My player to watch for the St. Louis Blues against the Florida Panthers on Thursday is forward Pavel Buchnevich.
It was either Buchnevich or goalie Joel Hofer, who is 0-3-0 in his last three decisions and hasn't won a decision since Nov. 22 at Arizona, hasn't won a start since Nov. 19 at Anaheim, but I'm going with Bucnhevich in this spot.
He was benched for the final 12-plus minutes of Tuesday's 6-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning after taking his third hooking minor of the game, of which led to a Lightning power-play goal.
Interim coach Drew Bannister has spoken multiple times of holding players accountable, and this was a prime example of not singling out just a young player, or an inexperienced player, but veteran players will also be held to a standard, and after playing just 14:17 in the game, which was a season-low (he played 5:27 in a 2-1 shootout win against Seattle but that was due to injury), I'm thinking Buchnevich will come out with a purpose and play with some anger tonight.
After all, remember when he called himself out for what he termed poor play following a loss against Winnipeg on Nov. 7, Buchnevich promptly went on 13-game tear in which he produced 16 points (seven goals, nine assists).
Let's see if this benching fuels his fire, beginning tonight.
