How will the bottom pair defenseman handle playing top four minutes with Justin Faulk in light of Philip Broberg's injury
ST. LOUIS -- Now that the St. Louis Blues know the status of Philip Broberg and the length of time the defenseman will be out of the lineup, all eyes will be on Pierre-Olivier Joseph.
Joseph gets first dibs at playing a top four role and will line up alongside Justin Faulk Tuesday for the Blues (6-6-0) when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning (7-5-0) at 7 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
Joseph, who played a season-high 15:18 on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-2 win, will get an even more elevated role moving forward, and with Nick Leddy (lower-body injury) set to miss his ninth straight game, Joseph will see plenty of ice.
"I just need P.O. to be P.O.," Blues coach Drew Bannister said. "I don't need him to be anybody else. We don't need anybody to be Robby Thomas or 'Broby.' Certainly we're going to need 20 players to help out. You can't just fill one position and expect one player to take on what they do. It's got to be by company. P.O., we just need him to do what he does best, which is his skating, his ability to close and have a good stick and defend hard."
Joseph, who has one assist in eight games this season, has one assist in four career games against the Lightning and is a plus-6.
