Nick Jensen
Linus Ullmark will start in goal; Leevi Merilainen will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Kurtis MacDermid and Dennis Gilbert. Thomas Chabot (upper body), Lars Eller (undisclosed) and Shane Pinto (lower body) are out.
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