ST. LOUIS — The long awaited and much anticipated debut of defenseman Scott Perunovich came on Tuesday and everyone seemed excited about the game except his teammates.
If they were, it didn't show in their play. A desultory start to the game turned into a desultory middle before it reached an ignominious end when Arizona’s 30th-ranked power play got its second goal of the night with 6:08 to go in the third period to send the Blues to their fourth straight loss and fifth in the past six games. Arizona won, 3-2, to let the air out of any enthusiasm about Perunovich's first game after Barrett Hayton got his second goal of the game, tipping in a shot by Shayne Gostisbehere.
Still, the game could be a turning point in the season, as the Blues got forward Oskar Sundqvist back from the torn ACL that has kept him out almost eight months, got defenseman Torey Krug back from his COVID-19 case and saw Perunovich play his first NHL game. The second-round pick by the Blues in the 2018 draft had a point in all 12 AHL games he had played in after barely playing in the past year and a half because of injuries and the pandemic.
