The Blues and Scott Perunovich once again played the waiting game.
After he left Sunday’s overtime win over the Kings with a lower-body injury, Perunovich was not on the ice for optional Blues practice on Monday morning. When he spoke to reporters after practice, Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said Perunovich underwent an MRI and the team was awaiting the results.
Perunovich is likely to miss Tuesday’s game against Columbus, which is ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ last game before the All-Star break. What is his prognosis after that?
“Too early to tell until we see any results,†Bannister said. “Hopefully, by the time the break comes through, he would be ready to play, but I can’t really comment that he would be or wouldn’t be at this point.â€
Perunovich left the game with 10:37 left in the third period after an awkward collision with Jaret Anderson-Dolan as he carried the puck over the offensive blue line. He skated gingerly back to the Blues bench, then hovered in the tunnel before retreating back to the Blues dressing room to receive treatment.
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The injury comes at an inopportune time for the 25-year-old defenseman, as he had two primary assists against Los Angeles to tie a career high. He helped out on Pavel Buchnevich’s power-play goal in the second period and touched along a pass to Jordan Kyrou to set him up with space in the slot.
Across his past 14 games, Perunovich has 10 assists — evenly split between even strength and the power play.
Perunovich has played 31 games this season, which is approaching his career high of 43 games played in a single professional season. Last season, he was sidelined for the first four months of the season by a shoulder injury suffered in the preseason. Perunovich managed to play 22 regular-season games in the AHL, two postseason games and then 10 more for Team USA in the World Championship.
In 2020-21, it was a torn labrum that erased Perunovich’s entire season. In 2021-22, it was surgery on his left wrist that limited him.
Perunovich is scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season but could become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent if he does not play enough games in the NHL.
Without Perunovich, Tyler Tucker is expected to return to the Blues lineup for the first time since Dec. 21. Tucker just finished his two-week conditioning loan with AHL affiliate Springfield, where he played six games.
Tucker said the trip down was good for “just getting back into that kind of mindset.â€
“Obviously, I sat out for a while before heading down,†Tucker said. “I think just getting back into and getting back into a routine was good.â€
In those six games, Tucker said he played around 20 minutes a night. He began one game alongside Calle Rosen, three with Dylan Coghlan and one with Hunter Skinner. Tucker did not record a point but was plus-2 with six penalty minutes and seven shots on goal.
“It takes you a while to regain that confidence that you were playing with before,†Tucker said. “I think that, confidence, is a big thing. Obviously, we had some tough games down there, but for myself, I felt good. I felt like I made strides. Happy with it.â€
Bannister: “Obviously, going down to Springfield, he was able to play games, similar to (what Nikita Alexandrov) did, get his legs underneath him. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to play and get an opportunity tomorrow to make an impact and an impression on the team.â€
Before he was sent to the AHL, Tucker was a healthy scratch in nine straight games. Even when Justin Faulk was hurt on Dec. 29 against Colorado, the Blues recalled Matthew Kessel and inserted him into the lineup over Tucker.
Kessel has played the past 13 games and appears to have a firm grip on a spot in the lineup, passing Tucker, Perunovich and even Marco Scandella for minutes on the blue line.
Tucker, 23, was originally a seventh-round pick by the Blues in 2020 and is under contract through next season at an $800,000 cap hit. The physical defenseman has one goal and one assist this season in 15 games.
What does Bannister want to see from him vs. the Blue Jackets?
“Just defending and being hard to play against and moving, keeping things simple and getting it to our forwards and having good gaps,†Bannister said. “When he was really good for us in Springfield, that’s kind of a throwback defenseman that made it hard on other teams’ forwards, hard around the net, hard below the goal line.â€