Only two more St. Louis Blues games are left in 2024, and today's matchup against the Buffalo Sabres is the last one that will be played inside an NHL Arena. The Blues have their Enterprise Center finale in a mid-day match-up against a team that had been on a nasty downward spiral but has turned it around in their last two games.
Let's preview the match-up.
Final Home Game of 2024
It all comes down to this, the final home game of the calendar year. When they step onto the ice at Wrigley Field on New Year's Eve, they will be visiting the hometown Chicago Blackhawks, and of course, the game will be played Winter Classic-style outdoors.
For today's matchup, it is important to look back on how the Blues have done this season at home and how much better they can be in the second half of the season. With a record of 7-8-1, they have room for improvement in front of the home fans.
The Blues have a record of 17-16-4 for 38 points this season and are currently fifth in the Central Division. The Sabres have a record of 13-19-4, for 30 points, and they stand in seventh position of the Atlantic Division.
The player to watch for from Buffalo is Tage Thompson. He is a pure-bred sniper, as evident in his 17 goals already this season. He has the potential to be an Alex Ovechkin-esque player, that will be scoring goals for a long, long time.
The Sabres have been a down team as of late, losing 13 games in a row at one point. But, they seem to have found something that works because they have outscored opponents 13-3 over their last two wins. The Blues should not underestimate them, whatsoever.
The Blues have a ton of players who could be on the verge of streaks after the touchdown and extra point they scored on the Nashville Predators. One player to keep an eye on is defenseman Cam Fowler. He registered a goal and an assist in the Blues last tilt, and he has been fantastic overall since coming over from Anaheim. He now has that lone goal and four assists in the six games he has played since joining the Blues.
It has yet to be confirmed but it looks like it will be Jordan Binnington in the net for the Blues, not Joel Hofer. Hofer was adequate in the 7-4 win against Nashville. For the Sabres, again unconfirmed, it looks like it will be starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
The puck drop will be at 2:00 PM CT.