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St. Louis Blues Hope Lineup Adjustments Will Provide Spark in Game 3 vs. San Jose Sharks

By Patrick Karraker

May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) skates against St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) during the third period in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) skates against St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) during the third period in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) skates against St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) during the third period in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) skates against St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) during the third period in game two of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock expects to make lineup changes on Thursday in San Jose, and he’ll hope they fuel the Blues to a victory over the Sharks.

Tuesday’s Game 2 against the San Jose Sharks definitely wasn’t the worst game that the St. Louis Blues have played this postseason; a Game 6 beatdown by the Chicago Blackhawks was a real shot to Blues fans’ confidence, and a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the next round was the least disciplined game that the Blues have played during the playoffs. With that said, the Blues’ 4-0 loss to San Jose was alarming, and they’ll have to pick up their intensity level if they want to have any chance at competing with a highly-skilled and driven Sharks team.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Tom Timmerman wrote on Wednesday, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock expects to play around with the lineup prior to Game 3. Generally that’s been a good thing when the Blues have been on the road; the surprise insertion of Robert Bortuzzo for Game 4 at Chicago was a big boost, while the decisions to insert Ryan Reaves for Game 2 and Dmitrij Jaskin for Game 5 in Dallas paid dividends. Those changes didn’t necessarily continue to create positive results when those players stuck in the lineup at home–Hitchcock’s base lineup with Steve Ott on the fourth line and Joel Edmundson on defense seems to play the best at Scottrade–but it’s worth trying to shake things up at SAP Center.

While the Blues can’t just try to beat the Sharks at their own game, they’ll presumably be trying to get as much speed and offensive skill into the lineup as they can on Thursday after San Jose repeatedly skated around the Blues on Tuesday. Here’s what the Blues could do to optimize the lineup for Game 3:

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