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St. Louis Blues Search for Back-to-Back Consistency Against Minnesota Wild

By Patrick Karraker

Feb 6, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Nate Prosser (39) controls the puck away from St. Louis Blues center Paul Stastny (26) during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 6, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Nate Prosser (39) controls the puck away from St. Louis Blues center Paul Stastny (26) during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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Carl Gunnarsson St. Louis Blues
Mar 22, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (4) shoots against the San Jose Sharks in the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports The Blues won 1-0 /

Blues Projected Lineup

Robby Fabbri-Paul Stastny-Alexander Steen

David Perron-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko

Magnus Paajarvi-Patrik Berglund-Nail Yakupov

Scottie Upshall-Kyle Brodziak-Ryan Reaves

Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo

Joel Edmundson-Kevin Shattenkirk

Carl Gunnarsson-Colton Parayko

Jake Allen

Scratches: Magnus Paajarvi, Ryan Reaves, Robert Bortuzzo

One would assume that the Blues would utilize the same lineup a night after recording their first victory of the season, but apparently Ken Hitchcock wants to get everyone involved during the early going, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Jeremy Rutherford reports that two or three lineup changes will occur for Thursday night’s game.

Just judging by Wednesday night’s box score, it’d seem that defenseman Robert Bortuzzo–who got no power-play time and 45 seconds on the power play while getting a total 13:17 of action–and winger Ryan Reaves–who played 6:11 with no special teams action–would be the two obvious candidates to be swapped out. If that’s the case, Carl Gunnarsson would enter the lineup in place of Bortuzzo, while Ty Rattie would seem to be a more logical replacement for Reaves than Magnus Paajarvi, considering that he’s a righthanded shot, while Paajarvi is a lefty (though he’s capable of playing both sides).

The 6-foot, 178-pound Rattie is by no means a stereotypical fourth line player, but he did get some work with Kyle Brodziak and Scottie Upshall as injuries troubled the Blues last winter, so he shouldn’t have too much trouble filling that role against a Minnesota team that plays with a quick, finesse style anyway.

Next: Five Blues Players Under Most Pressure to Start 2016-17

It’s possible that Paajarvi could jump in for Upshall, a key penalty killer who played a total 9:35 on Wednesday, or Dmitrij Jaskin, who played 12:13 with no time on special teams Wednesday. But the Swedish winger made it quite evident last season that he’s not a great fit in a top-nine role, so if he replaced Jaskin, Upshall would probably move up to the third line.

Update, 12:25 PM: Gunnarsson is set to go in for Bortuzzo tonight, with Paajarvi subbing in for Jaskin.

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