ST. LOUIS -- It's a bit of good news/bad news for the Blues (11-10-0), as they get set for a Central Division showdown today at 7 p.m. against the Dallas Stars (12-6-4).
Center Brayden Schenn looks to be good to go after sitting out the third period of Saturday's come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win against the Florida Panthers with an upper-body injury.
"I'm good," Schenn said with a grin.
However, there is the bad with Robert Thomas, who is day to day with a lower-body injury and will not play tonight. The center missed the final 5:11 of the third period and overtime; he was injured on a play along the boards with roughly 11 minutes remaining.
"He's a huge loss for sure," coach Craig Berube said. "A guy that probably has the most puck possession on the team every night and has the puck a lot, does good things with it. Guys are going to have to dig in tonight and help out because with him out of the lineup, it's a loss, but we've got enough guys to handle it and get the job done."
Thomas leads the Blues in points (19) and assists (15) this season and leaves a huge void in the lineup.
"It's obviously a very tough loss for us," captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "He's one of the key players for us and brings so much to the table, does so many things well, so dynamic. It's a tough loss, but it's an opportunity, I think other guys get some more ice and we have to lean on each other a bit in his absence. We're all going to have to do a bit more, create a bit more, but it's one of those things where we're going to have to work with each other better and compete."
The Blues have been in many situations in which key players depart the lineup but have supplemented them with players that can help alleviate or fill the void.
"I think we do have great depth. I think we're built very well," O'Reilly said. "Lots of guys can step in and make an impact as well when we do have a key player go down. The depth is the big thing. I think also to mentally, we all shift and we know that we need a bit more. We need a bit more from each other, myself and such. It's one of those things mentally we just know going in."
Defenseman Justin Faulk was also absent from the morning skate, but with good reason.
"Wife had a baby this morning," Berube said. "He'll be here tonight."
The Blues were skating with six defensemen this morning and four full lines, with Alexey Toropchenko on the fourth line, but the projection is that the team will skate 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second straight game.
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The Blues recalled forward Jake Neighbours from Springfield of the American Hockey League this morning and he will jump into the lineup with Schenn and Jordan Kyrou.
Neighbours was assigned to Springfield on Nov. 9 after the Blues lost their eighth game in a row and played in seven games; he had five assists.
"I think it was just good to get in a lot of touches," Neighbours said. "Down there in Springfield, I was playing in a lot of different situations that I might not see here. It was good for me, good for the confidence and to feel the puck and play in all situations. If anything, it was just a bit of a confidence builder.
"The guys have turned it around since the last time I was here and have played good hockey. I'm excited to be a part of that. The team was struggling when I was here. That's never fun, but I was just happy that they turned it around and started winning some hockey games and getting this thing on the right track. I was happy to be watching it, but now very happy to be a part of it."
Neighbours had one goal in 11 games with the Blues before being sent down.
"I think he went down there and worked on it," Berube said. "It's not an easy league to go down there. I think he found out right away how tough it is. He dug in and did a good job, and now he's back up here. We'll need his energy and his game tonight."
With Neighbours coming back up, the Blues assigned Nikita Alexandrov to the Thunderbirds. The 2019 second-round pick had an assist, his first NHL point at Chicago, in nine games.
"I thought he played some good hockey for us," Berube said. "He's got a good head for the game, positionally sound, strong, plays a physical game. He's got a lot of good qualities."
Alexandrov was a healthy scratch Saturday and played just 6:44 at Tampa Bay on Friday, perhaps indicating his play had leveled off a bit.
"I don't know if it leveled off, maybe a little bit," Berube said. "We went on the road there, obviously the two games in Buffalo and Tampa, it was a shortened bench because we were trying to catch up and didn't get a lot of time."
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Speaking of Kyrou, the forward will take a career-high eight-game point streak into tonight's matchup (five goals, eight assists).
"He's been good," Berube said. 'I think from the get-go, the start wasn't great but the effort was, I thought. He's doing a lot of good things right now, especially without the puck too, the checking side of things, using his speed offensively and his shot.
"I don't think the start was great for him, but he got going and really started to play some good hockey down there."
Once Berube made the switch and put Kyrou with Schenn, things began to click in the right direction. In the past seven games, according to natstattrick.com. Kyrou's goals-for/goals-against in 5-on-5 situations is 7-2, compared to 5-17 the first 14 games.
"He's winning his battles, he's working hard," Schenn said. "I'm there as a linemate, being in the battle with him. Maybe he knows some nights it won't be flashy and that's when you have to dig in and grind. I'm able to play the rush game with him that he likes and at the same time, he's good down low and he can beat guys 1-on-1."
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The Stars come into the game in first place in the Central, and the greatest challenge for the Blues will be to try and contain rising star Jason Robertson.
Robertson, named the NHL's No. 1 Star of the Week for the second time this season, is on quite the scoring bender. The left winger is on a career-high 15-game point streak (16 goals, 12 assists). The last time he didn't register a point was Oct. 25 against Boston.
"He's a real good player," Berube said. "I started to really notice that last year and he's taken another step this year. He's got a lot of good qualities to his game. That line's very dangerous."
But there's been so much more to the Stars.
"They're deep, they're big, they're physical," Schenn said. "They're really solid. They've got no holes anywhere."
"It's always a hard, physical game against these guys," O'Reilly said. "It's a big rival for us. We've seen a lot of each other the last few years. It's never an easy game."
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Brandon Saad-Ryan O'Reilly-Josh Leivo
Pavel Buchnevich-Ivan Barbashev-Vladimir Tarasenko
Jake Neighbours-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Nathan Walker-Noel Acciari
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Niko Mikkola-Justin Faulk
Torey Krug-Robert Bortuzzo
Calle Rosen
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Thomas Greiss will be the backup.
Healthy scratches could include Alexey Toropchenko and Tyler Pitlick. Robert Thomas (lower body) is day to day. Marco Scandella (hip), Scott Perunovich (shoulder) and Logan Brown (upper body) are out.
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The Stars' projected lineup:
Jason Robertson-Roope Hintz-Joe Pavelski
Mason Marchment-Radek Faksa-Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn-Wyatt Johnston-Ty Dellandrea
Denis Gurianov-Luke Glendening-Joel Kiviranta
Ryan Suter-Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell-Jani Hakanpaa
Joel Hanley-Colin Miller
Jake Oettinger will start in goal; Scott Wedgewood will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nils Lundkvist and Fredrik Karlstrom. The Stars report no injuries.