If the morning skate was any indication, David Perron might have a hat-trick in him tonight.
Perron lit the lamp several times at Scottrade Center this morning, but it came with Blues trainer Ray Barile between the pipes, not Ray Emery, tonight's netminder for the Chicago Blackhawks.
"(Barile) has got a really red face right now, so we're rather concerned about Ray right now," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.
Told that Barile might have given Perron some confidence going into his first game since Nov. 4, 2010, Hitchcock said: "That's what (Barile) said he was going to do."
Perron was eager to get on the ice morning. After a teleconference with reporters at 3 p.m. Friday to announce his return, he picked his parents up at the airport and then watched the Blues' 3-2 shootout loss on TV. He said that he fell asleep about an hour after the game ended, around 11:30 p.m.
"I was so exhausted from the day and all the nerves," Perron said. "I fell asleep pretty good actually. That was the good part."
Perron said that he woke up with a few nerves, but added, "I get the feeling towards gametime it's going to get more intense."
Hitchcock said that he's ready to see what Perron can do.
"He's been a very good player in practice and now we get to see what he can do in games," Hitchcock said. "I think everybody's excited because what he does ... he's just another threat. You can't have enough threats in this league right now to score goals."
Hitchcock coached against Perron when Hitch was behind the bench in Columbus from 2007-10.
"I remember trying to kill him as a coach," he said. "I remember he angered us quite a bit. So we targeted him physically or tried to anyways ... that part I remember.
"I also remember that he's a one on one player. He can handle the puck in tight quarters one on one, buy time and space for people to get open and then find them. I found myself on the bench coaching against him very nervous when he had the puck in the offensize zone because you knew somebody was going to get a quality scoring opportunity."
Obviously there will be no animousity toward Perron tonight at Scottrade Center, only cheers from the standing-room-only crowd.
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TONIGHT'S LINEUP
Forwards
Alex Steen-David Backes-T.J. Oshie
David Perron-Patrik Berglund-Matt D'Agostini
Vladimir Sobotka-Jason Arnott-Chris Stewart
Ryan Reaves-Scott Nichol-Jamie Langenbrunner
Defensemen
Ian Cole-Alex Pietrangelo
Barret Jackman-Kevin Shattenkirk
Kris Russell-Roman Polak
Goalie
Brian Elliott
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LINE COMBINATIONS
With the return of Perron, Hitchcock juggled the line combinations for tonight's game. In a bit of a surprise, he kept Matt D'Agostini on the second line and moved Chris Stewart to the third line.
"I like the way D'Agostini's playing," Hitchcock said. "He's playing with some speed, he's playing with some tempo."
Originally, it was thought that Stewart would play with Perron and Patrik Berglund. But now he'll be with Jason Arnott and Vladimir Sobotka.
"For me, Arnott's line gets more scoring chances in zone than probably any line," Hitchcock said. "We need to finish those chances. You're talking six scoring chances a game, it'd be nice to see if we could finish those scoring chances. This gives us an opportunity to take a look at something."
Regarding what the move says about Stewart, Hitchcock said: "Stewy's just got to help Stewy. Stewy's got to continue to get better. I think right now for us from the red line in, I'm really impressed with what Stewy's doing. From the red line back, we've got teaching moments that we're going to have to work with. I think just understanding how to play fast defensively is going to have to be an adjustment for Chris. That's what we're teaching him and Bergy and even D'Agostini ... to play faster defensively."
The new combinations mean that right winger Jamie Langenbrunner will be on the fourth line, forcing Ryan Reaves to play on the left side.
"Langs can move anywhere and everywhere ... he's a very versatile player," Hitchcock said. "He can play left or right, he can play on the power play, he can kill penalties, he can do everything. He's going to be a versatile guy, and I think by playing it this way on back-to-back games, this allows us to play four lines and hopefully not wear guys out."
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SHOOTOUT STRUGGLES
Not only are the Blues and Blackhawks facing each other tonight after playing Friday, they are both coming off games that went to shootouts. The Blackhawks, however, won their game over the New York Islanders 5-4 in a shootout.
The Blues lost 3-2 to Colorado in a shootout, dropping to 0-3 in shootouts this season. They missed on all three of their shootout opportunities and have converted just one of nine attempts this season.
"I can tell mentally in the shootout that we're a little down right now," Hitchcock said. "We've got to figure out a different game plan. I'm not sure what it is yet. I think we've got to have a different rotation or a different game plan because it seems we're not as confident as we should be ... because I've seen us score in practice on this stuff. I think it's the rotation."
Hitchcock said that he may move Oshie up in the order from his usual No. 2 spot.
"He makes good plays," Hitchcock said. "Goalies make good plays on Osh. I think we're better off putting him at the front of it now and just letting him go and letting him go rather than wait."
Hitchcock said that he wouldn't hesitate to use Perron right away in a shootout. Perron is 4 for 16 in his career.
"Oh for sure," Hitchcock said. "He scores every time (in practice). Nothing against our goalies, but he just scores."
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COLAIACOVO UPDATE
Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo will miss his eighth consecutive game tonight with a left hamstring injury. He skated this morning and said afterwards that he hopes to be back next week.
"Another good skate today," Colaiacovo said. "It's been getting better every day, but obviously not as fast as I would like. But you've got to be careful with these things here. So it's been slow steps, but the focus is to make progression every day and do whatever it takes to get back out there."
