The St. Louis Blues Can’t Catch A Break From COVID
By Jason Martin
If unceremoniously losing to the Penguins wasn’t enough, the St. Louis Blues lost three more players to COVID on Thursday, one day after having a fully healthy team.
It was fun while it lasted, but the St. Louis Blues, like many other teams, have once again fallen victim to the coronavirus. St. Louis lost Scott Perunovich, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Jake Walman to COVID and will be without them for at least five days.
If there is any good news that came out of Blues camp on Thursday, Craig Berube said that he is not aware of any symptoms from Russian star Tarasenko, meaning if he tests negative again in five days, he will be clear for action.
In Walman’s case, he can’t seem to catch a break either when it comes to cracking the lineup. Instead, he has been the victim of injuries and sicknesses and others performing well in front of him.
Now, he is sidelined once again and will likely have an even harder time cracking the top-6 of the Blues’ defensive pairings when he is healthy again.
Tarasenko’s absence will be noticeable from the lineup, he has been the driving force behind St. Louis’ success this season, and he will be a big loss for however long he is out.
However, Perunovich will be missed on the blue line as well for the Blues. While his offensive numbers have not been what the Blues or their fans had hoped for, he is still one of the best playmakers on the team, and the Blues’ powerplay could take a hit as well during his absence.
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The Blues have gone through worse this season when it comes to injuries and illnesses, but this one hurts a little bit more because it came on the heels of the first game of the year when the team was fully healthy. Expect the Blues to be fine, but the defense and Jordan Binnington will need to hold down the fort for a few days until Tarasenko’s return.