WASHINGTON – Joel Hofer will draw the start for the Blues on Thursday night in Washington as St. Louis tries to go for its third straight win.
Hofer allowed three goals on 28 shots on Saturday against Winnipeg before Jordan Binnington started each of the last two games vs. Colorado and Seattle. Hofer’s start continues the trend of two starts by Binnington, followed by one for Hofer.
Only once under Jim Montgomery has Binnington made three starts in a row, and that was sandwiched around the Winter Classic. But Montgomery said Thursday’s decision was “not necessarily†just about the 2-1 split.
“We are conscientious of what Binner’s just went through, and we have a really good 1A backup,†Montgomery said. “Just with the schedule, just did three (games) in four (days), three in four coming up again, you’ve got to make sure that you’re balancing out so that our energy levels (are good). Our goaltenders are really important to our success.â€
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If Binnington would have started on Thursday night, it would have been his fourth start in the last eight days, including last week’s game for Team Canada in the 4 Nations championship game.
After Thursday’s game, the Blues host the Kings on Saturday and then visit the Stars on Sunday night.
No other lineup changes are expected.
Projected Blues lineup at Washington on Thursday, 6 p.m.
Jake Neighbours – Robert Thomas – Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway – Brayden Schenn – Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph – Oskar Sundqvist – Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faksa – Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler – Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter – Nick Leddy
Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington
Scratches: Alexandre Texier, Tyler Tucker.
Injured reserve: Torey Krug (ankle surgery).
St. Louis Blues head coach detailed how forward Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich made the most of a play versus the Seattle Kraken. (Video courtesy of St. Louis Blues)
St. Louis Blues head coach Jim Montgomery praised the impact of Wayne Gretzky in making the league more defensive and Alex Ovechkin's skill in keeping up with it to get close to the all-time goal record. (Video courtesy of St. Louis Blues)
By failing to exploit a favorable stretch of schedule, the Blues played their way into the middle of NHL trade speculation.
Schenn will become the 403rd player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone, and he’ll do so in the same season that his brother Luke also hit the plateau.
Six different Blues scored goals, including two by Zack Bolduc. Thirteen different Blues had points, led by three-point games by both Oskar Sundqvist and Cam Fowler.
