Jaden Schwartz set to return to Blues after 49-game absence
Jaden Schwartz will return to the St. Louis Blues lineup on Friday to play his first game since fracturing an ankle during an October practice.
Schwartz’s 49-game absence has been part a season for the Blues where injuries have been far too common. As of Monday, St. Louis was fourth in the NHL in man-games lost with 201, according to ManGamesLost.com. Patrik Berglund, Steve Ott, Paul Stastny, Jake Allen and Kevin Shattenkirk have all contributed to those 201 games.
While Schwartz is coming back, that number will continue to rise now that Alex Pietrangelo will miss three weeks with a knee injury.
Despite the injury woes, St. Louis has been able to play themselves into the third spot in the Central Division, seven points behind the Chicago Blackhawks with a game in-hand. Schwartz’s presence in the lineup could also help a Blues team that has the seventh-worst goals per game (2.38) average in the NHL get their offense going.
The 23-year old forward has scored 53 goals over the last two seasons, and Vladimir Tarasenko (26 goals) could use some more support. Ken Hitchcock has said that Schwartz will play alongside Tarasenko and Stastny on the top line.
“It will almost feel like a new season for me,” Schwartz told StLouisBlues.com. “I’ve been out for so long. It will take me a few shifts to get up to speed and calm down a little bit. It’ll be a new experience for me with only 27 games left to jump in.
“Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to get up to speed and I’m just hoping I feel comfortable doing everything on the ice.”
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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