(3-30-24) Sharks-Blues Gameday Lineup

ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to winnable games, there's no better one than for the St. Louis Blues (39-30-4) on Saturday when they host the San Jose Sharks (16-48-8) at 7 p.m. (BSMWX, ESPN 101.1-FM) in the third of a four-game homestand.

The Blues, who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games, trail the Los Angeles Kings by five points for the second wild card in the Western Conference. They host an opponent that is 1-14-3 in their past 18 games, including winless in nine straight (0-8-1).

"We can't play down to our opponents here tonight and find ourselves in a position where we're hoping that we can win a hockey game," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "We've got to put the hammer down here tonight and we have to be the better team from the first period right through the third."

The problem is for the Blues, who have this season played down to some of their opponents, including losing to these very same Sharks, 5-1, back on Nov. 16. But now is not the time to be picking to take a night off.

"Our mindset's we've got to win out. We've got to win all the games," Blues center Robert Thomas said. "That's our goal, whether you need them all or you can lose one or two. But our mindset's we've got to win them all.

"We're at a time of year where we know how important every point is and we need two points every night. There should be nothing else to look at."

What the Blues have to do is treat this as an opponent, not look at the standings and feel like it's a lesser opponent than some of the tough games they've persevered in this season.

"I think you need to take looking at the standings out of this," Blues forward Nathan Walker said. "As long as we can play a good 200-foot game and making sure we're controlling the puck at the lines and doing what we need to do in order to be successful.

"... You can obviously see there record, but at the same time, it's about us. If we don't grab these two points and miss out by one, we're going to be shooting ourselves in the foot. We need to make sure we come out hard tonight and play the way we know how we can play."

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Blues forward Sammy Blais will return to the lineup tonight, his first game since March 9 against the New York Rangers and it will be just his second game in 19.

Blais will jump in on the fourth line with Walker and Kasperi Kapanen and replace Zach Dean. Blais has just a goal and six assists in 45 games this season; he hasn't had a point since getting an assist Dec. 23 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

"I know it's been a little whole since Sammy's played," Bannister said. "Since we've come off the road, he hasn't been in our lineup. For Sammy, and I've talked to Sammy, when he's first on the forecheck, he's very effective to us. After that, he's got to move his feet and be available and get up and help his linemates and needs to be able to forecheck and keep pucks alive. When he does that, he's very effective. He plays a heavy game. I want to see him hold onto pucks, use his shot and get to the net, be really hard, go to the hard areas and help our team out in those areas where he can really be effective."

Walker will be the center on that line tonight.

"I've played him at times in the middle, not started him there, but I've used him at the end of penalty kills and thrown him out with different people," Bannister said. "Very versatile in what he does and very detailed in his game, whether it's on the wing or center so I have no problem putting him in that position."

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Joel Hofer will get the start in goal, his first game since beating the Ottawa Senators, 5-2, on March 21.

Hofer has won his past three starts and has a 1.67 goals-against average and .952 save percentage.

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The Blues' projected lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours

Brandon Saad-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Zack Bolduc-Kevin Hayes-Alexey Toropchenko

Sammy Blais-Nathan Walker-Kasperi Kapanen

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Matthew Kessel

Scott Perunovich-Justin Faulk

Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup. 

Healthy scratches include Marco Scandella, Zach Dean, Nikita Alexandrov and Tyler Tucker. Oskar Sundqvist (torn ACL) is out for the season.

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The Sharks' projected lineup:

Klim Kostin-Mikael Granlund-Fabian Zetterlund

Justin Bailey-Luke Kunin-Filip Zadina

Thomas Bordeleau-Nico Sturm-Kevin Labanc

William Eklund-Ryan Carpenter-Mike Hoffman

Mario Ferraro-Kyle Burroughs

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Calen Addison

Henry Thrun-Jan Rutta

Mackenzie Blackwood will start in goal; Devin Cooley will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Givani Smith and Jacob MacDonald. Matt Benning (hip), Ty Emberson (laceration), Alexander Barabanov (lower body) and Vitek Vanecek (lower body) are all out.