Blues' depth will be tested now that the NHL has eliminated Sundqvist from Game 3 | St. Louis Blues

Sundqvist will miss Game 3 Saturday at the Enterprise Center, while the Blues will play their first home game in the Cup Final since 1970.

"The league has made its decision and we must now prepare for the third game," Doug Armstrong, General Manager, told Post-Dispatch by SMS. "The depth has been a strength of this team and I am confident that Craig's (Bérubé) players will be more than prepared for the task at hand."

Zach Sanford seems to be the next player. He has been a good player for the last 18 games of this playoff series of the Blues. Sanford did not play the third game of Round 1 of the Blues against Winnipeg on April 14.

Sanford grew up in the Boston area and played hockey at Boston College. Therefore, playing in the Stanley Cup against the Bruins would obviously be special.

As Armstrong has mentioned, one of the features of this blues team is the superior depth of its composition. it helped them to go that far. But playing a game without Sundqvist, and possibly also Robert Thomas and Vince Dunn, will test this depth.

"Yes, absolutely," Ryan O'Reilly said. "I think we have great staff here. We have so many guys who can step in and do the work. Obviously, it's hard to lose key players like this. But we are confident. We have a big group here and (have) so many guys who are able to step in and make an impact. "

Sundqvist, 25, had a stellar regular season with 14 goals and 17 assists in 74 games. He has only two goals and seven assists in 70 previous NHL games with St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

During the playoffs, Sundqvist scored four goals, raised five assists and tied with the team leader at over-8. He is also a regular at the punishment unit.

"He is part of our team," said captain Alex Pietrangelo. "He plays big minutes tonight and night and in all situations."

But Pietrangelo expressed confidence in the fact that the Blues are handling this test.

"Well, he put us to the test last night and we did well," he said, citing Wednesday's 3-2 overtime victory over the Bruins.

Embarrassed by a wrist injury, Thomas missed his first playoff game. Robby Fabbri played a leading role in his first action since the fifth game of the series in Dallas on May 3rd.

"So we had injuries all year round," Pietrangelo said. "We have seen guys fall and others have intensified. You want to have depth for this exact reason. (Fabbri) comes (Wednesday) night and played a fantastic match for us. It is not easy to intervene at this level and play as he did. "

The Blues also lacked defenseman Dunn (head, mouth), who has missed five playoff games since he was hit in the face by a puck at the start of Game 3 of the Conference Finals from the West against San Jose.

At a press session nearly eight hours before the Sundqvist NHL decision, Bérubé said Dunn was about to return Saturday against Boston.

"Yes, there is a chance," said Bérubé. "We'll see how he goes tomorrow."

But Bérubé gave an enigmatic answer to the question about Thomas's status.

"We will have to see Robby Thomas," Bérubé said. "I'm not going to talk about Robby Thomas right now, just for the situation, but for Dunn."

We did not know what Bérubé meant by "the situation", but now that Sundqvist is no longer in the game on Saturday, the Blues may consider using Thomas against the Bruins. If that was the case, they would not need Sanford.

Justice is changing fast in the NHL. On Thursday morning, NHL Player Safety announced that Sundqvist would have a telephone hearing with the league. The hearing was held at 3 pm Thursday, or barely two and a half hours after returning from Boston to St. Louis.

Five hours after the start of the hearing, the league announced the suspension.

Late in the first half of Wednesday's match, Sundqvist was sentenced to a two-minute minor match for embarkation because of a blow in defender Boston defender Matt Grzelcyk.

Grzelcyk had the puck in the corner behind the Bruins net and seemed to be losing ground after changing direction. He was falling on the ice when Sundqvist hit him from behind with his shoulder. Grzelcyk's head hit the glass and he fell on the ice.

Grzelcyk had to be helped out of the ice and did not return to the match. He spent part of Wednesday night at the hospital on tests and an assessment. He did not join the team in St. Louis on Thursday, which means he is almost certainly absent at least for the 3rd and 4th games.

"It's in the (concussion) protocol," said Boston coach Bruce Cassidy. "When we get a new update, we'll give it to you. Obviously, we will list it from day to day. . . see how it goes from here.

In a video explanation sent via the NHL's Twitter account on NHL player safety, the league explained that "the boarding rule requires the user to carry out a legal check of the hitter. "

While acknowledging that Grzelcyk adjusted the position of his body by playing on the puck. Grzelcyk "does not do it in a way that relieves Sundqvist of any responsibility for the nature of this hit".

The league said Sundqvist "adjusts his run, then strikes (Grzelcyk) forcefully from behind backwardly, pushing him violently into the glass and causing him an injury."

It was the league's decision that Sundqvist had time to react to Grzelcyk's move but reacted by "cutting through Grzelcyk's body", which resulted in a more powerful and direct impact on the top of the body and head.