The St. Louis Blues are within striking distance of a Wild Card spot, but grabbing it will be more difficult now than it was only 24 hours ago.
That’s because the team learned it will be without Colton Parayko for the next six weeks — essentially the remainder of the regular season — after he suffered an injury late in Wednesday’s shootout win in Los Angeles and will require a scope of his left knee.
“Everyone is going to have to step up. He does everything for us,” said Cam Fowler, Parayko’s defense partner. “Offensively he’s had an amazing season. He plays against every team’s top players, he penalty kills, blocks shots, you pretty much name what you want — he brings those things. Myself included, I’ll have to pick up some of that slack. All of us we’ll have to collectively do it, because one person’s not going to be able to fill those shoes.”
In practice Thursday, Blues Head Coach Jim Montgomery had Fowler paired with Nick Leddy in Parayko’s absence. Philip Broberg and Justin Faulk remained a pair, while Ryan Suter was skating with Tyler Tucker, who has not played since Feb. 22.
No changes are expected to the forward lines, although that could change when Montgomery speaks to reporters prior to Friday’s game against the Ducks (9 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network, 101 ESPN). Jordan Binnington will start in goal.
“We can’t wait for (the) game,” Montgomery said after Thursday’s practice. “I talked to the team about [Parayko’s injury], just reinforcing how good they’ve been. I didn’t even really need to address that portion of it because they’ve addressed it mentally by themselves.”
