There has been a lot of talk about shaking up the St. Louis Blues locker room via trade but Bruins forward and former captain David Backes should not be on the list.
The St. Louis Blues have turned the corner, and they are doing it all on the road. The team is showing a lot of character for the first time since David Backes left in free agency.
Backes, after a successful tenure in St. Louis, has struggled to find the same consistency in Boston. The Bruins are poised to make another deep postseason run this year and Backes can still play an important role for the Bruins.
Boston Bruins (3rd Place In Atlantic)
Record: 26-16-5
Last 10: 6-3-1
Point Leaders: David Pastrnak (55), Brad Marchand (51)
The race for home ice advantage in the Atlantic Division between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Bruins is in full swing. Boston is only one point shy of the Maple Leafs for second place in the division.
Boston will be playing the second game of a back to back tonight against the Blues. Last night in Philadelphia, the Bruins outshot the Flyers 42-19 but still lost the game 42-19. If there is a chance to get some points against a cup contender, tonight is the night.
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It was clear early in the season that something needed to be changed in the Blues locker room.
After Doug Armstrong won the offseason by acquiring Ryan O’Reilly and signing David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Pat Maroon, the Blues were still underperforming.
Fans then started pointing fingers at the returning group of core players. Alex Steen, Alex Pietrangelo, and Jake Allen have all been the center of attention for who to blame when things go wrong.
Bringing in another older player who is overpaid, like Backes, will not help solve the on-ice issues the Blues are having. Although bringing him back would seemingly fix the “issues” if any, they are having in the locker room, it does not make any hockey sense to re-acquire him.
It seems like the Blues are good again, and they are employing 11 forwards and seven defensemen for tonight’s game. The Blues forward core is dropping like flies. There is not a timetable for Robert Thomas or Tyler Bozak’s return, but Steen is close to returning.
The most intriguing part of tonight’s lineup for the Blues is the second line. Jordan Kyrou will be paired with O’Reilly and Perron. Because Kyrou is here, he needs top line minutes, and I hope he can take advantage of the opportunities.
Win or lose tonight, the Blues will have had a successful road trip. The key to their continued success for the remainder of the season will be to have the same success at the Enterprise Center.