Not much of a surprise when the St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] are coming off a game in which they allowed seven goals in a 7-4 loss [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/observations-from-blues-7-4-loss-vs-mammoth] to the Utah Mammoth [http://thn.com/utah], they’re going to tinker with the line combinations once again as they head on the road for a quick two-game trip, beginning Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings [http://thn.com/detroit] at Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit (6 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM). The most notable change is something that carried over from Thursday, and that’s Dylan Holloway playing on the fourth line with Oskar Sundqvist and Nick Bjugstad. Holloway, who has just a goal and an assist in seven games this season, hasn’t found his footing as of yet coming off abductor muscle surgery to his hip that resulted last season April 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins [http://thn.com/pittsburgh]. “I think he’s just thinking too much,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said prior to last Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings [http://thn.com/la]. “When he’s just playing hockey, he’s naturally on top of pucks. It doesn’t matter what zone it is, and he just has the puck. It could be one against three and he’s coming out with it or he’s sneaking through people because of his speed and skill and right now I think he’s thinking, and when you think on the ice, you look slow. Not that he looks slow because he’s such a gifted skater, but he looks slower than usual.” And even though Pavel Buchnevich scored his first goal on Thursday on the power play, he doesn’t have an even-strength goal this season, and neither does Robert Thomas, who did have an assist Thursday for his 400th NHL point [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/players/robert-thomas-become-fifth-fastest-blues-player-to-reach-400-points]. Also, Matthew Kessel draws back in after sitting on Thursday, for Logan Mailloux. And with a back-to-back set coming up Monday in Pittsburgh and a return game at home Tuesday against these Red Wings (5-3-0), who were ambushed 7-2 against the New York Islanders on Thursday, Jordan Binnington starts Saturday, and it’s likely that Joel Hofer gets Monday’s start, and Binnington again sees the Red Wings Tuesday. The Blues have won each of their first two road games, 4-2 against the Calgary Flames Oct. 11 and 5-2 against the Vancouver Canucks Oct. 13. "Yeah, we've got to try to string some wins together here and pile some points up while we can," Blues forward Nathan Walker said. - - - Blues Projected Lineup: Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Jimmy Snuggerud Mathieu Joseph-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou Pavel Buchnevich-Pius Suter-Nathan Walker Dylan Holloway-Oskar Sundqvist-Nick Bjugstad Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Alexandre Texier and Logan Mailloux. Alexey Toropchenko (lower/upper-body soreness) remains day to day. - - - Red Wings Projected Lineup: Emmitt Finnie-Dylan Larkin-Mason Appleton Alex DeBrincat-Marco Kasper-Lucas Raymond Andrew Copp-J.T. Compher-Michael Brandsegg-Nygard James van Riemsdyk-Michael Rasmussen-Jonatan Berggren Ben Chiarot-Moritz Seider Simon Edvinsson-Axel Sandin-Pellikka Albert Johansson-Jacob Bernard-Docker John Gibson will start in goal; Cam Talbot will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Elmer Soderblom and Travis Hamonic. Patrick Kane (upper body) is out. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b77eca5c-133c-4150-86fa-74a894289d78.jpeg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
