The Blues鈥 Alexey Toropchenko (13) is congratulated by teammates Nathan Walker (26) and Radek Faksa (12) after scoring a goal during the second period of a game against the Lightning on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Enterprise Center.
As the Blues have continued their shuffling of the forward decks, an unlikely line has been the team鈥檚 most consistent combination: the line of Alexey Toropchenko, Radek Faksa and Nathan Walker.
鈥淚 feel like they push the needle for us, very direct in the way they play, get on the forecheck, able to stall loose pucks and able to hold on and protect, wear other teams鈥 defense down,鈥 Blues coach Drew Bannister said.
Entering Tuesday鈥檚 game against the Bruins, the Toropchenko-Faksa-Walker line had played 64:19 minutes together at five on five, the most on the team. The next closest line was Alexandre Texier, Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou at 40:46.
The game against Boston was the line鈥檚 seventh of the season playing together. No other Blues line has started more than five games together.
Overall, the line has combined for seven points on the season, including when Faksa and Toropchenko combined for a goal last week against the Lightning.
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鈥淚 think we all kind of play the same way,鈥 Walker said. 鈥淲e all want the same result on a shift to shift basis. I think that helps us do what we need to do in order to be a successful line. We talk a lot on bench, in the room with what we need to do and what we need to accomplish every shift. I think the communication goes a long way for us.鈥
Faksa: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember if I played with a guy like that with big size like that. Nathan is like a little bulldog. It鈥檚 a small guy and a tall guy. Both bring so much energy, skating well, making plays.鈥
They originally started the season as the Blues鈥 fourth line but have become the third line thanks to the loss of Robert Thomas, the return of Oskar Sundqvist and the relative lack of production (to their standards) from Brandon Saad and Texier.
For Faksa and Walker, playing together on a line is something 15 years in the making. When they were teenagers, they attended an IIHF camp in Finland that gathered players from around the world. Faksa represented Czechia; Walker, Australia.
鈥淏ack then, I didn鈥檛 speak any English and he spoke Czech, so he was helping me a lot,鈥 Faksa said.
The two also played against each other in Czechia when Walker was playing professionally there. Walker said he would keep in touch with Faksa when he was playing for Dallas, and the two even speak Czech every now and then inside the Blues dressing room.
鈥淓very time we would play Dallas, we would always say hi to each other,鈥 Walker said. 鈥淚 think that stuff goes a long way as well.鈥
At five on five, goals are even (3-3) for the Blues with Toropchenko-Faksa-Walker on the ice.
Perunovich鈥檚 first
When defenseman Scott Perunovich scored on Saturday against Washington, it was his first career NHL goal in his 79th game. The milestone was lost in the shuffle as the Blues lost 8-1.
In the game, Perunovich logged a season-high 18:56 of ice time on 22 shifts. He had two shot attempts, one of which was his goal.
鈥淭ake away the game and how it went, I thought he played very well last game,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淚 saw a guy that was playing with more confidence, moving the puck. He jumps into a hole there off the faceoff and scores a nice goal. His overall game, I thought, was very clean, and I thought he was more predictable when he had the puck and played quickly, which is what we need from our back end.鈥
- Forward Mathieu Joseph returned to the Blues lineup on Tuesday night vs. Boston after a six-game absence due to a lower-body injury suffered on Oct. 26 in Montreal.
