BLUES The St. Louis Blues have opened the New Year with two quality wins, beating Stanley Cup Contenders Vancouver and Carolina by razor-thin margins in consecutive games. After their 2-1 win over the Canucks, the Blues made a quick one-game road trip to Raleigh, NC where they beat the Hurricanes 2-1 in a five-round shootout.
Nathan Walker made the most of his recent call-up, putting the Blues on the board with his first NHL goal of the season in his second game since joining the Blues from Springfield. In 30 games with the AHL’s Thunderbirds this season, Walker posted 13 goals and 16 assists.
“(The Hurricanes) are a good team – they’re big, they don’t give you any room,” said Brayden Schenn. “We gotta expect – with the teams we’re playing right now – to gut games out and find ways to win the tight ones, and right now we’re doing that.”
Schenn beat Antti Raanta to the blocker side to win the shootout, with Jake Neighbours also converting after overtime ended 1-1 and the first three rounds went scoreless. It was the Blues’ first shootout since winning in the Home Opener against Seattle, beginning the season with back-to-back shootouts.
The Blues return to Enterprise Center this week to kick off a four-game homestand against all Eastern Conference opponents. St. Louis native Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers visit first, followed by the Rangers, Bruins and Flyers.
They host the red-hot Panthers with a record of 20-17-1, worth 41 points and fifth in a tight Central Division.
PANTHERS The Florida Panthers are playing some of their best hockey of the season, winners of seven straight games to go undefeated since falling to the Blues on Dec. 21. The winning streak included two wins over Vegas in 2023 Stanley Cup Final rematches and wins over Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers, Montreal, Arizona and an explosive 8-4 win over the Avalanche on Saturday night.
Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart got the Panthers out to a 3-0 lead in the first period in Colorado over the weekend, but the Avs quickly evened the score in the second. Cale Makar and Josh Manson scored 31 seconds apart in the first minute of the period, followed up by Valeri Nichuskin on the power play a few minutes later. Florida then scored five of the game’s next six goals – including four in the third period – to take control of the game.
Reinhart’s power-play goal in the third capped off his seventh career hat trick as he builds an All-Star caliber season. Reinhart became the eighth player in the NHL to reach 50 points this season, leading the Panthers with 28 goals and preparing to represent the team in Toronto next month.
The Panthers’ trip to St. Louis on Tuesday marks the end of a four-game road trip, hoping to extend their win streak to eight before a five-game stay back in Florida.
They visit the Blues with a record of 25-12-2, worth 52 points and second in the Atlantic Division.
HEAD TO HEAD The Blues beat the Panthers 4-1 on the road earlier this season, led by three-point games from Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas. The Blues have won 4 straight games against Florida, have earned points in five straight (4-0-1) and are 6-1-1 in their last eight matchups with the Panthers.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Torey Krug, who earned his 17th assist of the season setting up Nathan Walker’s goal against the Hurricanes. Krug leads the Blues defensemen with 18 points this season, including two in his last three games.
PANTHERS Sam Reinhart, selected to his first career All-Star Game as he shares 2nd in the NHL with 28 goals in 39 games this season. Reinhart, named the NHL’s First Star of the Week, has eight points in his last five games – though went scoreless against the Blues on Dec. 21.
BLUE NOTES
- The Blues have won back-to-back home games against Florida and are 3-1-0 in their last four against the Panthers at Enterprise Center. They have not allowed a power play goal in 5 straight games against Florida, going 14-for-14 on the penalty kill
- After the game, Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk will join Robert Thomas and Andy Strickland on The Late Shift, live on the Blues YouTube channel at 10:15 p.m. CT
- Colton Parayko is expected to dress in his 616th career game on Tuesday, which will move him into a tie with Bob Plager for 3rd among defenseman on the Blues all-time franchise list
- The Blues are 8-4-0 against the Eastern Conference this season, currently in a stretch of seven straight games against Eastern Conference opponents (1-0-0 so far)
- The Blues are 17-1-0 when scoring first this season, which shares the 3rd most wins in the NHL. They were the last team in the NHL to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first this season (started 12-0-0)
- At the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, Blues prospect Jimmy Snuggerud won Gold with Team USA, while fellow Blues prospects Theo Lindstein and Otto Stenberg won Silver with Team Sweden while Jakub Stancl won Bronze with Team Czechia. Through the entire tournament, the Blues’ prospects combined for 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists), the most of any NHL team
