St. Louis Blues: Jets Fly Into St. Louis For Regular Season Opener
By Jason Martin
The St. Louis Blues will open the season at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night and it will provide a tough test for the new roster.
Hockey is finally back and the St. Louis Blues will kick off the new season with a tough test against the Winnipeg Jets who made an appearance in the Western Conference Finals last season.
After seemingly the longest preseason and offseason in recent memory, the game will finally count on tonight at the newly renovated Enterprise Center.
Many new faces for the Blues will make both their Blues debut and their NHL debut. Two rookies, Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas will make their NHL debut after earning a spot during training camp.
The Blues will debut some new faces along with an old friend. David Perron, Ryan O’Reilly, Patrick Maroon, and Tyler Bozak will all make an appearance today for St. Louis.
The defensive core for the Blues is in flux right now, suspensions and injuries have left room for young players like Jordan Schmaltz and Miko Mikkola but it’s going to be Chris Butler who will start over Mikkola tonight.
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PAT will be in full force for the Blues tonight when O’Reilly, Marron, and Vladimir Tarasenko will take the ice as the team’s first line.
This trio has been paired together for the majority of the preseason and has found success. We will see how Tarasenko will play with two new faces.
The second line for the Blues showcases one of the fastest lines for St. Louis in recent memory.
Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, and Kyrou will all be playing together to start the season. Kyrou’s success in the preseason led him to earn a roster spot and he will be paired with one of the best duos in the entire league a season ago.
A blend of old and new faces will make up the third line for the Blues. David Perron who has come back to St. Louis for the third time will play with Bozak and Alexander Steen. We will see how much this line is dependent on how Perron plays, but this is the deepest third line the Blues have had in a while.
Ivan Barbashev is the “veteran” on the fourth line. One of the more intriguing fourth lines for the Blues, it will have a different look than in years past.
Thomas will be centering this line alongside Barbashev and youngster Samuel Blais who has once again made a name for himself during training camp.
Outside of the Schmaltz-Butler pairing, the defense for the Blues looks very similar. Captain Alex Pietrangelo will play with longtime partner Jay Bouwmeester who has looked good in his time during the preseason.
Fan favorite Colton Parayko will be paired with second-year defenseman Vince Dunn on the second defensive pairing. Dunn will try and avoid the sophomore slump this season after having an impressive rookie campaign.
Jake Allen will get the start in goal for the Blues. Allen was kept off the ice for the first two weeks of the preseason due to back spasms, but came back and started the final three preseason games and only allowed three goals.
October Will Provide Good Test For New Roster. dark. Next
One of the best in the Western Conference is coming to town to open the season. Whoever tells you that game one does not matter is lying to you. The Blues missed out on the playoffs by a single point last year. These games matter and they start tonight.