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Defenseman Ryan Suter remained a steadying influence for the Blues while playing all 82 regular-season games.

He logged big minutes on the blue line for much of the season’s first half while Nick Leddy was injured and the team’s defensive corps was in flux. Suter, 40, became a mentor to younger defensemen Philip Broberg, Matt Kessel and especially Tyler Tucker.

Now, he will jump back into the Blues’ lineup Wednesday night for Game 5 in Winnipeg, replacing the injured Tucker on the third pairing with Leddy.

Late in Game 4, Tucker suffered a serious-looking leg injury during a collision in a corner. He needed help getting off the ice.

Tucker played 9:45 in Game 2 as the Blues used seven defensemen and 11 forwards. He played 16:21 in Game 3, then he scored a goal and played 17:05 in Game 4 before getting hurt.

As is the custom during postseason play, Blues coach Jim Montgomery offered a minimal medical update on Tucker.

“He’s day to day,” Montgomery said. “He won’t be an option in Game 5.”

Montgomery scratched Suter from Games 3 and 4 in favor of the hard-hitting Tucker. This was not an easy decision, as Suter has played 1,526 regular-season games as one of the NHL’s all-time ironmen.

“I’ve got to give him credit,” Montgomery said. “I’ve got to say, it was hard to do when you respect a player so much and what he has done in the league for years and how much he’s helped up this year. You make a decision, and you live with it.

“That day that I told him, that practice he was unbelievable. He’s a pro. I know he’s going to be good for us. It was just a gut feeling. Putting him back in, we’re getting our No. 1 penalty-killing defenseman back in.”

Suter shouldered a 52.5% share of penalty-killing duty during the regular season, which was his largest percentage since 2017-18 when he was with the Minnesota Wild.

He earned a plus-7 rating this season while averaging 19:28 minutes per game overall. He blocked 109 shots and contributed two goals and 13 assists on offense.

“The poise and calmness when games get frantic, he’s an unbelievable voice back there,” Montgomery said.

Besides Tucker and injured forward Dylan Holloway, the Blues were missing top-six forwards Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn in Tuesday’s practice. Both took maintenance days.

Otherwise, the Blues rolled with the same player combinations they used while winning Game 4.

Montgomery full practice participant

Players suffer all manner of bumps, bruises and lacerations this time of year. Montgomery shared their pain Tuesday when a caroming shot hit him in the face while he mixed it up in practice

“We did a drill to start practice; I was telling the players it’s not hard to box guys out,” he said. “And I was boxing the guy who was driving the net out, and (Pavel Buchnevich) took a slap shot. I heard it hit the crossbar and I (turned) and it came right off the crossbar.

“Just makes me feel like I’m a player in the playoffs, not a coach.”

Montgomery finished the practice with a Band-Aid patch holding the wound until he got further repairs.

“I’m really worried because I really like to eat and I wonder if it will screw up my ability to chew,” he quipped. “But I don’t think it will.”

On a happier note, he capped his practice by beating goaltender Joel Hofer for a shootout goal on his first try.

“It was only one puck because I’m too old to get back to the blue line and skate again,” Montgomery said.

Vilardi likely to make Jets playoff debut

While the Blues look to have lost Tucker for the rest of this series, Winnipeg may finally be getting forward Gabriel Vilardi back. Vilardi has been practicing with the team since Saturday, took pregame warmups Sunday and from all indications is ready to go.

Vilardi will return in the heat of an intense playoff battle.

“I’ve got to be prepared for that right away,” he told reporters. “There’s no working back into it. Every play matters right now, as you guys are seeing.”

Vilardi had career highs of 27 goals and 34 assists in 71 games this season.

“Great set of hands, great shot, works well with our forwards, so it would be a big addition,” Jets defenseman Neal Pionk said.

“It’s very encouraging getting a guy like that back,” Jets winger Kyle Connor said. “We know what type of game he brings, so it’s great for us.”

Also, the Jets should have defenseman Dylan DeMelo closer to 100%. He missed Game 3 with an illness, and he was still recovering while playing Game 4.

“It floored me for a few days, and I was obviously good enough to play Game 4 and I’m feeling good now,” DeMelo said.

Post-Dispatch sportswriter Tom Timmermann contributed to this report.