Seattle’s centerman depth could be vastly improved against the St Louis Blues.
Matty Beniers has been taken off IR this morning, three days removed from his return to the ice at practice on Tuesday donning a red no-contact jersey. While Beniers did not attend an optional morning skate on Friday, he skated Wednesday and Thursday sans red jersey, centering a fourth line including Brandon Tanev and Tye Kartye in drills. Should he be cleared for Friday night he’ll be thrust into game action for the first time since Jan 13, missing five games during recovery.
Additionally Yanni Gourde, staple centerman on the third line, has now finished his two-game suspension and should be back in the lineup.
Eeli Tolvanen and Jaden Schwartz were back after missing practice Thursday. Head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters that while both were given maintenance days, their availability for Friday night would need to be re-evaluated ahead of the game.
There’s no word as to what, if anything, may be bothering Tolvanen. Schwartz did not finish the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks two days prior, accidentally hit in the leg with a shot by Tolvanen.
According to Hakstol, Tolvanen, Beniers, and Schwartz are all “headed in the right direction” but will be game-time decisions against the Blues.
That said, there’s no reason to expect Seattle will be missing anyone besides Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, still working his way back from a broken leg sustained nearly six weeks ago. He’ll officially hit six weeks– the tail-end of what was initially projected to be his timeline for return– on Feb 1, over the All-Star break.
Still looking slow at times, Bellemare was present at morning skate but did not appear a full participant. Unsurprisingly he skated with the scratches afterwards, and as of Friday afternoon he is still on IR.
Ryker Evans and Devin Shore joined him, the latter’s impending absence opening up a spot for Beniers to slip into the lineup. Philipp Grubauer was the lone goaltender on rink one. Joey Daccord’s absence makes him the likely opponent of Jordan Binnington, first goaltender off the ice for the Blues according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch’s Matthew DeFranks.
Seattle should anticipate a tough opponent in the crease, as they encountered Oct 14 in their first meeting with the Blues, a 2-1 overtime loss. Binnington’s been hot this month, touting wins in five of his last seven starts and a .929 SV%, 2.13 GAA through January. St Louis has failed to secure at least a point with Binnington in net only three times since Dec 14.
Leave a tip to support our writers and staff!