With parents in town, defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph re-enters Blues lineup
On Tuesday night, the Joseph brothers arrived in style.
Mathieu and Pierre-Olivier Joseph wore custom matching suits — white and gold stripes on a navy field with peak lapels — for what could have been their first NHL home game playing together on the same team.
The two brothers played together in Vegas last week, but against the Wild, P.O Joseph was scratched. On Thursday, though, the Josephs will play together in St. Louis, and will do so with their parents, France and Frantzi, in attendance.
"It's one for the memory book, for sure," P.O Joseph said before the game. "It's something we've dreamed about for so long, and we're excited about it. At the end of the day, we're a 23-man family in here. Doesn't matter who is playing with who, we just want to play good and get the W tonight."
P.O Joseph was to be in the lineup due to Nick Leddy's lower-body injury that forced him to miss Thursday's game against the Islanders. Ryan Suter ascended to the top pair with Colton Parayko, allowing a spot on the third pair for Joseph to fill.
Blues coach Drew Bannister labeled Leddy as day to day.
P.O Joseph signed over the summer with the Blues, partially to play with his brother, and has served as the team's No. 7 defenseman in the first week of the season. He replaced Matthew Kessel in the lineup last week against the Golden Knights, but was a healthy scratch in three of the first four games.
"Last game I played, I wasn't really myself," Joseph said. "I just want to keep it simple at first and slowly build my game around these guys, get some chemistry with these guys, get the respect and trust from these guys when I'm on the ice with them."
Bannister: "His overall camp was really good for us. His exhibition games were good. We want to get him back in there, his ability to skate, his length and move pucks, that's something that I think, defending wise, we've got to be able to kill plays."
In the game against the Golden Knights, the Josephs became the seventh set of brothers to play for the Blues at the same time.
And so they commemorated the occasion with suits from Montreal-based Glorius Custom that read "Blues Brothers" under the collar, and featured pictures of blues and jazz history on the inner lining. The jackets also featured motivational sayings stitched in there: "Get It Done" on P.O's and "Everything Happens for a Reason" on Mathieu's, according to a Instagram post.
The brothers also live together in St. Louis, and are hosting their parents this week.
"That's the main reason why we got a bigger place, for them to come and stay with us," P.O Joseph said. "Don't need a hotel room or anything like that. It's just nice to have family around and talk about life."
Injury updates
Leddy was not on the ice for the Blues' optional morning skate on Thursday, one day after he missed Wednesday's practice. Leddy has not skated with the team since Tuesday's game against the Wild.
Forward Alexandre Texier (upper-body) was on the ice for morning skate, but missed his fourth straight game.
"He's getting better," Bannister said. "He's close. I would put him as day-to-day. He's going to be out tonight. We'll see how he feels tomorrow. He's getting close."
Forward Oskar Sundqvist (knee surgery) was also on the ice Thursday morning, but Bannister previously targeted later in the home stand for the veteran to make his season debut.
— Goaltender Joel Hofer started Thursday against the Islanders, his second start of the season and first since last week in San Jose. Jordan Binnington started the home opener against Minnesota.
"Get him in the net here, give Binner a little bit of rest," Bannister said. "Then we'll reset in two days and get going. We'll find out there. A lot of this is preplanned. Obviously, plans can change, but right now, we want to stick with the plan."
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