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In an effort to get more offense out of his team, Blues coach Jim Montgomery opted to go with fewer offensive players for Game 2 of his club's Stanley Cup playoffs series against Winnipeg.

The Blues suited up 11 forwards instead of the usual 12 on Monday, adding a seventh defenseman — Tyler Tucker, making his NHL playoff debut — and sitting Mathieu Joseph.

The move didn’t produce more goals, though it did produce a few more shots on goal (22 compared to 17) and many more shot attempts (55 compared to 35). At Natural Stat Trick, the Blues’ scoring chances went up from 11 to 20, while their high-danger chances stayed the same at four.

“I just thought that some of our really talented forwards didn’t get enough ice time last game,� Montgomery said, “and I thought we could get some favorable matchups just because they'd be out there more and our offensive players get in a really good rhythm. And I thought they did. I thought they were feeling the puck a lot better. And I think it also allows our depth of our defenseman, which is really deep, to be able to use seven of those guys, and it allowed us to be a little more physical.�

Playing time went up for every forward except the fourth line of Radek Faksa, Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker, though some of that was driven by those three seldom playing in the third period while the Blues chased the Jets. The biggest increases were for Brayden Schenn (5:14), Jimmy Snuggerud (4:12) and Jordan Kyrou (3:59). Snuggerud, who moved from Schenn’s line to Robert Thomas’, went from two shot attempts in Game 1 to seven in Game 2,

With two days off between Games 2 and 3, which will be Thursday night at Enterprise Center, and another two days off between Games 3 and 4, the extra work shouldn’t bother anyone.

On defense, Tucker played 9:45, rotating in with Nick Leddy and Ryan Suter on the third pairing, with one shot on goal, four hits and a crosschecking penalty. (Of the Blues’ four postseason debutantes, three of them — Tucker, Neighbours and Bolduc — have committed penalties in the first two games.) Every defenseman except for Justin Faulk played less in Game 2 (and in Faulk’s case, by just 41 seconds), with the biggest drops coming from the two oldest members of the defensive corps: Leddy (down from 14:10 to a team-low 9:34) and Suter (from 17:41 to 13:48). Tucker had been a regular in the lineup since his call-up in December, but the return to full health of the blue line dropped him to seventh man status.

It’s the postseason, so the move was not without subterfuge. Joseph and Tucker were both on the ice for pregame warmups, with Joseph taking line rushes in his usual spot on the third line while Tucker sat out the rushes, doing stickwork at center ice while the units went through their motions.

Brotherly love

Along with Winnipeg fans chanting “MVP� when Connor Hellebuyck is introduced before the game or after a big save, another chant emerges at times during games: “Luke is better.�

The cheer is in support of Luke Schenn, older brother of Blues center and captain Brayden Schenn. Luke was acquired by the Jets at the trade deadline.

“I don’t buy it,� Luke said. “Actually, I was laughing because in Game 1 I was trying to figure out what the heck they were saying. But as they were chanting it, the puck goes off my foot and we get scored on, so it was a bit of karma. I don’t know. Brayden has had a heck of a career too, and he’s been around a long time and won himself, too. I think Jets fans would appreciate having him on this side too. I appreciate the support from our fans, for sure. At the end of the day, I’m sure my parents are sitting in the crowd and they don’t even know what to think.�

Springfield opens AHL playoffs Wednesday

The Blues’ Springfield farm team opens its best-of-three AHL playoff series on Wednesday at Providence. Game 2 is Friday and Game 3, if necessary, is Sunday, meaning the entire series will take place in the time it takes the Blues to play Games 3 and 4.

Springfield (Massachusetts) finished sixth in the Atlantic Division and Providence finished third. If Springfield advances, it would play Atlantic champion Hershey in the second round. The Thunderbirds had seven wins, three losses and three shootout losses to Providence, the farm team of the Boston Bruins.