The St. Louis Blues are now halfway through their preseason slate and once again were defeated 2-1 by the Dallas Stars. With two very different rosters, there are a good number of positives to come away from this game.
With a more NHL-ready roster, the Blues locked down a few key roster battles. Mason McTavish fit in perfectly in his first go-around in a Blues uniform. But it will be interesting to see how he looks with his usual linemates. Pavel Buchnevich and Connor McMichael have not gotten a chance to play yet, but that should be happening in the third game of the preseason, which is against Chicago on September 24.
Let's take a closer look at some of the things to takeaway from this 2-1 loss to Dallas.
First line sparkle
We saw the first iteration of the first line unit, with Robert Thomas, Jimmy Snuggerud and Dylan Holloway. After a summer away, it seems like the chemistry that was found in the late stages of last season is still there.
They were held pointless as a group, but the trio still managed to combine for 11 of the team’s 31 shots on goal. Not a bad first showing, and something to build off of with two preseason games to go. It is still early yet, and the idea of this line not working out should not be in the minds of Blues fans.
Narrowly avoided a disaster
Speaking of Holloway, he was in a little bit of a scary situation in this game. After Snuggerud was boarded from behind by Stars defenseman Kyle Burroughs, No. 81 stepped in and decided to drop his gloves.
Kyle Burroughs gets two for boarding and five for fighting. Dylan Holloway off for repairs. pic.twitter.com/hA9415eYjb
— Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) September 22, 2026
A rope-a-dope ensued, and Holloway went right to the locker room and did not come back out. At least the scare lasted until the third period started, and he returned to the ice.
The entirety of this fanbase was holding their breaths on this one.
Hofer did his job
After Jordan Binnington was unable to have a good showing in the first game, Joel Hofer fared a bit better in his chance. Stopping 17 of 18 shots, he was comfortable from the start of the game until he was pulled to start the third period. Six of those 17 saves came on the penalty kill.
Hofer is going to have a tough road ahead, as it all falls on him now to be the starting goaltender for the Blues. These next couple of games should have him playing in some capacity, and so far it has been a pretty good start.
He will not be under the radar for long.
Add us as a preferred source on Google