St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery keeps searching for a turning point for his sputtering team.
The Blues followed an impressive 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers with a dreadful 6-1 road loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. Then they rebounded to blank the Sabres 3-0 on Thursday night in Buffalo.
Montgomery will seek carryover from the Sabres game Saturday night when the Blues host the Seattle Kraken at Enterprise Center.
Looking to spark his group, Montgomery made winger Jordan Kyrou a healthy scratch at Buffalo and reshuffled his forward lines. He also removed forward Oskar Sundqvist from the lineup while inserting forwards Mathieu Joseph and Alexandre Texier.
“There were several people we weren’t happy with the effort (Wednesday night),” Montgomery said. “It didn’t matter the role, there were a lot of guys that didn’t play up to their role or responsibilities on the team. And the players we ended up going with, we thought, gave us the best opportunity to win (Thursday).”
During the game at Buffalo, Montgomery also benched No. 1 Robert Thomas for the second half of the second period.
“I thought for the majority of the game, the effort was significantly better than (Wednesday),” Montgomery said. “I thought the physicality was good. I liked the way we dug in. There were numerous blocked shots.”
Does he believe the Blues are starting to build something?
“Can’t say that yet,” Montgomery said. “It’s just one game. We have to do it again Saturday night.”
Joel Hofer earned the shutout at Buffalo one night after Jordan Binnington got the early hook in Washington, so Montgomery will have an interesting choice for who to start in goal Saturday.
The Kraken hit the road after completing a 2-1-2 homestand, which ended on a sour note after they lost their defensive edge during a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
“We were disconnected in a bunch of different areas,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “The first goal of the game, we turned the puck over on the wall early on. And we’re not in position to help with that.
“Our structure wasn’t good enough tonight . . . We gave up a goal right at the end of the first period, after I thought we had battled back and tied the score and had some good opportunities in the first period.”
The Kraken will try to use the loss to San Jose as an opportunity to reset.
“We were getting a little bit loose,” defenseman Josh Mahura said. “I don’t think it’s intentional by anyone. Everything’s been going pretty good for the most part. Obviously, we need to try to use this as a kick in the (backside) to regroup and get going.”
