The Blues have done some lineup shuffling in advance of tonight’s game against the Isles, and the biggest changes are at the top.
Star sniper Vladimir Tarasenko, fifth in the league with 14 goals, will play alongside center Paul Stastny and a new left winger -- Jori Lehtera, who normally plays in the middle.
“For me, I’m really happy to play with both Stastny and Lehtera,” Tarasenko said, per NHL.com’s Lou Korac. “First of all, they have really good personality. They’re really good friends of mine. It’ll be a little bit different to see (Lehtera) on the wing, but he’s played there before.”
Tarasenko referred to Stastny as an “elite” center and also praised Lehtera’s passing ability, which suggests the Russian is excited about having two table-setters out on the ice with him.
The Blues could use a vintage Tarasenko performance tonight. The offense sputtered in a 3-1 home loss to Florida on Tuesday, which is party why head coach Ken Hitchcock shuffled his lines.
Hitchcock noted that one of the units he put together in the Florida game -- David Backes, Alex Steen and Troy Brouwer -- played well together, and will likely stick tonight as well.