The last time the Blues went into a game without David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Alex Steen as the top line, Santa was still making preparations for Christmas. Now it is the Blues who are looking to be in the giving spirit as they hope to give their goalies a bit more support in the coming games.
After a 5-1 loss, and some inconsistency in the last four games, Ken Hitchcock is shuffling the lines around. According to Blues beat reporter Jeremy Rutherford, Hitch is moving Patrik Berglund to the top line, replacing Steen. Steen will move to the second line with Jori Lethera and Vladimir Tarasenko, misplacing Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz moves down a line to team up with Paul Stastny and Dmitrij Jaskin, and the fourth line will remain the same.
The shakeup comes after the Blues had their weakest two-game shot production of the season, firing just 38 shots in the two games. The Blues were lucky to put in five goals in their game against the Bruins, but that was heavily reliant on weak goaltending from rookie Malcolm Subban.
Now, after 25 games, the top line will be moving in a different direction. In the 25 games Steen, Oshie and Backes spent together, they recorded over three points per game.
The goalie that the Blues will be trying to support for Tuesday's game against Montreal is Jake Allen. Allen has nearly doubled his appearances from the 2013-14 season, and has shown no signs of slowing down. In his starts since the New Year, Allen has been a strong performer. He is 5-0-0 with a .950 save percentage and one shutout.
Over that time, he has also relieved Brian Elliot twice, once in a 7-1 blowout against Columbus and once in a 4-1 loss against Dallas. Elliot has a save percentage of .908 in that time, but has allowed three or more goals in seven of his 11 starts, showing that consistency is a problem for the goalies as well as the players.
The inconsistencies started with the injury to Kevin Shattenkirk, but he has resumed skating in recent days. Rutherford reported that Shattenkirk has been skating, up to 30 minutes a day, as he works his way back to health.
In his absence, rookie Petteri Lindbohm scored his first career goal in his tenth career game. Lindbohm is the ninth ranked defensive prospect for the Blues, according to Hockey'sfuture.com. The Blues may rely on him more after scratches for Chris Porter and Chris Butler.
The blues will need to figure it out on the road as they north after Tuesday's game. After Tuesday the Blues will play their next three games in Canada with games in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. Then, they will return to the states to play in Philadelphia before heading back up to Canada to play the Toronto Maple Leafs. The blues will be on the road for 13 of their final 22 games, and will look to improve their 16-10-2 road record.
They will drop the puck on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
