St. Louis Blues shaking up their lines for Game 4 vs. Boston

Facing the possibility of a 3-1 deficit Monday night, the St. Louis Blues are shaking up their lines for Game 4 against the Boston Bruins.

Things went off the rails quickly for the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, as they trailed 3-0 after the first period on the way to a 7-2 loss at home. They can even the series with a win in Game 4 Monday night, and coach Craig Berube is shaking things up.

Goaltender Jordan Binnington was pulled after allowing five goals on 19 shots in Game 3, but it’s not too surprising he’s getting the start in Game 4. But with a couple players returning, a reshuffling everywhere outside of the net became possible.

Defenseman Vince Dunn has not played since taking a puck to the face in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, but he’ll play Monday night and return to St. Louis’ third defensive pairing with Carl Gunnarsson (replacing Robert Bortuzzo).

Center Oskar Sundqvist will return from a one-game suspension for an illegal hit, and rejoin the Blues’ fourth line with Alex Steen and Ivan Barbashev. He’s a key penalty killer for St. Louis, and not coincidentally Boston went 4-for-4 on the man advantage in Game 3.

Zach Sanford will go from the fourth line all the way up to the second line, with center Ryan O’Reilly and winger David Perron. Rookie Sammy Blais will drop to the third line with Tyler Bozak and Pat Maroon, and Robby Fabbri, who played in Game 2 and 3, will leave the lineup entirely.

Bruins winger Brad Marchand cited some good fortune for his team in Game 3, as they cashed in their four power play goals on just four shots on goal across those situations and were ultimately out-shot 29-24 by St. Louis in the game.

But the Blues are clearly the team looking for answers, wherever they might find them, in the Stanley Cup Final. The back-to-front re-shuffling needs to spark something Monday night, or they’ll go back to Boston facing what will feel like certain elimination in Game 5.