Steen to return to lineup against Lightning

ST. LOUIS - Alexander Steen will return to the lineup tonight when the Blues host the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scottrade Center (7 p.m., FSMW, KMOX).
Steen missed nine games with an injury he sustained in a 4-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 15. Steen left the game after taking a big hit from Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges, returned, and then left again.

"We were cautious from the get-go to make sure that it was OK," Steen said of the injury. "It was a little more complicated than we first thought, and now it's back to where we want it to be."
Steen's return means a few changes have to made to the forward combinations. Steen will begin tonight's game centering Robby Fabbri and Vladimir Tarasenko.

"I think long-term it's going to work great for us," Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock said of Steen's return. "We've got to temper our enthusiasm to see how he gets through the game and how the chemistry of the line looks. It looked very good at practice two days ago, but we'll see how it looks in the game. We've played this line before and it's been very successful, so we're not afraid to look at it again."
Here is the rest of the projected lineup based on Thursday's morning skate.

Forwards

Jaden Schwartz - Paul Stastny - David Perron
Robby Fabbri - Alexander Steen - Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund - Jori Lehtera - Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Ryan Reaves

Defense

Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Robert Bortuzzo - Colton Parayko

Goalie

Jake Allen