Line with Pavel Buchnevich, Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours among the most consistently-producing offensive line in eight games
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- A season that hasn’t gone the way the St. Louis Blues were hoping for, followed by a string of injuries to the forward group had coach Jim Montgomery looking to do something to keep the some semblance of normalcy among the group.
Players have been playing up and down the lineup, and some guys have moved from one position to the other.
When Montgomery moved Pavel Buchnevich back to center, the collective groan among Blues fans was evident. It was something that simply hadn’t worked in two previous attempts.
But there have been too many players down, and the Blues were in need of help.
“Maybe he’s learned more playing there a third time,” offered Blues forward Jordan Kyrou.
Who knows if it can continue, but when the move was made Jan. 20 against the Winnipeg Jets, and Buchnevich has been flanked by Kyrou and Jake Neighbours, it’s been one of the more consistent lines in a season that has seen few positives.
And now that the cupboard is starting to fill back up, and injured players are on the cusp of returning, it’s time for Buchnevich to go back to his customary wing, right?
Not so fast.
When the Blues’ post-Olympic schedule resumes Thursday against the Seattle Kraken, 63-89-25 will be a line penciled in on the board, or penned if you want to look at it that way.
It’s kind of hard not to, and in the eight games together now, Kyrou has 12 points (five goals, seven assists), Buchnevich has nine points (four goals, five assists) and Neighbours has five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games.
And with Robert Thomas (right leg procedure) on the verge of returning along with Oskar Sundqvist (upper-body procedure), Dalibor Dvorsky returning from representing Slovakia along with Pius Suter back from a high ankle sprain and playing for Switzerland, natural center Brayden Schenn already moved to the wing and also new pickup Jack Finley in the fold, the Blues are filled up with players down the middle.
Buchnevich is staying put … for now, at least.
“’Buchy’ has always been one of our better forwards down low,” Montgomery said. “His improvement on face-offs compared to when they tried it whenever it was, a year and a half ago now, but the line has our most consistent line to create offense in the whole season. So it’s hard to break something up when it’s working. And they’ve been a plus line. When Thomas comes back and ‘Sunny’ comes back, it’s two more centers. I don’t see myself moving him out of center. Not right now.
“Schenn is going to move to the wing, he’s already been playing wing and I’ve been happy with not only the way he’s been playing but the way his line has been playing. That would be a natural one and with ‘Holly’ [Dylan Holloway] coming back, I think it allows us – the way I see it, is 89 and 18 and 54 would be our three centers down the middle on those first three lines. That’s the way I see it now.”
The Blues have run the gamut of running lines, switching combinations trying to find consistent chemistry to keep a trio together. It hasn’t worked often, and it’s shown as being at one point the lowest scoring team in the league, but they’ve moved up to 28th with an infusion of offense, averaging 3.38 goals per game since Jan. 20, which ranks 15th.
But this line has accounted for 11 of the 27 goals, and it’s freed up other players to step up as well.
“I honestly think our support of each other, I think we have a really good understanding of how each guy wants to play and what to do off the rush, in the O-zone,” Neighbours said. “And honestly, we talk a lot. We talk a lot about plays after shifts and in intermissions, things that we think we can do to break down the opposition. And it just seems like I’m a big believer that sometimes you get put with two guys and it just works. Just for some reason with the injuries, we got thrown together and Buchy’s done a great job in the middle of the ice; he’s been fantastic there, and we’ve just kind of clicked. There’s been an instant chemistry and I think when you find that right away as a line, it’s hard to lose it. Even (Thursday) in 5-on-5 drills, I thought we were humming around. We were joking with each other, it’s like we never even left. Sometimes when you get that feeling with a couple of guys, it’s special and it’s hard to find.
“’Buchy’s really good at finding [Kyrou] when he’s going down the ice with speed and making sure we’re putting him in spots. That’s how he likes to play, right? And then for me, I think it’s just he knows I’m always in a support position if he needs me as a last minute out. Just trying to make little plays to get these guys in speed with possession and over the blue line with possession. I think that’s something we do a good job of. There’s a fine line of not turning over pucks, but we’re a line that wants to play with the puck across the blue line and not always have to chase it and dump-and-chase. When we need to, I think we’ve done a good job of that, but for the most part, we’ve tried entering with possession and I think we’ve done a good job of that.”
Entering with possession requires speed, and that’s right up Kyrou’s alley.
“I think we’ve just been playing with a lot of speed and just playing really connected,” Kyrou said. “I think we’ve been doing a good job of just supporting each other, give-and-go’s everywhere, kind of jumping in seams, attacking the net. We all just have good chemistry together. It’s been going good for us.
“I think we just build off each other. We’ve all got confidence in each other. Whenever we just make plays, it just builds. It feels nice.”
Buchnevich’s face-off percentage for the season is still well below what you’d want to see as far as solid consistency at 39.8 percent, but in these past eight games, it’s been a marked improvement at 43.8 percent.
“His draws have improved, which was a big thing before,” Neighbours said. “Before, I don’t think he was exactly bad at the position, but we just chased the game so much, especially when you’re a top six line, you start a lot in the O-zone and if you lose that draw, now you’re chasing it. His draws have improved, which I think has been a big thing. The other thing is just his awareness through the middle, a little more confident with it, a little more comfortable. He’s in good spots low and slow all the time for us as wingers. He’s really good in transition. He was as a winger, and I think he’s been able to use that a little bit more as a centerman, getting more touches in transition and being able to make the right play out of the D-zone to kind of spring us into a good spot. He’s been really good.”
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