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ST. LOUIS – It’s playoff time and time for coaches to be coy, and St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery was just that ahead of Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (8:30 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN2, SN, CBC, TVAS, ESPN 101.1-FM).
“We’ll find out tonight at 8:50,” the Blues coach said with a smile.
But by all indications, the Blues appear to be going back to the traditional 12 forwards, six defensemen after playing 11/7 in Monday’s 2-1 loss in Game 2.
And by that, it would appear that forward Alexandre Texier is in the lineup and will make his Blues playoff debut playing on the third line with Oskar Sundqvist and Zack Bolduc, and veteran defenseman Ryan Suter will come out for the first time this season.
Suter has played in every game for the Blues, including the first two games of this series.
“(At) 8:35 if you text me, I’ll give you the response,” Montgomery said. “It doesn’t matter who you sit at this time of the year, everybody has helped you get to the playoffs. There are 16 teams that are no longer competing. Everybody in that room has helped us get to this point and the guys who are going to play tonight are the guys I feel give us the best opportunity to win our first game in the playoffs.”
Texier, who had 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 31 regular-season games, wouldn’t disclose his addition or not.
“Yeah, obviously, I don’t know, so I just get myself ready,” Texier said. “I’m excited.
“Obviously I’m fresh. I’m young. Let’s get going.”
It would leave the Blues with Nick Leddy and Tyler Tucker as their third defensive pairing behind Cam Fowler, Colton Parayko, Philip Broberg and Justin Faulk.
Tucker has provided the physicality that the Blues need in this series to balance out the Winnipeg defensemen.
“Obviously you’re not trying to run out of position, but in that sense, you want to make as much contact as you can,” Tucker said. “Obviously bumps and bruises go a long way in the playoffs. Obviously I’m trying to finish every check, get skin on people when you can. Obviously you don’t want to run out of position and help them create something out of nothing. I think you’ve got to have that fine balance and finishing checks.”
But Montgomery also likes another aspect that Tucker brings.
“Physicality, an edge, an abrasiveness to his game,” he said. “He’s very underrated at the offensive blue line, gets pucks through, he’s shot ready, something we feel needs to be a little more apparent in our D-corps.”
Mathieu Joseph will also sit out for a second straight game.
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Robert Thomas, who missed practice on Wednesday, was a full participant on Thursday and will play tonight.
“You just go out there and give it all you’ve got,” Thomas said. “It’s an exciting time of year. You lay your body on the line. I talked about the physicality earlier. It’s been an exciting series so far. It sure will continue.”
The two days off between Games 2 and 3 and Games 3 and 4 probably suit Thomas, who obviously isn’t 100 percent, a great benefit.
“I’ve never had a series where it’s been like this, so I really don’t know,” Thomas said. “I think after the series we’ll reflect and figure out if we liked it or not. I’ve got no idea.
“Yeah, you just take advantage of the time you have.”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jimmy Snuggerud-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Jake Neighbours-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Alexandre Texier-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Nick Leddy-Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches could include Mathieu Joseph, Ryan Suter and Matthew Kessel. Dylan Holloway (lower body) is out. Torey Krug (ankle) is out for the season.
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Jets Projected Lineup:
Kyle Connor-Mark Scheifele-Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter-Vladislav Namestnikov-Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev-Adam Lowry-Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson-Morgan Barron-Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey-Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg-Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley-Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal; Eric Comrie will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller and Ville Heinola. Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body) and Rasmus Kupari (concussion) are out.
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