Following the St. Louis Blues 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders, captain Brayden Schenn opened up to reporters about the success gained from this game. Furthermore, he shed some light on one of the biggest concerns for this team, dating back to the beginning of the season.
What is the concern?
During the offseason, the first full offseason for head coach Jim Montgomery, the standard was going to be that the lineup was going to be much similar to the end of last season. Partly due to the fact that the forward group, especially, stayed the same for much of the 2024-25 season and into the playoffs.
But this season has been much different, as Montgomery has been shuffling the lines around on a nightly basis, trying to find what works and what doesn't. It has been a revolving door for many of the top-nine forwards, with different combinations rolling out every single game.
That sense of consistency and line chemistry between the trio of forwards cannot be gained with the constant shuffling. It has not been too much of an issue, but certainly something that fans have been complaining about and are concerned with.
But, Schenn expressed that his new, outstanding line alongside Pavel Buchnevich and Dalibor Dvorksy might have added one piece of stability to the lineup.
"We've had many line combinations throughout, hopefully this kind of gives us a bit of stability," Schenn said. "I've always enjoyed playing with Buchy (Pavel Buchnevich), and Dvo (Dalibor Dvorsky) is smart."
When talking about the game itself, Schenn also added that this win is a stepping stone. Things might finally be looking up for the Blues, and it could not have come at a better time.
"Solid team effort, definitely something to build off of."