Blues look to bounce back in a second game without Tarasenko

Here is the projected lineup for the afternoon matchup in Detroit.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Blues look to bounce back in a second game without Tarasenko
Zuma Press

The Blues' start to the season is bang-average. They have been winning games at the same rate as they have been dropping them. The last game they played was a replay of the 2019 Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins which they lost 3-0 yesterday.

The Blues will be looking to bounce back and to start winning more consistently against the woeful Red Wings this afternoon in Detroit. 

Vladimir Tarasenko will be out for a second consecutive game with an upper body injury. Yesterday, Oskar Sundqvist took Trasenko's place on the right side of the first offensive line with Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn as he has a good right-handed shot and lots of size, a similar profile to that of Tarasenko. Sundqvist will keep his place on the first line as he tries to be a factor in reactivating the Blues' attack.

Jake Allen will be the starting netminder for St. Louis as Binnington who started against Boston yesterday has been given a rest.

Here is the projected lineup for the Blues ahead of this afternoon's matchup in Detroit according to NHL.com correspondent Dave Hogg:

Forwards:

Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Oskar Sundqvist

Alexander Steen - Ryan O'Reilly - David Perron

Zach Sanford - Tyler Bozak - Robert Thomas

Sammy Blais - Ivan Barbashev - Mackenzie MacEachran

Defensemen:

Colton Parayko - Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester - Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo

Goaltenders:

Jake Allen

Jordan Binnington

Veteran defenseman Carl Gunnarson and forward Robbi Fabbri will be healthy scratches for tonight's game as Tarasenko nurses his injury.

The Red Wings are struggling immensely this season and have just lost their 7th consecutive game on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. To make matters worse for them, some of their key players are unavailable for this afternoon's game. Veterans Luke Glendening, Justin Abdelkader and Danny DeKeyser will all be absent because of injuries.

The Blues will have an opportunity like no other to get back in the win column against a depleted Detroit team. That being said, look for Detroit to play hard as they have certainly had enough of losing. It won't necessarily be an easy game for St. Louis.