ST. LOUIS – Robert Thomas is back, and for the St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis], the timing couldn’t be better. Their No. 1 center returns on Monday when the Blues (3-7-2) try and end a seven-game winless skid (0-5-2) when they face Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers [http://thn.com/edmonton] (6-4-3) at 7:30 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM). Thomas has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury sustained in a collision with Alex DeBrincat of the Detroit Red Wings [http://thn.com/detroit] on Oct. 25, and the team has gone 0-3-1 in his absence. “I didn’t have (Monday) circled but just taking it day by day,” Thomas said. “Started to take big steps the last couple days and figured it would be a possibility so happy it kind of came into fruition.” Thomas was on the ice Sunday for an optional practice and was also on the ice Saturday when the Blues were taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets [http://thn.com/columbus] and gave coach Jim Montgomery the green light after Sunday’s practice. “He did yesterday after he skated,” Montgomery said. “We got our No. 1 center back, so that’s a big boost. Everyone gets deployed appropriately with the minutes, especially matchups as well, especially when you’re at home.” Thomas, who has a goal and five assists in eight games this season, feels like he can jump back in as the team is building in what they feel is the right direction the past two games. “The guys have been building the game and building our team game,” Thomas said. “We’ve seen big improvements last couple of games. Hopefully we can continue that and get a big win here tonight. It always sucks (to sit out) … there’s no other way to put it. You don’t feel like you’re in the action with the guys and you’re kind of just out on your own. It really sucks. “D-zone’s been a lot better in a couple areas, tracking sort of off the rush, coming back defending. Those areas have improved a lot. Once you kind of get that down, then you can get back to our strengths. Our strengths are puck-possession, our strengths are using our speed, being creative offensively and once you kind of have that base and I feel like the guys have built that base, the rest kind of comes into play. “Any time you have two of the best players in the world coming in (McDavid and Draisaitl), you’ve got to be sharp and be ready to go. I think everyone in this room is ready for that challenge. It would be a great way to get a win.” With Thomas coming into the lineup, it will make Nathan Walker a healthy scratch for the first time this season and move Brayden Schenn to the wing, and Dalibor Dvorsky in the lineup. It gets Schenn on the wing and in more of a checking mind. “Maybe a little bit for sure. As a winger you’re able to get in on the forecheck more I would say as F1 or F2,” Schenn said. “For me, trying to stall some pucks that way. It’s funny. It’s one of these years where I haven’t been that bad defensively and all of the sudden, it looks otherwise (minus-13), right? It’s one of those things where maybe this gives me a chance to reset, play some wing, play with two great players and build my game back up. I just feel like I’ve got a whole lot better and obviously we can all say that when we’ve lost seven in a row.” As for Dvorsky, Montgomery is deploying the 2023 first-round pick on the flank opposite Jimmy Snuggerud on the team’s top power play unit, two shooters that won’t hesitate to unload. “Not only not hesitate, but they’re making plays,” Montgomery said. “Both of them have made a lot of plays. Dvorsky’s had a lot of chances in his two games so far and if he keeps playing like that, it’s going to go into the net because he rips it really well.” - - - With the Oilers coming into town, the Blues feel they can trend where they want to go if they build off Saturday’s last stretch of the third period. “I just liked how we worked for offense last game,” Montgomery said. “We took what the other team was giving us. We were playing a 1-1-3 team; we’re not playing that tonight, but they’re three stacked up against the blue line, holding the blue line. You’ve got to play in behind them, you’ve got to go to work on playing behind, which usually means a forecheck. Usually you’re going to have speed against a 1-1-3 if you play it right, and we did that in the third. We ended up with not only more possession time, but we ended up with a lot of second- and third-chance opportunities and two deflections that hit the goalie. If we keep on playing that way, those deflections will go in.” - - - Blues Projected Lineup: Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jimmy Snuggerud Brayden Schenn-Pius Suter-Jordan Kyrou Dylan Holloway-Dalibor Dvorsky-Oskar Sundqvist Alexey Toropchenko-Nick Bjugstad-Mathieu Joseph Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko Cam Fowler-Justin Faulk Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Nathan Walker, Alexandre Texier and Logan Mailloux. Jake Neighbours (leg) is out. - - - Oilers Projected Lineup: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Andrew Mangiapane Vasily Podkolzin-Leon Draisaitl-Jack Roslovic Matthew Savoie-Adam Henrique-Trent Frederic Isaac Howard-Noah Philp-Curtis Lazar Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard Darnell Nurse-Jake Walman Brett Kulak-Ty Emberson Calvin Pickard will start in goal; Stuart Skinner will be the backup. Healthy scratches include Troy Stecher and David Tomasek. Zach Hyman (wrist), Mattias Janmark (undisclosed), Kasperi Kapanen (knee) and Alec Regula (undisclosed) are out. Blues Make Minor Trade, Acquire Familiar Veteran Defenseman [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/ca79f6d8-47da-43c2-bf58-32452452df21.jpeg] Blues Make Minor Trade, Acquire Familiar Veteran Defenseman Team re-acquires Calle Rosen for Corey Schueneman [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/blues-make-minor-trade-acquire-familiar-veteran-defenseman] Former Blues First Round Pick Returns To KHL [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/ecc51746-e103-4b51-adf8-336af8160ca6.jpeg] Former Blues First Round Pick Returns To KHL After 190 NHL games, former St. Louis Blues 2017 first-round pick Klim Kostin will return to the KHL. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/former-blues-first-round-pick-returns-to-khl] Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/8bd95007-56c5-4dde-b63f-9bc82d175c2c.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.
