I’ve long held a theory that the Blues, every season, have one player who is the linchpin of their offense. When that player goes down, the team struggles to continue consistent play. In the past, that player has been Jaden Schwartz - the Blues’ stretches when Schwartz was injured, most notably in 2018, led to line shuffling, needing to build chemistry on the fly, and hiccups both offensively and, since Schwartz was a defensive-minded forward, defensively.
It appears that the new Jaden Schwartz is Brayden Schenn. Schenn, who has missed the last nine games with injury, is returning to the lineup tonight.