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During Thursday night’s 3-2 loss to the Panthers, the Blues’ most dangerous player was unexpected but welcomed: Zack Bolduc.

He had a goal and an assist, factoring on both St. Louis goals against Florida, his first multipoint game since Nov. 25. That was Jim Montgomery’s first game as the Blues head coach, when Bolduc scored twice against the Rangers.

“I thought Bolduc was really good,� Montgomery said. “I thought he was on his toes. I thought he was aggressive. I thought he was confident with the puck. Could have had two or three goals, and he made a couple nice passes as well.�

Bolduc had four shot attempts Thursday, second behind only Dylan Holloway’s five among Blues players. But no Blue had more than Bolduc’s three shots on goal, three scoring chances, two high-danger chances and 0.57 expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.

When Bolduc was on the ice at 5 on 5, the Blues outshot the Panthers 5-4 and outscored them 1-0.

“I don’t want to talk too much about me, but I thought I played well,� Bolduc said after the game. “Skating was good, my linemates played well, too. … You’ve got to play a full game. It’s important to be good defensively and also you always want to create offense and create chances for you and your teammates. I don’t want to talk too much about me, I think we battled well tonight, but we’ve got to find a way to get those two points.�

Bolduc scored in the first period, on a backhand shot off a rebound from a Ryan Suter point shot. Bolduc camped out in the slot, and then flipped a shot past Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight. It was Bolduc’s first goal since Dec. 27, against Nashville.

Bolduc also created a chance for Oskar Sundqvist by forcing a turnover at the blue line, then making a play while falling to get the puck to Sundqvist on the rush. Bolduc created a breakaway for himself in the second period with a play up the boards to Mathieu Joseph, then cut to the net. The roles were reversed later in the second.

“It was his pressure on the puck without it, and it was his winning one on one battles, and it was him attacking the net,� Montgomery said. “The goal, he’s standing there in an area where goals are scored. If he goes behind the net when the puck goes (low to high), he’s not in a position to get that rebound. And he’s screening. His habits and details were really good. Because of that, he had other opportunities.�

Bolduc has had an up and down season during his first full campaign in the NHL.

He was not in the lineup on opening day in Seattle, then played a limited role under former coach Drew Bannister. He averaged 11:26 of ice time and was healthy scratched six times.

Under Montgomery, Bolduc seemed to get a fresh start. He played in 18 straight games for Montgomery before he was taken out of the lineup for four games in January. His 14:28 of ice time was the fifth time under Montgomery that Bolduc has played more than 14 minutes, and he’s averaging about a minute more of ice time under Montgomery than under Bannister.

“It’s all preparation,� Montgomery said. “Your mindset going into games, whether it’s ‘I’m not going to be denied,’ or couple things. With ‘Boldy,’ we talk to him about not falling below the puck, staying above it. That’s all we talk to him about, to simplify and get more consistent. And attacking inside the dots offensively.�

Personnel updates

Defenseman Tyler Tucker did not practice Friday and will not play Saturday night against the Blackhawks because of an upper-body injury. Montgomery said Tucker should be ready “when we get back from break. That’s the expectation. But I think we were a little too hopeful early on.�

Tucker was hurt Sunday in Utah when he went crashing into the boards in the third period and missed games this week against Edmonton and Florida.

Forward Alexandre Texier could return for the Blues on Saturday as he recovers from an illness. Texier missed Thursday’s game against the Panthers because he was sick.

Saturday will be Texier’s third day of the illness, and Montgomery said that’s when Colton Parayko and Mathieu Joseph felt better in their bouts of sickness.

Matthew DeFranks @MDeFranks on X (formerly Twitter) MDeFranks@post-dispatch.com