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The Blues hope the return of their best player can also mean a return to the win column.

Robert Thomas returned Monday night vs. Edmonton after missing four games with an upper-body injury suffered Oct. 25 in Detroit. Thomas was hurt in the second period of that game when he collided with Alex DeBrincat in the neutral zone and exited the game in the third period.

Forward Robert Thomas will return to the Blues lineup on Monday vs. Edmonton after missing the last four games due to an upper-body injury.

Thomas took his customary spot on the top line between Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Snuggerud during morning skate on Monday. With Thomas back in the lineup, Nathan Walker was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

In every Blues game, it seems, is a small nugget of encouragement hidden amid yet another loss.

The Blues lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, for their seventh loss in a row. The Blues are parked in last place in the Central Division, having gotten just two of the past 14 possible points, but they had a bunch of chances to pull even in the third period with 17 shots on goal, almost all of them in the back half of the period.

The Blues showed improvement again Saturday but ultimately lost for the seventh straight time, a 3-2 defeat at Columbus.

The tone was positive afterwards. Here's what coach Jim Montgomery as well as Nick Bjugstad and Justin Faulk had to say about what they saw.

You can easily fall into the trap of thinking a win will make all the difference for the Blues. Just stop the slide. End the streak, then the tension will slowly dissipate from everybody’s shoulders, and they’ll play free and easy. The things they’re trying to iron out on defense will come easier, and all will be right.

At least that was my first reaction when I heard Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist say, following Thursday night’s shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Enterprise Center, “I don’t know what to say. It’s kind of — it’s hard right now, and we just need a freaking win.�

As fans inside PPG Paints Arena celebrated a second Penguins goal against the Blues, Abby Kendall was watching a nightmare unfold.

A man a couple of rows in front of her seat in Section 234 on Monday had attempted to jump sideways from one row to the next while moving toward the staircase separating sections 234 and 201, she said, rather than asking people between him and the stairs to stand.

Blues center Oskar Sundqvist summed up the sentiment in the Blues’ dressing room after the team’s 4-3 shootout loss to Vancouver on Thursday pretty succinctly.

“We need a freaking win,� he said.