The Blues will begin a home-and-home with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. The teams will meet again on Friday night at Enterprise Center.
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES It seems like everyday the Blues lose another player or two.
Already without nine players due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols, the Blues learned Sunday that Jordan Kyrou wouldn't be available to play against the Ducks, and then lost Brayden Schenn to an injury late in the game.
There is some good news, though. The team will get Tyler Bozak and Justin Faulk back against the Stars after both players have completed their COVID-19 protocols.
Alexei Toropchenko was also recalled from the Springfield Thunderbirds on Monday, will also make his NHL debut. Toropchenko, 22, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Blues in 2017 and has collected nine points (five goals, four assists) in 22 AHL games this season.
Despite the missing players, the Blues have managed to earn points in five straight games (3-0-2). The team's 35 points is good for third in the Central Division.
STARS The Dallas Stars managed only one goal on 35 shots on Saturday night, falling 2-1 to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.
Stars Head Coach Rick Bowness was satisfied with the team's effort, though.
"That's probably the best road game we've played all year," he said after the game. "We limited them and we just didn't score. But we did a lot of good things tonight… I'll take that game all year and that was just a solid game."
The Stars have lost three straight entering Tuesday's matchup with the Blues but have won eight straight games at home.
As of Monday afternoon, Dallas ranked sixth in the Central Division with a record of 13-10-2 (28 points).
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues lost the last meeting against the Stars on Nov. 20 in Dallas (4-1).
St. Louis is 4-1-1 in their last six games against the Stars and have points in four of their last six visits to American Airlines Center.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Pavel Buchnevich, who ranks second on the team in points (23) this season behind Jordan Kyrou. Buchnevich has five points (two goals, three assists) in his last four games.
STARS Joe Pavelski, who leads the Stars with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 25 games this season. The former Shark has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last five games.
The Dallas Stars will try to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the St. Louis Blues Tuesday in the front half of a home-and-home series.
The two Central Division rivals will square off again Friday in St. Louis. The Stars won their previous game against the Blues 4-1 on Nov. 20.
That victory propelled the Stars to a seven-game winning streak. Then they hit the road and suffered losses to Vegas, Los Angeles and San Jose on their western swing.
But Stars coach Rick Bowness saw things to build on with his team's 2-1 loss to the Sharks Saturday.
"That's probably the best road game we've played all year," Bowness said. "We limited them and we just didn't score. But we did a lot of good things tonight. This week has been four (games) in six (days). That's the most energy we've had. So clearly the cold bug is behind us. I'll take that game all year, and that was just a solid game."
The Stars controlled long stretches of the game, but failed to capitalize.
"We threw a lot more pucks at the net," Bowness said. "We scored because we went there and got a nice tip. We spent more time in the (offensive) zone. We got our (defense) a lot more involved. There were 77 shot attempts tonight, so we were throwing everything we could at the net."
The Stars try to recharge their power play back on American Airlines Center ice after going 0-for-6 with the man advantage in their last two road games.
Top goal-scorer Roope Hintz missed the Sharks game with a non-COVID illness and he didn't skate in Monday's practice.
The Blues have earned points in eight of their last nine games, going 5-1-3, despite deploying a makeshift lineup. They were missing 10 players due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols in their 3-2 overtime loss to Anaheim Sunday -- and they lost forward Brayden Schenn to an upper-body injury during that game.
The Blues were already missing key forwards Jordan Kyrou, David Perron, Robert Thomas and Tyler Bozak along with defensemen Justin Faulk and Jake Walman due to COVID-19 and injuries.
Top goaltender Jordan Binnington (COVID-19) and back-up Ville Husso (upper-body injury) also remained sidelined. The Blues can't recall No. 3 netminder Joel Hofer from AHL affiliate Springfield due to salary cap constraints, so they have turned to No. 4 goaltender Charlie Lindgren and free agent Jon Gillies to hold the fort.
Gillies played Sunday in the second half of back-to-back games, so Lindgren (3-0-0, 1.42 goals against average) will likely get the call against the Stars.
The Blues had to dress just 17 skaters again Sunday due to their unavailable players and cap issues. After Sunday's game, coach Craig Berube wasn't optimistic about getting any of his key players back for Tuesday's game.
"Yeah, it's crazy," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's like every time you turn around there's another guy gone. It's unfortunate. It is what it is. We've got to keep punching forward. New guys have been called up that have played outstanding for us, have contributed so much for us, getting points. It's very nice to see that. It's going to happen. It's better early than later. See a couple guys going down but a few guys are coming back soon so it's a positive."
Two players are back from COVID-19 protocols and another will make his NHL debut on Tuesday when the St. Louis Blues begin a home-and-home set with the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center (7:30 p.m., BSMW, 101 ESPN).
Defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Tyler Bozak will be back after serving their mandatory 10-day COVID-19 protocol requirement. Faulk has been out since being pulled from pregame warm-ups on Dec. 2 in Tampa Bay due to a positive COVID-19 test, and Bozak will return after being placed in protocols one game earlier on Nov. 30.
Alexei Toropchenko will also make his NHL debut for the Blues on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-6 winger was drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round (No. 113 overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft.
In 22 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds this season, Toropchenko has posted five goals and four assists (nine points).
On Tuesday morning, Toropchenko was skating on the fourth line with Dakota Joshua and Matthew Peca.
"He's played well within his game. He's a big guy, he's a heavy guy out there, skates well and gets on top of people," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said of Toropchenko. "He forechecks well, bangs bodies, just plays a hard, heavy game. He adds nice size to us, and his skating, it's an important part of our game to have some size and some heaviness out there and he provides that."
Berube said defenseman Scott Perunovich will not play due to a non-COVID related illness.
Below is a projected lineup based on Tuesday's skate in Dallas.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Saad - O'Reilly - Brown
Buchnevich - Barbashev - Tarasenko
Walker - Bozak - Sundqvist
Toropchenko - Joshua - Peca
Defense
Mikkola - Parayko
Krug - Faulk
Scandella - Bortuzzo
Goalie
Lindgren
