ST. LOUIS — The undefeated St. Louis Blues will likely head into their next game without their captain on the ice.
The team announced Tuesday morning that Ryan O’Reilly had been placed on the non-roster COVID-protocols list. Newcomer Brandon Saad also was placed on the protocols list. He did not practice with his teammates during the morning skate Monday.
"O'Reilly is out at least 10 days I believe. I'm just not sure on Saad yet when he's back. It's getting close, though," Blues head coach Craig Berube said during a practice media availability Tuesday.
While the team is fully vaccinated, Berube said he knows COVID-19 could still play an impact this season.
"The vaccinations obviously do help with symptoms and things like that but you can obviously still get COVID. But it's just adversity we're going to have to deal with," Berube said.
Berube said he talked to the team Tuesday morning about the news and while they were understandably upset, they know how to embrace the "next man up" philosophy.
"Well they're not happy obviously. It's not a good feeling. We addressed it with the team. And like I told the team, 'This could go on all year. You never know.' It's obstacles that are going to come at us and you've got to deal with it and fight through it," Berube said. "The strength of our team is our team and we're a deep team. So we've got to go play."
To help shore up more support, the team recalled forward Dakota Joshua from the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Joshua has appeared in five games with the Thunderbirds this season. He dressed in 12 games with the Blues last season and scored one goal.
The St. Louis Blues are off to a record start in the 2021-2022 season, going 5-0-0 for the first time in franchise history. The Note are hoping to keep the streak going Thursday when they take on the Colorado Avalanche at Enterprise Center. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.
O’Reilly netted two goals and three assists in the first five games. Saad has one goal and one assist to start the season.
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