Blues at Kings probable lines: Neighbours out, Saad on the third line

In case you live in a cave, let me let you in on something: Brandon Saad is back tonight.

He’s off of the Covid-19 protocol list, with Ryan O’Reilly more than likely to follow on Sunday, which means that the lines for tonight’s game against the Kings had to be tweaked a bit. It’s becoming apparent that the third line of Ivan Barbashev-Robert Thomas-Vladimir Tarasenko is now the team’s second line. With captain O’Reilly out, Brayden Schenn is centering the top line, necessitating the bump up - but it raises the question of where that line will feature when O’Reilly returns and Schenn gets back on with centering the second line.

The return of Saad and the solid play of James Neal sees Jake Neighbours back up in the pressbox. Oskar Sundqvist’s looming return in a week or so may make the successful rookie’s early foray into the NHL a shortened one.

Here’re tonight’s lines, from STLBlues.com.

Forwards

Kyrou - Schenn - Perron

Barbashev - Thomas - Tarasenko

Saad - Bozak - Buchnevich

Kostin - Joshua - Neal

Defense

Scandella - Parayko

Krug - Faulk

Walman - Bortuzzo

Forwards

Kyrou - Schenn - Perron

Barbashev - Thomas - Tarasenko

Saad - Bozak - Buchnevich

Kostin - Joshua - Neal

Defense

Scandella - Parayko

Krug - Faulk

Walman - Bortuzzo

Goalie

Binnington

Binnington