The Blues’ playoff hopes hang in the balance as St. Louis hosts the Carolina Hurricanes in a must-win Friday night game (7 p.m., Bally Sports, 101 ESPN).
“It’s business as usual for us,” Head Coach Drew Bannister said. “We’ve been playing in these meaningful games for two months, and I feel like we’ve played really good hockey against top teams – that hasn’t been an issue for us.”
Bannister isn’t expected to deviate much from the lineup that scored four goals in the opening four shots to blow by Chicago 5-2 on Wednesday.
“I like the way [the forward lines] played over the last two games that we’ve had… especially in our bottom six, last game I thought that grouping was very good for us,” Bannister said.
While all four forward lines will look the same on Friday night, Bannister will switch up the defensive pairings due to an injury to Torey Krug sustained in Wednesday night’s game. Marco Scandella will re-enter the lineup and play with Tyler Tucker, while Matthew Kessel will man the blueline with Nick Leddy.
“I think tonight against a team like Carolina, I don’t know if we’re going to be stuck with D-pairings – I think there’s probably going to be some movement around there today,” Bannister added.
In addition, netminder Jordan Binnington will get the start for the Blues.
Jake Neighbours (upper-body injury) and Justin Faulk (upper-body injury) both remain out.
