ºüÀêÊÓƵ

An answer on Pavel Buchnevich will have to wait.

The Blues forward did not practice on Sunday morning at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights after suffering an upper-body injury in the first period of Saturday’s 2-1 shootout win over Seattle. Buchnevich was shoved into the boards behind the Kraken net by Jamie Oleksiak, crashing awkwardly and not returning for another shift following the first intermission.

When he spoke to reporters after Sunday’s practice, Blues coach Craig Berube said he would know more about Buchnevich’s status after he was checked on by doctors that afternoon.

“He’s feeling not bad today, but we’ll see,� Berube said.

Does Buchnevich’s feeling Sunday leave Berube with an optimistic outlook regarding his star winger?

“Yeah, I am,� Berube said. “I’m hoping. Like I said, I’ll just know more later today.�

On Saturday night, Berube ruled out a possible head injury.

Buchnevich only played 5:27 on Saturday across seven shifts before leaving. He had three shot attempts, one hit and one takeaway. Buchnevich struggled to stay healthy last season, as he missed 19 games, most because of an ankle infection that required surgery.

He began the season playing on the top line with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, a role that was filled by Brandon Saad on Saturday night. Saad again skated with Thomas and Kyrou on Sunday during practice.

“He’s played with those guys before, and they’ve been pretty successful,� Berube said. “He drives hard with the puck and gets it down low and recovers it. He’s heavy on it and goes to the net. I thought they were good together.�

Last season, the line began seven games together, including the final two of the regular season. In total, Saad-Thomas-Kyrou logged 77:13 of ice time together at five on five a season ago, putting up positive possession figures (according to shot attempts and shots on goal), even if opponents generated more scoring chances, expected goals and goals.

Saad said he was to “always be ready for the puck� when playing with Thomas and Kyrou.

“They’re so good, highly skilled, fast players,� Saad said after Saturday’s game. “When you least expect it, it’s coming your way. They’re great players and a lot of fun to play with, and it was great to get the opportunity tonight.�

On the power play, Kasperi Kapanen shifted into Buchnevich’s spot on the bumper of the first unit on Saturday. The Blues did not practice special-teams play during practice on Sunday.

If Buchnevich is going to miss Thursday’s game against Arizona, Nikita Alexandrov will enter the Blues’ lineup.

Alexandrov made the roster as the 13th forward out of training camp, partially because the Blues didn’t want to risk losing him on waivers and partially because of strong showings in the final two exhibition games.

“He got better as camp went along in those last two exhibition games, he played pretty well, how we need him to play,� Berube said. “Looks like he’s going to get an opportunity to go in, just keep doing what he was doing there at the end: hard play, straightforward play, puck battles, all those little things like that.�

Alexandrov played in 28 NHL games last season, with three goals and four assists.

Berube said the Blues do not need to promote a player from AHL affiliate Springfield “right now� in order to add another healthy body to the mix. The Blues currently do not have the salary-cap space to add a player to their active roster, even on a league-minimum deal.

If they wanted to add a player, they would have to either send down a waivers-exempt player such as Jake Neighbours, waive another player or place Buchnevich on long-term injured reserve. Using LTIR allows teams to exceed the salary cap, but a player must miss at least 10 games and 24 days.

Buchnevich was coming off his second straight point-per-game season with the Blues, in which he had 26 goals and 41 assists in 63 games. In the first two games of the season — a shootout loss in Dallas and a shootout win over Seattle — Buchnevich did not have a point and had four shots on goal.