Buchnevich back, but Thomas is not for Blues vs. Pittsburgh | Hello Skate

Pavel Buchnevich will return to the Blues squad on Thursday against Pittsburgh, but in a surprise move, Robert Thomas misses his second straight game due to illness.

Thomas had ridden with the team on Wednesday in an optional exercise and was on the ice for the morning skate, and participated in the linerushes and power play work, while Logan Brown, the team’s extra striker, stayed on the ice, which in addition Work done has given players the healthy scraps.

Coach Craig Berube said shortly after the morning skate that Thomas was not ready to play.

“I do not know,” said Berube. “It’s hard to explain to be honest with you. He does not feel ready to play yet. That is where he is.”

Thomas had his first NHL four-point game Saturday in Nashville, but was a late scrum Sunday against Winnipeg. Berube said Thomas did not feel well for the Nashville game, and it was thought he had the same illness that kept David Perron and Tyler Bozak from previous games. Both of these players missed only one game and were back on the ice for games two days later. In Thomas’ case, it’s been five days since he first got sick of playing.

Berube said he was not sure how he would restructure the lines, but the simplest move would be to move Brayden Schenn, who centers Ivan Barbashev and Buchnevich on the third line, into Thomas’ place between Jordan Kyrou and Vladimir Tarasenko. . That would put Brown in Schenn’s original position. The other option would be to put Oskar Sundqvist on Schenn’s original spot and center Brown on the fourth line.

Buchnevich missed three games with a concussion following a high hit by Ottawa’s Austin Watson on March 8.

“Welcome, welcome additions,” defender Robert Bortuzzo said to get Thomas and Buchnevich back before it was announced that Thomas would not be back. “They’re a big part of our group, and I think they know that and they’re a big part of the track here.”

The Blues will be without Bozak in this game; he will be out for at least four weeks with a lower body injury suffered in practice Tuesday.

“It’s hard,” said captain Ryan O’Reilly. “It’s hard to lose him. He’s such a guy who does everything right. You can put him in any situation and he’s finding a way to influence the game. It’s hard to lose him, but we’re a deep team with other guys who have a chance to play and make an impact. Hopefully it’s a quick recovery and he’s coming back soon. “

The Blues ran lines on Thursday morning, but that was all with Thomas in the lineup. This is a pretty good guess, but Berube said he still thinks about the lines.

Barbashev-Brown-Buchnevich

MacEachern-Sundqvist-Toropchenko

Penguins projected formation

Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Evan Rodrigues

Danton Heinen – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust

Radim Zohorna – Jeff Carter – Kasperi Kapanen

Brian Boyle – Teddy Blueger – Dominik Simon

Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang

Mike Matheson – John Marino

Marcus Pettersson – Chad Ruhwedel

When the Blues played against the Penguins on January 5, they had a 2-0 and 3-1 lead, but lost 5-3, aided by a failed goalie interference challenge that allowed the Penguins to score twice. 12 seconds to mark.

“It’s always a good challenge (against Sidney Crosby),” said O’Reilly, “he’s one of if not the best players in the league. must be aware and ready to play hard. If not, he will pay you. Not only him, the whole team over there is a very talented, hard-working team. And as a group we must all prepare for a hard game and ready and sharp.The last match against these guys, I thought they overplayed us quite a bit, and tonight is a chance to react and show them our best and make it much harder for them.