ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

SALT LAKE CITY — Even after wins, Blues coach Jim Montgomery has been unafraid to change his lineup as he searches for more game-by-game consistency from his team.

So when he rolled out the same lineup on Saturday in Utah as he did during a 4-1 win over the Flames on Thursday, it meant that additions Zack Bolduc and Nathan Walker did enough to retain their spots. Bolduc and Walker flanked Oskar Sundqvist on the third line.

“I thought they helped build our team game, they were building momentum winning a lot of battles at the goal line that we talked about,� Montgomery said. “They’ve got to increase their ability to hold on to pucks in the offensive zone. I thought they got to the pucks on the goal line. Now, they need to take that next step of making plays off it.�

Thursday was Bolduc’s return to the Blues’ lineup after he was a healthy scratch Tuesday night against the Flames. Bolduc has one goal in his last 15 games and finished Thursday with two shots on goal, three shot attempts, one hit and two giveaways in 12:29 of ice time.

“For sure, you always want to create more offense and create some chances offensively for your teammates and for yourself,� Bolduc said. “But I think my skating was good, I was involved physically and I, like I said, I want to create more offense, more chances.�

The Blues’ coaching staff has worked with Bolduc regularly to improve his game, as Bolduc said he will review video about every other game to go over the details in his play. Most times, it’s been with assistant coach Claude Julien, which means that they’re able to speak their native French language to each other.

“It’s always the little details,� Bolduc said. “It’s always the little details that do big changes in the game. Things that I try to think while playing. Pretty much after every two games, I’m doing video and it’s just about little details, getting better at those.�

Despite the recent lull in production, Bolduc has looked more comfortable under Montgomery, as all five of his goals came come since the coaching change on Nov. 24. What was Montgomery’s message before the scratch this week?

“It’s just me being more involved defensively, and being consistent with what I’m doing on the ice, shift after shift,� Bolduc said. “Those are the main things that he told me.�

Welcome back

While the Blues were were getting set to play their first ever game in Utah on Saturday night, Montgomery is no stranger to the area.

Utah’s second-ever home game was against Montgomery and the Boston Bruins earlier this season. But his tied to Utah go back two decades, to when he was a player on the Utah Grizzlies for two seasons, then the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars.

From 2001-03, Montgomery was the Grizzlies’ leading scorer with 139 points in 143 games. They played at the E-Center, now renamed the Maverik Center, where the current iteration of the Grizzlies (Colorado’s ECHL affiliate) plays.

“I really enjoyed my two years here socially living here, and then a lot of good friends that I played with that were teammates that I still talk to,� Montgomery said. “(The hockey community) was pretty feverish, to be honest, because the 2002 Olympics were here in the middle of my (first) year. I think people were gearing up. I think they’ve had a long history of a lot of championship teams that played here, whether it was the IHL or the American League.�

The Grizzlies have been in Salt Lake City since 1995, playing in the IHL, AHL and ECHL across three decades.

Did he expect any Montgomery Grizzlies jerseys in the crowd on Saturday?

“Oh, I doubt that,� he said.

Optional skate

Montgomery gave his team the option to skate on Saturday morning despite not having practice on Friday. Still, 22 of the 23 players on the active roster skated, as Oskar Sundqvist was the only one that did not.

“We’ve played a lot of hockey lately,� Montgomery said. “We’ve had really good practices. You combine that with the altitude here, I just wanted to give the players the option of whatever they need to do to get ready for tonight. They’re going to be ready.�

Chase on a broadcast

Blues fan favorite Kelly Chase flew with the team to Utah to be part of the Nashcast for Saturday’s game. The Nashcast is Utah’s alternate broadcast, hosted by former Blues forward Tyson Nash. Nash and Chase were teammates for two seasons in St. Louis before Chase’s retirement.

Chase announced on X on Jan. 4 that he was released from the Siteman Cancer Center after his most recent battle with leukemia.