Dmitrij Jaskin to be a Healthy Scratch for St. Louis Blues Against Pittsburgh Penguins
After being locked into the St. Louis Blues’ top nine forward group for a substantial period, rookie winger Dmitrij Jaskin will receive a dose of humility on Tuesday when the Blues face the Pittsburgh Penguins, as he’ll be a healthy scratch, with Chris Porter taking his spot in the lineup.
Since breaking into the Blues’ lineup on a full-time basis in late December, the 22-year-old Jaskin has been one of the team’s top offensive contributors. He’s tied for seventh on the team with 11 goals despite having played at least 20 games less than everyone ahead of him. In addition, he’s provided quality physicality on a consistent basis.
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With that said, Jaskin’s a young player whose performance has tailed off recently. After scoring goals in two straight games against the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks on February 28 and March 1, he’s been held pointless in the past 10 games, and he has a plus-minus rating of minus-3 in the Blues’ past two contests.
According to NHL.com’s Lou Korac, head coach Ken Hitchcock found it important to give Jaskin some time to hit the “reset button”:
Hitch said Jaskin has hit a wall. Needs to hut the reset button. Young guy who he feels will get going again. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) March 24, 2015
With Porter filling Jaskin’s spot in the lineup, the Blues can take advantage of the 30-year-old’s physical, high-energy style and try to temper a tenacious Pittsburgh lineup. Porter, who has been a playoff regular over the past two seasons despite struggling to find opportunities during the regular season, looks to be positioning himself for a spot in the playoff lineup once again, as he’s played in four of the team’s past seven games after dressing for just 15 of the first 66.