The St. Louis Blues are fighting to remain viable after absorbing injury hit after injury hit.
Their battle against adversity continues Thursday when they host the slumping Utah Hockey Club.
The Blues edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night despite losing forward Dylan Holloway late in the first period. After being hit in the neck by the puck, Holloway came off the ice and required medical attention.
Medical personnel removed him from the bench on a stretcher and took him to a hospital for evaluation of what turned out to be an inflamed nerve.
“I thought the guys, from top to bottom, showed a lot of leadership on the ice, in the room to keep their focus,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “Guys had each other’s backs again tonight, which was a positive for me.”
St. Louis earned a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday after losing key defenseman Philip Broberg to a lower-body injury that will sideline him for four to six weeks.
The Blues were already missing No. 1 center Robert Thomas (broken ankle), top-pairing defenseman Nick Leddy (lower body) and third-line winger Mathieu Joseph (lower body) with injuries coming into this week.
Holloway was back with the team Wednesday. Although he didn’t practice, he said there was a chance he could play Thursday.
Given all their injuries, the Blues have simplified their game and stressed team defense.
“The way we have to win hockey games right now, we’re not going to tilt the ice for 60 minutes,” captain Brayden Schenn said. “We just have to grind wins out right now and get good goaltending, which we are. Everyone’s stepping up right now and everyone’s filling the void every single night. If we keep playing like that, and then we get guys back, you set yourself up in a good spot.”
Utah has won just one of its last seven games and it has gone 2-5-3 since winning its first three games of its inaugural season in Salt Lake City. The Jets blanked Utah 3-0 on Tuesday night in Winnipeg.
“They capitalized on one of their power plays, and we didn’t,” Utah forward Lawson Crouse said. “We had a couple looks late in the game that would have been nice to go in. They’re a big, strong team. A veteran team. They play sound hockey all over the ice.”
Utah has scored two goals or fewer in four of its last seven games. It wasted a strong goaltending performance from Karel Vejmelka (25 saves) in Winnipeg.
“I feel bad for him, he was really good,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We don’t support him offensively. I feel really bad for him because he played really solid.”
Overall, though, Vejmelka and No. 1 goaltender Connor Ingram have combined for a 3.46 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage this season.
After scoring three goals and earning three assists in his first three games this season, leading Utah scorer Clayton Keller produced just three goals and three assists in his last 10 games for a season total of 12 points.
Keller, a native of the St. Louis area, has scored 11 goals and earned 18 assists in 28 career games against the Blues.
–Field Level Media
