Backes started Saturday's game centering a line with Dmitrij Jaskin and Magnus Paajarvi on the wings. He finished with one shot on goal in 17:58 TOI in a 5-0 loss to Nashville.

EDGE Analysis

The Blues are dealing with several losses at forward, which necessitated some line tweaking that may not promote good scoring opportunities for Backes. Jaskin and Paajarvi -- 15 points between them -- are not the same as skating with Alex Steen (upper body) or Patrik Berglund, who started the game on another line as Jori Lehtera's replacement between Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. Backes eventually got some shifts with the productive Schwartz / Tarasenko duo, but the game was well out of hand by then. The Blues are right back at it Sunday when the face the Hurricanes in Carolina.