St. Louis Blues Forward Dalibor Dvorsky Benched During 3-2 Win Over Detroit Red Wings

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues forward Dalibor Dvorsky was benched during a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

Dvorsky, who has five points (four goals, one assist) in 18 games this season, played just 6:36 and didn't see the ice again after the 13:48 mark of the second period, playing just nine shifts.

"Just to play faster, play with more conviction," St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery on what he wants to see. "He's not played to the standard that we want our players to play with and when that happens, you risk the chance of being sat, and that's what happened. It's part of everyone's career. It happens to everybody."

Dvorsky had started the season as the team's third-line center but of late, has been playing on the wing with Connor McMichael at center and Pavel Buchnevich on right wing.

He's scored in two of the past five games but his average ice time on the season is 11:48, down from 14:20 last season and played just nine shifts in the game Tuesday (three in the second), but the Blues believe they can still develop the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

"He's a good hockey player. We all know that. We've all seen it," Montgomery said. "There's a big reason why we believe he's a huge part of our future here is because he's an outstanding young man, he's great to coach with. He's really good to deal with and he wants to be a hockey player. It's going to come. Sometimes it just doesn't happen as quickly as we all want it to."

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