These are not good times for the St. Louis Blues.
The team, which has just four wins in its last 11 games, announced on Monday that starting goalie Jake Allen, veteran d-man Jay Bouwmeester and forward Magnus Paajarvi are all out week-to-week with their respective injuries.
As is the way in this league, details about the severity of said ailments is spotty at best. Per NHL.com, Bouwmeester and Paajarvi have upper-body injuries, Allen is lower-body, and right now it’s unclear if any will require surgery.
As for the ramifications...
Brian Elliott takes over No. 1 duties in goal, with recently-recalled Jordan Binnington serving as the backup. Elliott was pretty good in his first start following the Allen injury, making 26 saves in a 2-1 shootout win over the Kings on Saturday.
On defense, Bouwmeester’s absence resulted in the following new-looking pairings:
Kevin Shattenkirk-Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson-Colton Parayko
Chris Butler-Robert Bortuzzo
At forward, Paajarvi’s absence (along with Paul Statsny, who’s day-to-day with an upper-body ailment of his own), saw some shuffling as well:
The lines: Fabbri-Lehtera-Tarasenko, Upshall-Steen-Brouwer, Berglund-Backes-Rattie, Jaskin-Brodziak-Reaves. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) January 11, 2016
As a result, the Blues will be a team to watch leading into the All-Star break. While they currently sit third in the meat-grinder central division, they’re only three points up on Minnesota -- holder of the first wild card spot -- and the Wild has three games in hand.
(St. Louis actually leads the NHL in games played right now, with 45.)
The Blues will begin a four-game homestand tomorrow against New Jersey. Once that’s complete, it’s three road games -- in Detroit, Colorado and Chicago -- before breaking for the league’s annual All-Star gala in Nashville.