LAS VEGAS — Changes are on the way to the Blues lineup following Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Utah Hockey Club, and they include something St. Louis hasn’t done in almost two years.
During Blues practice on Sunday morning in Las Vegas, coach Jim Montgomery shuffled his lines, which notably featured splitting up Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. Thomas centered Brandon Saad and Jake Neighbours, while Buchnevich played left wing opposite of Alexey Toropchenko with Oskar Sundqvist at center.
The Blues’ best-performing line of Dylan Holloway, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou was untouched. That means that Thomas, Kyrou and Buchnevich will be on three different lines for the first time since April 8, 2023, in Minnesota.
A lot can change in those 21 months. That was two coaches ago for the Blues. Montgomery was in the middle of polishing off the best season in NHL history in Boston. Thomas’ linemates were Sammy Blais and Jakub Vrana. Tyler Pitlick was on the fourth line.
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“Trying to get a workmanlike attitude on every line,†Montgomery said. “Mixing it up, sometimes it creates a spark of ‘I individually have to do more, I’m not going to rely on the guy next to me.’ That’s all.â€
Here was the full Blues practice lineup on Sunday:
- Dylan Holloway — Brayden Schenn — Jordan Kyrou
- Brandon Saad — Robert Thomas — Jake Neighbours
- Pavel Buchnevich — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexey Toropchenko
- Nathan Walker — Radek Faksa — Mathieu Joseph
- Cam Fowler — Colton Parayko
- Ryan Suter — Philip Broberg
- Tyler Tucker — Justin Faulk
Both Blues goalies were on the ice, and forwards Zack Bolduc and Alexandre Texier, plus defenseman Scott Perunovich skated as extras.
The wholesale changes come after the Blues wasted an eighth chance to win a third straight game by stumbling out of the gate Saturday night in Utah. At first intermission, they were down 3-1 and outshot 17-6. Montgomery benched the top line of Neighbours, Thomas and Buchnevich for the last half of the period after they were on the ice for both even-strength Utah goals.
“All three of them, including the two D-men, when we have breakdowns like that and guys are all alone in front of the net, it’s not just one person breaking down,†Montgomery said. “That’s why I’m splitting the three of them up.â€
Once the third period began, Thomas and Buchnevich were only on the ice together for power-play and extra-attacker situations. They played just 6:16 together at five on five on Saturday, which was the lowest for them since Montgomery took over as coach before Thanksgiving.
Buchnevich is without a point in his past four games after putting together a five-game point streak. The four-game pointless streak is one away from tying his longest drought since joining the Blues in 2021. Thomas has one point in his past four games after putting up 23 points in his previous 18 games.
Now, it appears that they will enter Monday afternoon’s game in Las Vegas on different lines.
Saad will make his return to the lineup after sitting as a healthy scratch in the past two games. He has seven goals, but all of them have come in just three of his 39 games this season.
“Get back to being the player that we know he can be, someone that helps us offensively and defensively, shift in, shift out,†Montgomery said of Saad. “He’s a guy that has shown already this year when he’s on top of his game how much he helps us. The consistency that has lacked in our team, it’s not only him, but it’s lacked in individuals as well.â€
There also will be changes on defense after the Blues mixed pairings in the final two periods on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. The top pairing of Cam Fowler and Colton Parayko will remain, but the bottom two pairs were switched during Sunday’s practice at T-Mobile Arena.
Ryan Suter and Philip Broberg skated together, with Broberg on his off right side, where he played for much of his career in Edmonton. Tyler Tucker and Justin Faulk were paired, as Tucker moved back to his natural left side.
“Tuck has played really well on his off side,†Montgomery said. “I want to see him back on his strong. That allows him to play on his strong side with 72 (Faulk). And I thought with Broberg in the second and third period, I thought he was skating a lot more. I don’t know if that was being on his off side or what, but I want to see if it continues to start the next game.â€
