Usually a part of the fabled "S" line, teamed with Vladimir Sobotka and Chris Stewart, the right winger instead took the place of the injured David Backes on the first line with Alexander Steen and T.J. Oshie, rewarding coach Ken Hitchcock's confidence by scoring a goal while linemate Steen netted two in the Blues' blowout of the fading Montreal Canadiens.
Oshie had two points with as many helpers as the Blues snapped a brief two-game skid while Montreal dropped their fourth and six games.
"Schwartzie can play with anyone," Oshie said. "He's a great player, he works hard. It seems like every line that he's on, that line gets more offensive zone time. That line gets energy off of him."
Backes, sidelined since Monday night after colliding with Ottawa Senators' center Colin Greening, skated on Thursday morning, but hasn't been cleared to return yet.
"I’m going to wait and talk to the training staff... but it’s always a good sign. This was how we saw it moving forward because we didn’t put him on IR. I’m not surprised to see him skating and we hope to see him back in there soon. Hopefully he’s a player in the very near future." - Blues' GM Doug Armstrong
When Backes returns, Schwartz will most likely return to the "S" line, hopefully with Sobotka, who is also on the shelf with an upper-body injury.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/blues-schwartz-finds-twine-in-his.html
"I just tweaked something a little bit ago and it kind of got worse, so I needed to rest it," Schwartz said when asked about the nature of his injury. "It's a long year so I didn't want to make it worse. A few days of rest has definitely helped it and I got a lot of work on it."
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Vladimir Sobotka (upper body) is still not ready to return. Sobotka has missed three straight games.
"He's not ready to go," Hitchcock said. "He's probably 50 percent of where he needs to be."
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