But he was seen walking around, albeit gingerly, in street clothes after practice at the Mullett Arena complex in Tempe, Arizona. (The team didn’t leave for Denver and Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche until early afternoon.)

“Sore, but he’s day-to-day right now,” coach Craig Berube said. “He’ll stay on the trip with us and see when he can be available.”

Following the Colorado game and Monday’s contest in Winnipeg, the Blues take their All-Star/bye week break and don’t play again until Feb. 11.

With the uncertainty over Thomas’ status, the Blues recalled center Nikita Alexandrov from their Springfield (Mass.) affiliate in the AHL. Alexandrov was expected to join the team in Denver.

“We need a center, losing Robby,” Berube said. “(Alexandrov) played pretty good for us when he was up here. He’s pretty detailed. He gets pretty involved physically and has decent puck skills.”

Alexandrov has had two prior stints with the Blues encompassing 16 games — nine games in November and seven games in January. All told, the Blues are 11-5-0 this season when Alexandrov has been in the lineup. His playing time hasn’t been extensive — he has topped 10 minutes of ice time in only three contests, but he’s been effective with two goals, two assists and a plus-5 goal differential.

He was in Springfield for only a week before this callup, playing in only one game for the Thunderbirds. He had the game-winning goal in overtime and an assist in that contest, a 3-2 win over Grand Rapids on Jan. 21.

To make room for Alexandrov on the roster, defenseman Tyler Tucker was sent back to the Thunderbirds. Tucker’s departure still leaves the Blues with seven defensemen — or one extra — because Robert Bortuzzo is back on the active roster after missing eight games with a lower-body injury. Bortuzzo was removed from the injured reserve list Thursday and was a healthy scratch against Arizona.

Based on drills during Friday’s practice, Bortuzzo will be on the third pairing with Niko Mikkola against Colorado.

As for Tucker, he made another strong impression on Berube during his second stint of the season with the Blues. A healthy scratch against the Coyotes, Tucker played in eight games this month, with one assist and was minus-1. Earlier, he played four games in November.

“Tuck did a good job for us,” Berube said. “Gave us some real good minutes. His minutes were up there — 17-18 minutes a night. Good, hard play and pretty simple hockey but he’s got a good brain for the game, too. He plays a physical style of game.”

Despite having 33 shots on goal Thursday, matching their highest total in 14 games, the Blues were shut out for only the second time this season. It’s one thing to have shots, but it’s another thing to have a net-front presence and get second and third chances on rebounds. The Blues didn’t have nearly enough of that, according to Berube.

“I didn’t see us trying to get there too badly,” Berube said. “I didn’t think that we did enough to try to get to their net or battled. We had clear-sighted shots and chances off the rush and stuff. But from the other side of it, where we want to get some tips and deflections or second opportunities — we’re not around the net. We’re on the outside. Too easily boxed out.

“It’s just a will. Again, it’s a will and determination to get to those areas and do a job.”

Forward Josh Leivo got into a fight at the 6:23 mark of the third period with Arizona’s J.J. Moser Leivo got in a few punches and eventually got Moser down to the ice.

“He was giving me shots behind the net, so I just decided to drop the mitts,” Leivo said. “That’s kind of what set me off.”

Besides the five-minute fighting major, Leivo got an extra two minutes for roughing. Arizona took advantage of the power play to score its final goal of the game.

Leivo’s fight epitomized the night’s frustration for the Blues.

“I think so, yeah,” he said. “I think everyone’s frustrated. We know we’re way better than that. Disappointed to come in here and do that to start the road trip.”