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“It could’ve been a lot worse,” Bannister said
after practice. “I’m happy that he’s going to be back. It
could’ve been worse, but it isn’t. He was playing really good
hockey, and now it’s like ‘Let’s get him back on the ice and get
him back to game speed.’ That’s going to take a little bit of
time, but I think the player himself is really happy.”
Broberg’s right leg bent at an awkward angle when he was tangled
up with Toronto forward Mitch Marner in the second period
Saturday night. He clutched at the leg and needed help getting
off the ice.
The 23-year-old Swede is the latest Blues player to miss time
with injury. The team is already without forwards Robert Thomas,
Kasperi Kapanen and Mathieu Joseph, and defensemen Nick Leddy
and Torey Krug.
Thomas has a broken ankle, while Krug is expected to miss the
entire season after undergoing ankle surgery.
"I think our guys have done a real good job of stepping into
those situations," Bannister said. "You can’t necessarily expect
somebody to come in and take over Robby’s job or Broberg’s job.
You need it to be a team effort, and you need all 20 guys
pushing in the same direction, playing the right way.”
Scott Perunovich figures to take Broberg's spot in the lineup
for St. Louis, which is 6-6-0 through 12 games. Broberg was
among the team's leading scorers with nine points after signing
an offer sheet this past summer as a restricted free agent.
“Now Prune’s able to step in and get an opportunity and we’re
going to have to lean on these guys to play some good hockey for
us,” Bannister said. “The group on the ice will get the job done
while those guys are out. It’s an opportunity at making sure
we’re doing the right thing, and we can’t just rely on one or
two players to fill the spot. We need everybody on the ice
pushing in the right direction.”
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