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St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks Will Look Very Different in Rematch of 2016 Playoff Matchup

By Patrick Karraker

Oct 1, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks right wing Ryan Hartman (38) and St. Louis Blues defenseman Morgan Ellis (78) fight for the puck in front of goalie Carter Hutton (40) during the second period of a preseason hockey game at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks right wing Ryan Hartman (38) and St. Louis Blues defenseman Morgan Ellis (78) fight for the puck in front of goalie Carter Hutton (40) during the second period of a preseason hockey game at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jake Allen St. Louis Blues
May 19, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) takes a break in the game against the San Jose Sharks in the third period in game three of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center at San Jose. The Sharks won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /

Blues Lineup

Robby Fabbri-Paul Stastny-Alexander Steen

David Perron-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko

Dmitrij Jaskin-Patrik Berglund-Nail Yakupov

Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Ryan Reaves

Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo

Joel Edmundson-Kevin Shattenkirk

Robert Bortuzzo-Colton Parayko

Jake Allen

Scratches: Magnus Paajarvi, Ty Rattie, Carl Gunnarsson

Next: Blues Can't Lose, But Could Win Big With Nail Yakupov Trade

The only real surprise with this lineup is that the Blues plan on using for their opener is that it looks like Robert Bortuzzo will suit up rather than Joel Edmundson. Bortuzzo played in just 40 games–mostly as an injury replacement–compared to Edmundson’s 67. But a strong training camp effort by Bortuzzo apparently was enough to earn him a spot in the lineup and force the Blues to play with an unbalanced shot alignment among their defensemen (four right-handers and three lefties).

Update, 1:00 PM: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford reports that Carl Gunnarsson will be a healthy scratch, so both Bortuzzo and Edmundson will get in the lineup. We don’t yet know how the bottom two defensive pairings will be aligned, but after Kevin Shattenkirk struggled so mightily while paired with righthanded-shooting defensemen last season, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t paired with Edmundson on Wednesday night.

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