Game Day: Back home for one game, Blues make lineup changes for game vs. Sabres

For one game, it’s back home for the Blues.

St. Louis is playing a stretch of 16 straight games without playing in the same building in consecutive games, a span of games that includes four separate one-game home stands before going back on the road.

On Thursday night, it means hosting the Sabres at Enterprise Center at 7 p.m. before flying to Arizona on Friday, then Vegas after that.

The Blues will be looking to bounce back from a 3-1 loss in Minnesota on Tuesday night, and the club has generally responded well after losses this season. They are 7-2-0 in the games after a loss.

In goal, the Blues will go back with Jordan Binnington, who has played well in his last two starts since rocky outings in Arizona and in relief against Nashville. In games against Chicago and Minnesota, Binnington stopped 66 of the 71 shots he faced (.930), as the Blues split the two games on the road.

St. Louis will make a number of changes to its lineup, though:

— For the first time this season, Kevin Hayes will shift to the wing from his natural center position. He’ll be on Brayden Schenn’s left wing, opposite Jordan Kyrou. Hayes said he played mostly wing last season in Philadelphia, and estimated it was an 80/20 split between wing and center.

On most teams, the difference between wing and center is lessened because the first forward back in the zone stays low instead of the traditional defensive responsibility of a center to defend low. Hayes said the main difference would come on breakouts, when a wing is on the wall as opposed to swinging low into space to break the puck out.

— Jakub Vrana will be a scratch again, the fifth time in the season’s first 22 games that he’s come out of the lineup. Vrana was on the ice for two goals against on Tuesday in Minnesota; the first a result of Vrana’s offensive zone turnover, the second on a shot right in front of him.

Each time the Blues have scratched Vrana, they have asked for more intensity in his game, and to use his speed more to create offense instead of waiting for something to happen. Vrana has two goals and four assists in 17 games this season, and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer.

— With Hayes moving to win, Oskar Sundqvist elevated from the fourth line to the third line center. Nikita Alexandrov drew back in as the fourth-line center.

— On defense, Scott Perunovich came back out of the lineup in favor of Tyler Tucker, who will be playing for the second time in the last three games after he was a scratch for eight straight games.

“It’s not easy,” Tucker said. “You want to be out there playing, so just stay positive throughout most of it is a big part. As a young guy, it can be a little, I don’t want to say distracting, but I think just being positive throughout the whole thing is crucial.”

Berube sick

Blues coach Craig Berube was not at morning skate on Thursday because he was sick, and his status for Thursday’s game is unknown. Assistant coach Steve Ott ran the skate in the morning.