Facing elimination on Sunday afternoon the St. Louis Blues will be getting some help when one of their top players, veteran forward Alex Steen, returns to the lineup.
Steen missed Game 5 (which the Blues won to extend the series to Game 6) due to a lower body injury. He was able to take part in pre-game warmups on Sunday but his status for the game still remained in doubt when he did not take a regular line rush. Despite that, he is in fact back in the lineup. With Steen returning, Magnus Paajarvi will be scratched.
In nine playoff games for the Blues this year Steen already has three goals and four assists and is the team’s second-leading scorer behind Jaden Schwartz (eight points).
Steen finished third on the team in scoring during the regular season with 51 points (16 goals, 35 assists) in 76 games.
He is expected to skate on the team’s second-line on Sunday alongside Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin.
Meanwhile, for the Nashville Predators, they will be getting Craig Smith back in the lineup after he missed the past six games due to an upper body injury. Smith had 12 goals and 17 assists during the regular season. He has one point (an assist) in three games this postseason.
If the Predators are able to win on Sunday they will reach the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.