Early look The full preview opens on Monday 14 December, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

St. Louis Blues at Boston Bruins: game preview

Puck drop17 Dec · 7:00 PM ET
VenueTD Garden
All-time meetings164 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Fourteen points apart last season

St. Louis finished last season 22nd in the league on 86 points. Boston finished 8th on 100.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 165

Across 164 completed games, Boston lead the head-to-head 94-52-18.

All-time record94-52-18Boston's record in the series
Meetings played164This is number 165
2025-26 series—
Last 53-2Boston
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
9 Dec 2025BOS 5 – STL 2——BOS
4 Dec 2025STL 2 – BOS 5——BOS
16 Nov 2024STL 3 – BOS 2 OT——STL
12 Nov 2024BOS 3 – STL 2——BOS
11 Mar 2024STL 5 – BOS 1——STL
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateSt. LouisBoston
4 Dec 20259-12-7 · 25 pts29th16-13-0 · 32 pts14th
9 Dec 202511-13-7 · 29 pts27th18-13-0 · 36 pts10th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 4 Dec 2025, St. Louis were 29th in the league and Boston 14th. By 9 Dec 2025 it was 27th and 10th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

St. Louis out-attempted Boston 127 to 117

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

St. Louis Blues

127 att · 65 on goal · 4 G · 6.2%
Crease10 att · 0 G
Slot43 att · 3 G
Wing42 att · 1 G
Point32 att · 0 G
Neutral zone0 att · 0 G

Boston Bruins

117 att · 58 on goal · 10 G · 17.2%
Crease13 att · 2 G
Slot32 att · 6 G
Wing54 att · 2 G
Point13 att · 0 G
Neutral zone5 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

St. Louis have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

St. LouisBoston
2.69xG for per game2.87
3.33xG against per game3.13
44.7%xG share47.8%
−1.1FinishingGoals minus expected goals−2.5
−0.0GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+1.5

This season: 3 games for St. Louis, 4 for Boston. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

St. Louis

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2712.5%
Power play · 2025-2617.6% · 26th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2790.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2676.7% · 25th
Faceoffs · 2026-2744.6% · 83/186
Drawn · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2710 (3.33/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Boston

Small sample
Power play · 2026-270.0%
Power play · 2025-2623.4% · 9th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2772.7%
Penalty kill · 2025-2677.0% · 24th
Faceoffs · 2026-2750.4% · 117/232
Drawn · 2026-2710 (2.50/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2711 (2.75/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
83Mason McTavish32020.67
15Dalibor Dvorsky32020.67
47Mark Kastelic41230.75
10JJ Peterka42020.50
44James Hagens42020.50
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
55Colton Parayko30110.33
27Hampus Lindholm41120.50
91Nikita Zadorov40220.50
6Mason Lohrei40220.50
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 15 Dec: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 15 Dec: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

St. Louis crease

STL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 14 Dec

Joel Hofer.9552 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx +2.8
Jordan Binnington.8331 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −2.5

No appearances against Boston in the last meetings.

Boston crease

BOS · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 14 Dec

Jeremy Swayman.9143 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.4
Michael DiPietro.8971 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −0.7

No appearances against St. Louis in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.0 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

9 Dec 20257 · BOS 5–2 STL
4 Dec 20257 · STL 2–5 BOS
16 Nov 20245 · STL 3–2 BOS
12 Nov 20245 · BOS 3–2 STL
11 Mar 20246 · STL 5–1 BOS

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
St. Louis2.333.332.823.15
Boston2.252.753.323.05

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.0Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings6.0Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

5 on the injury lists

St. Louis · injuries

Alexey ToropchenkoUpper BodyIRReturn14 Nov
Felix TrudeauUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct
Logan MaillouxHandIRReturn25 Nov
Tyler TuckerKneeIRReturn12 Nov

Boston · injuries

Charlie McAvoySuspensionOutReturn13 Oct
5 Oct · STL

Placed LW Alexey Toropchenko on injured reserve.

27 Sep · STL

Placed G Georgii Romanov and D Calle Rosen on waivers. Claimed RD Justin Barron off waivers.

19 Sep · STL

Placed D Marc Andre Gaudet was placed on waivers.

5 Oct · BOS

Reinstated C Matthew Poitras from injured reserve.

4 Oct · BOS

Placed RW Michael Eyssimont on waivers.

27 Sep · BOS

Placed D Henri Jokiharju on waivers. Placed C Matthew Poitras on injured reserve.

Injury report
#11Tynan LawrenceRound 1 · Boston UniversityC
#16Maddox DagenaisRound 1 · QuebecC
#75Luke SchairerRound 3 · Usa U-18D
#107Landon NyczRound 4 · UmassD
Full draft
#56Yuri IvanovRound 2 · Spartak Jr.G
#88Nils BartholdssonRound 3 · Rogle Jr.RW
#104Matvei KotkovRound 4 · Yaroslavl Jr.RW
#122Oscar OlssonRound 4 · Orebro Jr.LW
Full draft

Updated after every final