The St. Louis Blues have hit a wall after not scoring over the last two games. Usually, a change of some kind would come down from the top regarding line combos.
That is exactly what happened. Head coach Jim Montgomery got to the good old’ lineup blender and completely shuffled the top three lines of forwards.
#stlblues top-three lines today:
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 28, 2026
Neighbours-Thomas-Snuggerud
Buchnevich-McTavish-Berggren
Holloway-Dvorsky-McMichael
This is a warranted response, and Montgomery told the truth to the media on Wednesday about being “patient” thus far. But that patience should have held out just a little bit longer.
Monty cont'd: "It's just time to make changes to see if there's a spark. So that's why we've mixed up the top-three lines." (2/2) #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 28, 2026
Let’s talk about why?
Boston is another great opponent
Changing up the lines now would be a learning curve against a very good Boston team. Sure, these updated and shuffled lines could be an instant hit, but it is all the more likely that they will have some disconnect. Against a top-seeded team, in the final game of a five-game homestand, this might not be the best move.
Of course, a 5-6-1 start is not ideal, and this team needs to find a quick fix, but the chances and opportunities are coming. It is only a matter of time before all of these high-danger chances turn into goals.
This team is at a respectable 2.57 Expected Goals For per 60 minutes, which is 13th in the NHL, according to Moneypuck.com. A stat like that doesn't make you say, "Let's throw away plan A and go for plan B".
Not yet.
They were cooking against Montreal
This team put up 46 shots on net against Montreal. That is the first time in nearly a season and a half that they were able to eclipse that 40-shot plateau. Without scoring a single goal, the only thing you can say is that Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler had the game of his life, and the Blues were just goalied.
That's it.
Five players pitched in five or more shot attempts in the game, with many of them being in the medium-to-high danger zone. A plethora of puck scrambles in the crease that were blocked, smothered, and ricocheted away from the twine. It was a crazy game, and unfortunately, the Blues were on the losing end.
It is not the time to go ahead and move the pieces around following a performance like that. Shorten the leash up some, but to go ahead and completely scramble the top-nine forwards, that is a bit of a stretch.
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