ST. LOUIS - Alexey Toropchenko is back in the St. Louis Blues lineup Tuesday night, and he’s getting there sooner than expected after a shoulder injury kept him out for the past 10 games.
The forward was hurt in the first period of the season-opening 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars and had originally been set for a six-week re-evaluation. Instead, he returns in less than four weeks as the Blues continue their five-game homestand, hosting the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. at the fourth stop of the stretch.
“I’m very excited,” Toropchenko said. “I’ve been working hard to get back on the ice. Obviously I was working hard on my shoulder and it feels good and I’m just ready to go more than 100 percent.
“I was hoping for good news after the injury and I got, still not good news. It’s still bad to be out of the lineup and I got lucky. I’ve been working hard and can’t wait to step back on the ice.”
Toropchenko will slide onto the fourth line with Pius Suter and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, which makes Otto Stenberg a healthy scratch. Jim Montgomery said the winger brings a different edge to the group.
“What he adds to our group is a couple areas that are sorely lacking when he was out of the lineup, is physicality on the forecheck and speed all over the place,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of Toropchenko. “When we talk about being relentless, he’s a player that plays relentless.”
Toropchenko said he’s been skating for about a week and a half and hasn’t had any trouble. He’s also not worried about taking contact once the puck drops.
“I’m not thinking about that,” he said. “As soon as my skates step on the ice, I just go as hard as I can and just mentally, I will be harder than last time.
“It’s not a problem for me.”
The Blues are also changing up their defense for the matchup. Brandon Carlo will pair with Philip Broberg for the first time, while Cam Fowler reunites with Colton Parayko. Justin Barron, who is a former Hab, will be on his offside with Adam Jiricek.
Montgomery said the changes were made after recent games forced adjustments on the fly.
“We felt that just in the last couple games, we’ve been having to manipulate the D-pairings in games and we think Carlo is our most stay-at-home defenseman, (Broberg) is the most on-the-go defenseman,” Montgomery said. ‘We’d like to see that pairing and it caused us to switch up the other pairings.”
Jordan Binnington is also back in net, and he’ll make just his fourth start of the season and his first since Oct. 17, a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. He beat the Canadiens twice last season, and with Joel Hofer having started the last three games, the Blues are turning back to Binnington.
Montgomery pointed to the work Binnington has put in behind the scenes.
“Having worked with (director of goaltending) Davey (Alexander) for so long and me for quite a bit of time, you’re always impressed with how hard he works, how professional and how diligent he is at trying to get his game back to exactly where it was, or where it needs to be, whether he’s playing a lot or not playing a lot, and we’ve seen that a lot in practice,” Montgomery said of Binnington.
“We’re going with Binnington today and (assistant coach Vinny Prospal) said, ‘Ha, he’s looked great in practice.’ That’s just the sign of a pro.
He uses practice to get back in the games and that’s where he’s at and he’s earned it. I know the coaching staff and players (are) high on Binnington.”
The Blues’ projected lineup has Dylan Holloway centering Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud on the top line, followed by Connor McMichael, Mason McTavish and Jonatan Berggren. Jake Neighbours, Dalibor Dvorsky and Pavel Buchnevich make up the third unit, with Toropchenko, Suter and Kaskimaki on the fourth.
On defense, the projected pairs are Broberg and Carlo, Fowler and Parayko, and Barron and Jiricek. Binnington is expected to start, with Hofer backing him up.
The healthy scratches are Otto Stenberg and Quinton Burns. Logan Mailloux (hand), Tyler Tucker (knee), Dillon Dube (neck) and Ross Johnston (lower body) are out.
Montreal’s lineup has Cole Caufield, Oliver Kapanen and Juraj Slafkovsky on the top line, with Alexandre Texier, Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc on the second. Chris Kreider, Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson make up the third line, while Kirby Dach, Jake Evans and Florian Xhekaj are on the fourth.
The Canadiens’ defense pairs Lane Hutson with Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson with Alexandre Carrier, and Kaiden Guhle with Arber Xhekaj. Jakub Dobes is projected to start in goal, with Jacob Fowler as the backup.
Healthy scratches for Montreal could include Adam Engstrom and Owen Beck. Nick Suzuki (upper body), Samuel Montembeault (lower body) and Ivan Demidov (lower body) are out.
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