The St. Louis Blues are getting Vladimir Tarasenko back at a crucial time.
Tarasenko missed the past two games with an upper-body injury -- a suspected but never confirmed concussion -- and returns with the Blues sitting three points back of the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
Tarasenko says he will play tonight. He wouldn’t confirm concussion, only saying it was an upper-body injury. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 23, 2018
The Blues host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday and hold a game in hand over the Anaheim Ducks
Tarasenko sits second on the team in scoring with 27 goals and 58 points in 71 games.
The Blues don’t have much wiggle room in terms of losses in their last nine games. Anaheim is going for their fifth straight win and the Colorado Avalanche have been on fire ever since the return of Nathan MacKinnon.
But the Blues have won three in a row themselves to put themselves back in contention.
The return of a talent as good as Tarasenko can only help their efforts.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck
