As illness continues to make its rounds in the locker room, the St. Louis Blues will face off against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers on home ice Thursday night (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network, 101 ESPN, Blues App).
Head Coach Jim Montgomery confirmed that Alexandre Texier will be out of the lineup tonight with illness, while Matheiu Joseph, who missed Tuesday’s game against Edmonton with illness, is expected to draw back in for the Blues.
“We got a little bit of a flu bug going around… we expect [Mathieu Joseph] to be back in, I think he’s going to be fine,” Montgomery said.
With Texier out, Dylan Holloway is expected to move up to join Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas on the first line, while Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours will join Brayden Schenn on the second line.
Changes could also be coming to the D-pairings following Nick Leddy’s return to the ice Tuesday night against Edmonton. Ryan Suter is likely to join Philip Broberg on the second pairing, while Leddy and Justin Faulk will be re-united on the third.
Montgomery also confirmed that Mackenzie MacEachern will take warmups in the case that Joseph is not ready to play. MacEachern was recalled from Springfield yesterday, but has yet to appear for the Blues this season.
Joel Hofer will start in net.
The projected lineup is based on Wednesday’s practice lines at Centene Community Ice Center. Texier was skating with Oskar Sundqvist and Zack Bolduc in practice, so we expect Joseph in his place.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Dylan Holloway – Robert Thomas – Pavel Buchnevich
Jake Neighbours – Brayden Schenn – Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph – Oskar Sundqvist – Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faksa – Nathan Walker
Defense
Cam Fowler – Colton Parayko
Ryan Suter – Philip Broberg
Nick Leddy – Justin Faulk
Goalie
Joel Hofer
