Projected Lineup: Jan. 18 at Ottawa

OTTAWA - Chris Thorburn certainly made his impact felt Tuesday in Toronto.
Just over two minutes into the game, Thorburn stood up to the Maple Leafs' Matt Martin after Martin threw a big hit on Kyle Brodziak behind the Blues' net. After the scrap, Thorburn would create several good scoring chances, too - arguably some of the game's best.

"He got a few really good ones. He has a big of a knack for that," Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said of Thorburn. "Obviously his physical presence, that's his identity, that's his calling card and that's why he was in the lineup. But he deserves to stay in the lineup here tonight based on the fact that obviously he's going to have his teammates' back, but he was an effective player in the game. He gave us real good quality shifts and he's a guy that understands the game defensively.
"When he plays the way he did last game, he's generating momentum for our group and that's a good thing."
Thorburn's appearance Tuesday was his first game since Jan. 7 and just his 25th of the season. Tonight, he will be in the lineup in back-to-back games for the first time since playing in three straight from Dec. 14-17.

"It's happened throughout my career as far as being out of the lineup. I'm used to it, I guess," Thorburn said. "The coaches do a great job as far as preparing you, but it's a mindset that you have to be ready when your number is called and take advantage of the opportunity. Right now I'm in the lineup so I'm looking to stay in."
Here is the rest of the projected lineup for tonight's 6:30 p.m. game against the Senators:

Forwards

Ivan Barbashev - Paul Stastny - Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexander Steen - Brayden Schenn - Dmitrij Jaskin
Vladimir Sobotka - Patrik Berglund - Tage Thompson
Magnus Paajarvi - Kyle Brodziak - Chris Thorburn

Defense

Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo

Goalie

Carter Hutton