The St Louis Blues continue their effort to escape the Central Division basement with a divisional tilt against Dallas tonight at 8, a location they might need a little luck in with Winter Storm Fern closing in in the coming hours. Right now, the Blues sit at the bottom of the Central with 46 points and a 4-6-0 record in their last 10 contests, and will have to make some more lineup changes with top players like Robert Thomas, Oskar Sundqvist, and Pius Suter all still out with ankle and lower body injuries, respectively. One name coming off the injured list and making his return tonight is D Mathieu Joseph, having missed time since January 12 with an elbow injury.
Joseph will be paired on the Blues' 3rd offensive line alongside youngsters Dalibor Dvorsky and Otto Stenerg, both having moderately good first full professional seasons. The 2nd line for tonight's contest might as well be the top line of offense for St Louis, consisting of Jake Neighbours, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jordan Kyrou. The actual top line is made up of Blues captain Brayden Schenn, Jimmy Snuggerud, and a replacement at the top line in recently acquired Jonatan Berggren, in place of the still out Robert Thomas. Berggren started his tenure in St Louis well after being dealt from Detroit waivers, notching 4 points in his first 3 games with the team, but has had a monkey on his back, with 1 goal in the last 10 games.
Snuggerud continues his decent return from wrist surgery this past December, which saw him sit out 12 games, and he's posted 2 goals and 4 assists for 9 points since his return. Unfortunately, that injury may have cost him a spot on Team USA's roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics this February in Milan. Still, the 21-year-old Minnesota superstar has been a strong offensive force for the Blues despite the team's overall struggles.
On defense, it'll be the usual combo of Philip Broberg and Colton Parayko, both of whom will be representing Team Sweden and Canada at this year's Winter Games, respectively. The earlier-mentioned Dvorsky will also be in Milan in February, skating for Team Czechia, quite an honor for such a young star. The other two Blues to make it to Milan were goaltender Jordan Binnington (Canada) and Pius Suter for Team Switzerland, though Suter has missed time due to an ankle injury that's kept him out since the end of last December. The Blues' secondary defensive pairing is a mix of young and old, with Springfield prospect Tyler Tucker and veteran Justin Faulk making up that arrangement. Binnington gets the start in between the pipes over Joel Hofer, holding an 8-13-6 record with a 3.59 goals against average and a .869 save percentage. Hofer, on the other hand, has an 11-10-2 record with a 2.73 goals against average and a .904 save percentage, making you wonder why he's not been the real starter as of late.
It'll be a tough one for the Blues, with the Stars comfortably in 3rd in the Central Division standings with 65 points, ahead of 4th place Utah with 56 and ahead of them, Minnesota with 67 and Colorado well atop the division with 77 points. The Stars have struggled a bit as of late, however, with a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games, almost like the Blues' 4-6-0 record in the same span.