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Alexandrov, who made the Opening Night roster as the 13th forward, was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the season in Dallas and against Seattle. Last season, Alexandrov played 28 games, scoring three goals and assisting on four others while primarily playing a fourth-line role.

In the final week of training camp, Alexandrov secured his spot on the roster with strong games against the Stars and Blackhawks. Blues coach Craig Berube said he liked how Alexandrov battled in those games.

“I just tried to compete every game,� Alexandrov said. “Going into camp, my expectations or my goal was to make the team. In the last two games, I was pushing really hard for it, so I’m glad it worked out.�

This was the first season that Alexandrov was waivers-eligible, meaning he would have to be exposed to other teams in order to be sent to the AHL. Instead of risking losing Alexandrov on waivers, the Blues instead waived veteran forwards Nathan Walker and Mackenzie MacEachern. Both played cleared waivers and were sent to AHL affiliate Springfield.

In the AHL, Alexandrov is a scorer, and last year had 38 points in 41 games. But in the NHL, he averaged less than 10 minutes per game last season.

“I think I just had to understand what kind of game I have to play here in order to be on this team,� Alexandrov said. “Obviously, the last two games, I kind of figured it out a little bit better. I’m happy about that, and now I’m going to keep going.�

Buchnevich was hurt during the first period of Saturday’s shootout win over Seattle when he was pushed into the boards by Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. He has not been on the ice for any of the three Blues practices since then.

As Brandon Saad elevates to the top line to fill in for Buchnevich, Alexey Toropchenko does so to replace Saad on the second line. Toropchenko will play with Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen.

“He’s so quick to get on pucks, they’re going to have more puck touches in the offensive zone because of him,� Berube said. “Getting in on the forecheck and creating those loose pucks, and his ability to just get there on time is so critical. He’s played a good hockey. He’s earned an opportunity to move up there right now.�

Goaltender Joel Hofer will make his first start of the season against the Coyotes after Jordan Binnington started the first two games of the season.

"We've had a lot of time (off)," Berube said. "Want to get him going here. We're going to need both goalies and it's a good opportunity for him tonight."

Last season, Hofer made six starts, going 3-1-1 with a .905 save percentage and 3.22 goals against average.

Arizona in town

The Coyotes come to ºüÀêÊÓƵ to finish a four-game road trip to open the season. Arizona is 1-2-0 with a shootout win over New Jersey, followed by a pair of one-goal losses to the Rangers and Islanders.

Nick Schmaltz (one goal, two assists), Clayton Keller (one goal, two assists) and Logan Cooley (three assists) are tied for the team lead with three points.

“They’ve got some real quick forwards,� Berube said. “They play a real fast game, a lot like Seattle. Boom, they’re on the goal all the time, taking off. Keller and Schmaltz are really good players. They’re really grown into being real good players in this league, making plays and scoring. (Sean) Durzi on the back end has done a good job for them coming from L.A. Pretty good player back there. And they added some players to their lineup this summer.�

In his career, ºüÀêÊÓƵ native Keller has 24 points in 24 games against the Blues, including three game-winning goals.

Last year, the Blues went 1-2-0 against Arizona.

“We’ve got to be ready to go,� Berube said. “We’ve got to be ready to go right from the get-go. We can’t get complacent at all. We don’t have time to do that. We’ve got to be ready to go.�

Projected Blues lineup vs. Arizona on Thursday, 7 p.m.

Brandon Saad – Robert Thomas – Jordan Kyrou

Alexey Toropchenko – Brayden Schenn – Kasperi Kapanen

Jakub Vrána – Kevin Hayes – Sammy Blais

Nikita Alexandrov – Oskar Sundqvist – Jake Neighbours

Nick Leddy – Colton Parayko

Torey Krug – Justin Faulk

Marco Scandella – Tyler Tucker

Jordan Binnington

Joel Hofer

Scratches: Scott Perunovich, Robert Bortuzzo, Pavel Buchnevich (upper-body).

Projected Coyotes lineup at ºüÀêÊÓƵ

Clayton Keller – Barrett Hayton – Nick Schmaltz

Jason Zucker – Logan Cooley – Matias Maccelli

Lawson Crouse – Nick Bjugstad – Michael Carcone

Alex Kerfoot – Jack McBain – Liam O'Brien

J.J. Moser – Sean Durzi

Travis Dermott – Matt Dumba

Juuso Valimaki – Troy Stecher

Connor Ingram

Karel Vejmelka

Scratches: Travis Boyd, Josh Brown.