GDT #13: Blues vs. Coyotes | 7:00 pm CT | FSMW, 101 ESPN

[theohall]

Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said his team was too tight and squeezing their sticks too much after Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

So for Monday's game, Berube is trying to loosen things up by making some significant line changes.

For starters, Ivan Barbashev has been moved up to the first line with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron.

"(Barbashev can) get in there on the forecheck, be physical. I think that line needs that right now," Berube said. "That's what we've talked to 'Barbie' about, that's what we're looking for. We've got a heavy guy on every line, a guy that forechecks and gets in there."

"I think it's great for him," Perron said of playing with Barbashev. "He's a guy that when he plays his best, he gets in on the forecheck, he's aggressive, physical and can make plays. He's got a lot more offense than people give him credit for. We see it in practice, we've seen it in games before and hopefully it's the start of a little bit of chemistry with him and we can get rolling."

Zach Sanford is back in the lineup after missing one game with the flu, and he was skating with Oskar Sundqvist and Mike Hoffman in Monday's morning skate. Kyle Clifford is back on the fourth line after being a late scratch on Saturday. Jacob de la Rose, who will be making his first appearance of the season, is expected to center Clifford and Sammy Blais.

Defensively, Robert Bortuzzo looks to be making his return to the lineup after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. Bortuzzo was skating in Carl Gunnarsson's spot alongside Niko Mikkola on Monday.

PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Barbashev - O'Reilly - Perron
Schwartz - Schenn - Kyrou
Sanford - Sundqvist - Hoffman
Clifford - de la Rose - Blais

Defense
Krug - Faulk
Dunn - Parayko
Mikkola - Bortuzzo

Goalie
Binnington

WHAT TO WATCH
The St. Louis Blues will need a next man up mentality after news broke Sunday that Robert Thomas has a broken thumb and would be sidelined four to six weeks. There is good news though - Robert Bortuzzo will be available to play after being activated from injured reserve. Bortuzzo missed 10 games with an upper-body injury.


THE SERIES SO FAR
Feb. 2: Blues 4, Coyotes 3
Justin Faulk scored what could stand as the goal of the year when he danced through the offensive zone and slid the puck five-hole past goalie Darcy Kuemper. Mike Hoffman, Vince Dunn and Ryan O'Reilly also scored and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves to extend the Blues' winning streak for four games.

Feb. 4: Coyotes 4, Blues 3
The Arizona Coyotes had a 3-0 lead before Mike Hoffman finally scored for St. Louis with less than four minutes to go in regulation. The Blues would get another goal from Hoffman and one from Ryan O'Reilly in a late rally, which ultimately fell short. Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta made 40 saves in Arizona's first road win of the season.

Feb. 6: Coyotes 3, Blues 1
Jakob Chychrun scored two goals, Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves in a 3-1 win for the Arizona Coyotes. It was the first time this season the Blues lost two straight. Robert Thomas scored the Blues' only goal before leaving in the first period with a broken thumb.

THEY SAID IT
"We're tight. It looks like we're just not playing with much confidence right now. When you play like that, you don't feel good and it's hard to get going. It looks like we lacked a little bit of energy and emotion in the game. That can make the difference… Just take a deep breath, relax and not squeeze your stick so hard out there." - Craig Berube on Blues losing two straight to Coyotes

BLUE NOTES
The Blues have points in 12 of 16 games against the Coyotes at Enterprise Center (10-4-2)… Mike Hoffman has 11 goals in 14 career regular-season games against Arizona… Jaden Schwartz has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 25 career games against the Coyotes… Ryan O'Reilly has posted a plus or even rating in all but two games this season and is plus-4 overall.

[theohall]

That projected lineup just looks ugly.

[Robb_K]

I was hoping that Clifford's fight would send a message that The Blues won't be pushed around, and that would energise them. But The Yotes still are skating much faster, and winning the races to the puck, and The Blues are again chasing the puck.

[Robb_K]

O'Reilly scores! bangs in the PP goal!!!!!

[Robb_K]

Mikkola is really holding his on with physicality in the cease on the PK! Good kill!!

[Robb_K]

A decent 1st Period by The Blues. But they are still struggling with Arizona's speed. It will be good if they can build up a several goal lead.

[Robb_K]

Great follow-up shove-in by Perron!!!! Following his own shot!!!! Blues lead 2-1!!!!

[Robb_K]

The took the worst of that period from the refs. But it was from their chippiness and throwing their weight around. And THAT has helped raised their competitive level in this game, and might lead to a win. So, I don't have a problem with it.

[Robb_K]

Great extended effort by O'Reilly on his 200th goal! Blues lead 3-2!!!

[Robb_K]

Nice to see Hoffman playing hard without the puck, helping out his teammates. If Krug could get those hard shots on net, they would produce a LOT of juicy rebounds, and some of them would also go in. Some things to look forward to.

[heff]

[JCShutout]

Really blues? One second left? Really?

[flyingnote38]

well that sucked

[ibldbl]

What a letdown. As soon as Schenn screwed the pooch, it was over.

[WaukeeBlues]

What a kick in the nuts.

Up 3-2 with 2:25 left and you go on the 2:00 power-play and you LOSE?

What are the Vegas odds on that?

Coyotes are becoming a really hard team to play against and they got a lot of that young talent coming around. Pisses me off.

[gaijin]

What a kick in the nuts.

Now that I have time to sit down and post, I was literally going to say exactly that. Reminds of a game against Colorado last season (at least I think it was last season- who knows at this point) where the Blues were in the lead the whole game then gave up the tying goal late and then the GW goal with under a second to play.

A few thoughts:
-It seems like most of Arizona's goals are the result of the Blues defense not able to clear rebounds. In a perfect world, sure, it would be great if Binnington wasn't giving up any rebounds at all, but the Coyotes are generating quality scoring chances by getting our D-men out of position, Binner makes a fantastic save, then the Coyotes collect the rebound as our D-men look on.

-Penalties continue to be a problem. I know you can't blame losses on officiating, but what I have seen is the Blues taking a lot of "retaliation" type penalties, after the Coyotes would get away with a hold, a cross-check, etc. The Blues then respond at the worst possible time and get whistled. And the PK has been especially awful, which only compounds the problem. And it's not like they have a stellar PP to balance out the dreadful PK. I think I heard the Blues are 28th in the League in both PP and PK. Not acceptable.

-There have been a lot of "kick in the nuts" games so far this year in my opinion. How long before the team gets tired of being kicked in the nuts and starts doing something about it? Can you think of any games this year where the role has been reversed and the Blues made another team feel like they got kicked in the nuts? Maybe we should create a stat called the "kicked in the nuts differential."

-How many more times can I say "kicked in the nuts" in one post?

Getting tired of being kicked in the nuts by Arizona. Dvorak and Schmaltz especially are just killing us.

[theohall]

The makers of Good Swift asked you what we could do to make our candy bars better. Your almost unanimous vote was to "Kick in the Nuts". So that's what we've done. You asked for it. We made it. A Good Swift Kick in the Nuts....