Blues prospect Lars Eller went through his first morning skate with the club today. He will make his NHL debut against the Calgary Flames tonight at Scottrade Center.

After Eller came off the ice this morning, he spoke with reporters:

Some notes about Eller tonight:

- He will wear No. 61. Eller was given No. 36 when he first arrived in St. Louis, but he prefers No. 61. That’s because Eller wore No. 16 growing up in Denmark and Sweden. But last year in Sweden, a veteran on his team wore No. 16, forcing Eller to flip the numbers. Obviously No. 16 is not available in St. Louis, so Eller’s first choice was to keep No. 61.

- He will play left wing tonight on a line with Patrik Berglund at center and T.J. Oshie at right wing. Eller has played center in all 11 games this season in Peoria. He feels that he’s better at center, but he does have some experience at left wing. He played the left side all season in Sweden last year.

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Here are the forward combinations tonight:

Paul Kariya-David Backes-Brad Boyes

Lars Eller-Patrik Berglund-T.J. Oshie

David Perron-Jay McClement-B.J. Crombeen

Brad Winchester-Keith Tkachuk-Cam Janssen

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The Flames are the Blues’ third straight opponent that will be playing the second of back-to-back games, and the Blues are 0-2 so far.

- Phoenix beat Columbus 4-1 on Oct. 28 and then beat the Blues 2-0 on Oct. 29 (the Blues were also playing back-to-back games after beating Carolina 5-2 on Oct. 28).

- Florida beat Dallas 6-5 in a shootout on Oct. 30 and then beat the Blues 4-0 on Oct. 31.

- Calgary is coming off a 3-2 overtime win over Dallas last night.

“We haven’t dealt with that well so far this year,” Blues coach Andy Murray said. “We need to be better at it. When teams are playing back-to-back games, and I’ve said it before, it’s only a factor if you make them play tired. If you don’t make them work, they’re not going to get tired. When you play a team that’s playing back-to-back games, you’ve got to make them play tired by the way you play and the way you get after them.”

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Calgary star Jarome Iginla has been getting ripped to shreds in Alberta for his lackluster performance this season. Before Wednesday’s game in Dallas, Iginla had just four goals and five assists in 12 games. Those numbers aren’t bad, but his effort left a lot to be desired.

Well it appears that some recent comments from Flames coach Brent Sutter got under the skin of Iginla and now he’s woken up. Against Detroit on Oct. 31, Iginla was a minus-2, had no shots, no hits and had five giveaways.

After the game, here’s what Sutter said: “I thought Connie [Craig Conroy] had a decent game, but I thought both his wingers never played very well tonight. The puck doesn’t have legs on it, it isn’t going to come to you. You’ve got to get after it and win battles.”

In his next game, last night in Dallas, Iginla had two goals and an assist, scoring the game-winner in overtime for a 3-2 Flames’ victory.

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Blues defensive pairings tonight:

Darryl Sydor-Erik Johnson

Eric Brewer-Alex Pietrangelo

Mike Weaver-Roman Polak

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A lot is made about Sydor’s ability to mentor Johnson and Pietrangelo. What specifically are people referring to when they credit Sydor for that? Listen to what Johnson said yesterday: “I know that I have free reign to go in on offense almost every rush. He (Sydor) pretty much just says, ‘I’m going to give the puck to you and I’m going to let you go. I’ll be back there.’ It’s nice to know that when you’re working with a stalwart guy back there. He’s been in the league so long, and won two Stanley Cups . . . he’s a big influence on me back there. He gives me that comfort zone to join the rush and stay up in the offense.”

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Blues center Andy McDonald (upper-body) practiced today wearing the orange “no contact” jersey. Here’s a look:

There’s no word on when he’ll return to the lineup, but John Davidson said yesterday that it would be “sooner than later.”

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 Nine of the 20 players in the lineup for the Blues tonight were drafted by the team:

Lars Eller, Erik Johnson, Jay McClement, Patrik Berglund, Alex Pietrangelo, David Backes, Roman Polak, David Perron and T.J. Oshie.

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Chris Mason will be in goal tonight for the Blues.

JR