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After 10-game absence, Blues’ McDonald to return tomorrow

Andy McDonald

St. Louis Blues’ Andy McDonald skates during NHL hockey training camp Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011, in St. Louis. The Blues will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game tonight in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

AP

After a couple of rough weeks injury-wise, the St. Louis Blues are getting healthy.

That was the story on Monday as injured center Andy McDonald (knee) announced he’d be fit to play on Tuesday against Vancouver, according to NHL.com’s Lou Korac.

McDonald, 35, hasn’t played since a 2-1 win over Columbus on Feb. 23.

He was hurt two days later during a practice that also saw Blues teammate Alex Steen go down with injury, and was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 27.

The Blues could certainly use McDonald’s presence back in the lineup.

An alternate captain, he was off to a nice start to the year, scoring 3G-8A-11PTS in 18 games, doing most of his damage on the Blues’ top-ranked power play (he had 1G-5A with the man advantage.)

As mentioned above, the Blues are really starting to round into shape.

Steen returned to action two games ago in a 3-1 win over Phoenix, and did it in style by scoring once and adding two helpers.

Meanwhile, rookie of the year candidate Vladimir Tarasenko (concussion) returned from a lengthy absence himself in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win against Anaheim, notching an assist while playing just over 13 minutes.

As for winger TJ Oshie, his rib injury will keep him out of the lineup until Saturday’s game in Edmonton. That’s the first contest he’ll be eligible to come off IR.