St. Louis Blues: Allen, Bouwmeester and Maroon Return Against Hawks

Three St. Louis Blues players will return to the lineup after missing a few games to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in yet another matchup with their archrivals.

The St. Louis Blues are in such a strange spot to begin the season. They are up against the cap after going all in on a variety of players in the offseason but have yet to put together a string of consecutive wins.

St. Louis is only four points behind the Colorado Avalanche for a playoff spot and have played two fewer games than the Avalanche. So all hope is not lost for the team this season, but it isn’t just because they are losing games that concerns me, it’s how they are losing games.

Chicago Blackhawks (6th Place In Central)

Record: 6-8-4

Last 10: 2-6-2

Season Series: CHI Leads 2-1

Point Leaders: Patrick Kane (22), Alex DeBrincat (16)

Whoever made the NHL schedule has clearly made some kind of rare error. This will be the fourth time in just over a month that the Blues and Blackhawks will square off against one another but this game feels different.

The Blackhawks are bad. Really bad. They have lost eight games in a row, two in overtime and they have already fired their Hall of Fame coach Joel Quenneville. I’ve talked about my keys to beating the Blackhawks before, shutting down the superstars, but this needs to be more about what the Blues need to do, rather than shutting down Kane and Jonathan Toews.

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If the Blues lose in regulation tonight, I can make an extremely strong case that it should be Mike Yeo’s last game as the Blues boss.

He has an abysmal record over the past two years against Central Divison opponents winning only three of the past handful of games.

This is a must win for Yeo to keep his job and surprise surprise, he is starting Jay Bouwmeester yet again tonight.

I haven’t the slightest clue in the world why Bouwmeester is starting over Jordan Schmaltz. Sure, Schmaltz has not performed great in his time with the Blues this year, but at least Schmaltz can benefit from playing actual minutes.

Patrick Maroon will also make a return to the lineup which I am all for. I understand why you give Maroon a break to reset, he has not been performing at the level he is capable of and I completely support the decision to sit him.

Hopefully, he can bounce back and make an impact we have seen him make with other teams in the past and hopefully he can be reinserted into the powerplay.

Jake Allen‘s return will be more controversial. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Allen is the number one goalie on this team and he needs to get back into the groove of playing every game without having Johnson look over his shoulder.

I’m a Jake Allen guy, at least for now, and I hope the Blues come out and thump Chicago tonight. If they lose, I think there will be a good chance this is the last game Yeo coaches for the Blues.