The St. Louis Blues host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at 6 p.m. CT at Enterprise Center, with the game available on Blue Note+ and 101 ESPN radio.
St. Louis (5-4-1, 11 points, fifth in the Central) enters on a two-game winning streak after a dominant 6-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Justin Barron delivered a career-best four-point performance (one goal, three assists) and a +4 rating in that win, his first goal as a Blue and the first four-point night by a Blues defenseman since Philip Broberg in March 2025. Claimed off waivers from Nashville on September 27, the Halifax native now leads the team with a +7 rating through seven games (1-4-5). Dylan Holloway scored twice and added an assist against Vegas, while Mason McTavish notched the game-winner. Joel Hofer stopped 27 of 29 shots.
The Blues have been solid at home (3-0-1) during this five-game homestand and rank among the league’s better special-teams units, with a 25.0% power play (eighth) and 85.7% penalty kill (fifth). They have scored on the man advantage in five straight games. Newcomer Mason McTavish has been a bright spot up front, co-leading the team with six goals and 10 points through 10 games.
Carolina (8-2-2, 18 points, first in the Metropolitan) arrives as the defending Stanley Cup champions and one of the league’s strongest road teams (6-1-1). The Hurricanes are wrapping up a five-game Western Conference trip (2-1-1 so far) after a 6-5 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake have paced the offense, and the club has largely retained its championship core despite the absence of goaltender Frederik Andersen (now with Edmonton) and defenseman Alexander Nikishin (contract situation). Captain Jordan Staal is out with a calf injury expected to keep him sidelined for one to two months; Taylor Hall and Mark Jankowski are also unavailable.
Pyotr Kochetkov is the expected starter for Carolina. He is 6-0-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. For the Blues, Joel Hofer (4-2-1, 2.17 GAA, .921 save percentage) is projected to get the nod.
This is the first of two meetings this season. St. Louis swept the 2025-26 regular-season series, winning both games by a combined score of 6-1. The Blues are 4-2-0 in their last six games against Carolina overall.
Carolina presents a stern test with its structured, high-tempo style and strong underlying numbers (3.92 goals for per game, third in the league; 2.67 goals against, seventh). St. Louis will look to build on Thursday’s complete effort, continue its special-teams success, and get continued contributions from Barron and the top-line group of Holloway, Robert Thomas, and Jimmy Snuggerud to push for a third consecutive win before hosting Montreal on Monday.
