ST. LOUIS – Some different looks are in store for the St. Louis Blues when they close out a three-game homestand on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks (6:30 p.m.; FDSNMW, Prime (in Canada), ESPN 101.1-FM). Blues changing up lineup, looking for more speed; on defense, some new life from units that Montgomery feels may be a little "stale" Up front to start, Oskar Sundqvist comes out of the lineup, Nathan Walker is back in, reuniting the ‘WTF Line' with Radek Faksa and Alexey Toropchenko and Mathieu Joseph slides in the middle in Sundqvist’s spot centering Brandon Saad and Zack Bolduc. “I want more of a speed lineup tonight, so that was thinking why ‘Sunny’s not playing and why we’ve injected Walker back into the lineup,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I wanted to get that Faksa line because they give us a lot of energy. I can match him up against anyone. Seventy-one’s, ‘Mojo’s doing a real good job, but ‘Mojo’ can play center so he’s going to move to play with Bolduc and Saad to give us a real fast line there.” Bolduc played in Saturday’s 2-0 loss against the Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/three-takeaways-from-blues-2-0-loss-against-stars] with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. “I thought Bolduc had really good moments,” Montgomery said. “The one where he cut and let that wrister go, the goalie made a save. He’s doing a lot of good things offensively and his defensive details are continuing to get better. It’s an area where we work on with him consistently and the important thing is when we work with him on things he needs to get better, we continue to impress upon him that he has to focus on what he does well. You want a player to play with his mentality to being what I can do that helps the team have success and just continue to build upon the little details that are going to make him an every day, increase his minutes where he goes from 13 minutes and then in a couple years, he’s a 16.5 minute player every night.” On defense, all three pairs will get a different look. Philip Broberg will take his spot next to Colton Parayko, Cam Fowler and Justin Faulk will be a new look, and Ryan Suter will skate again with Tyler Tucker. “I don’t know if things were going a little flat and it’s just an opportunity,” Montgomery said. “Seventeen is someone, it doesn’t matter, him and 55 who they play with, 22, who they play with. It seems like everybody plays better when they play with him. “It’s just an opportunity to give a different look. I want more minutes for Broberg, and playing with 55 he’s going to get more minutes.” - - - The Blues are a defenseman short on the roster after trading Scott Perunovich to the New York Islanders for a conditional pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/blues-trade-perunovich-to-islanders] - - - Blues Projected Lineup: Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich Brandon Saad-Mathieu Joseph-Zack Bolduc Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko Cam Fowler-Justin Faulk Ryan Suter-Tyler Tucker Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Oskar Sundqvist and Alexandre Texier. Nick Leddy (lower body) is out. Torey Krug (ankle) is out for the season. - - - Canucks Projected Lineup: Danton Heinen-J.T. Miller-Brock Boeser Nils Hoglander-Elias Pettersson-Linus Karlsson Jake DeBrusk-Pius Suter-Conor Garland Phil Di Giuseppe-Teddy Blueger-Max Sasson Quinn Hughes-Tyler Myers Derek Forbort-Filip Hronek Elias Pettersson-Carson Soucy Kevin Lankinen is projected to start in goal; Thatcher Demko would be the backup. Healthy scratches could include Noah Juulsen, Vincent Desharnais. Kiefer Sherwood (lower body) and Dakota Joshua (lower body) each is a game-time decision. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA5MjcwNjk1MDQ0MDY0NDYy/subscribe2024-front-banner.jpg]
