The St. Louis Blues open their 2022-23 NHL season and their quest to the Stanley Cup Saturday night in the Lou with a 7 pm puck drop time against the likes of Patrick Laine and the Columbus Blue Jackets. St. Louis faced the Jackets twice during the 2021-22 season, one at home and the other on the road in Columbus. The game at Enterprise Center saw them pick up a comfortable 6-3 win, 2 days after Thanksgiving 2021, while the Blues fell 5-4 in close regulation in the Columbus home game last March.
Players to watch on St. Louis’ roster include Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas. Both are fresh off new contract extensions. Each was for an additional 8 years with a $65 million payout.
For Columbus, new Jacket Johnny Gaudreau puts on the navy, red, and silver sweater for the first time against the Blues since an offseason trade from Calgary this past summer.
The expected lineup for St. Louis should be as follows: the top forward line consisting of Brandon Saad, perennial superstar Ryan O’Reilly and of course, Kyrou. The other forward lines contain Australian Nathan Walker, Alexei Toropchanko, and Noel Acciari on an exciting 4th line. The Blues’ 3rd forward line has Brayden Schenn, Ivan Barbashev and Jake Jeighbours. The 2nd line is made up of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko.
On defense, the Blues have 3 pairs. The top pair should be made of Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko. Torey Krug and Justin Faulk make up the other top/2nd D-line. The 3rd D-line is expected to be Niko Mikkola and Robert Bortuzzo.
Tending the nets for the Blues will be Jordan Binnington and Thomas Greiss. Jordan Binnington is still to be the starter, with Greiss the backup.
At this point, it’s worth bringing up St. Louis actually faced Columbus last week during the preseason, suffering one of their only 2 losses in an 8-game schedule, 7-0. With that in mind, Columbus may have the potential to play spoiler in St. Louis, as their previous tilt against the Blues was at home in Columbus.
The Blues must be careful against any team with Johnny Hockey against them. Puck drop is, again, at 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT for St. Louis natives.