Early look The full preview opens on Monday 2 November, 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 New Jersey Devils: game preview

Puck drop5 Nov · 7:00 PM ET
VenuePrudential Center
All-time meetings80 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

One points apart last season

St. Louis finished last season 22nd in the league on 86 points. New Jersey finished 21st on 87.

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

Head-to-head

Meeting number 81

Across 80 completed games, St. Louis lead the head-to-head 42-30-8.

All-time record42-30-8St. Louis's record in the series
Meetings played80This is number 81
2025-26 series—
Last 54-1New Jersey
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
28 Feb 2026NJD 3 – STL 1——NJD
26 Nov 2025STL 2 – NJD 3 OT——NJD
17 Dec 2024NJD 4 – STL 1——NJD
27 Nov 2024STL 3 – NJD 0——STL
7 Mar 2024STL 1 – NJD 4——NJD
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateSt. LouisNew Jersey
26 Nov 20257-10-7 · 21 pts30th15-7-1 · 31 pts3rd
28 Feb 202619-24-9 · 47 pts31st27-23-2 · 56 pts20th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 26 Nov 2025, St. Louis were 30th in the league and New Jersey 3rd. By 28 Feb 2026 it was 31st and 20th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

New Jersey out-attempted St. Louis 119 to 106

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

St. Louis Blues

106 att · 49 on goal · 3 G · 6.1%
Crease5 att · 1 G
Slot37 att · 1 G
Wing41 att · 1 G
Point19 att · 0 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G

New Jersey Devils

119 att · 62 on goal · 6 G · 9.7%
Crease7 att · 1 G
Slot43 att · 3 G
Wing49 att · 2 G
Point15 att · 0 G
Neutral zone5 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

New Jersey 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. LouisNew Jersey
2.69xG for per game3.52
3.33xG against per game3.01
44.7%xG share53.9%
−1.1FinishingGoals minus expected goals−4.5
−0.0GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−4.0

This season: 3 games for St. Louis, 3 for New Jersey. 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

New Jersey

Small sample
Power play · 2026-277.1%
Power play · 2025-2622.0% · 13th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2762.5%
Penalty kill · 2025-2679.3% · 17th
Faceoffs · 2026-2747.5% · 87/183
Drawn · 2026-2714 (4.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-278 (2.67/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
86Jack Hughes31120.67
63Jesper Bratt30220.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
55Colton Parayko30110.33
43Luke Hughes31010.33
47Declan Chisholm30110.33
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 3 Nov: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 3 Nov: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

St. Louis crease

STL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 2 Nov

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

No appearances against New Jersey in the last meetings.

New Jersey crease

NJD · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 2 Nov

Jake Allen.8752 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx −1.7
Nico Daws.8131 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −2.5

No appearances against St. Louis in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 5.9 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

28 Feb 20264 · NJD 3–1 STL
26 Nov 20255 · STL 2–3 NJD
17 Dec 20245 · NJD 4–1 STL
27 Nov 20243 · STL 3–0 NJD
7 Mar 20245 · STL 1–4 NJD

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
New Jersey2.004.332.803.10

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 suggest5.9Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings4.4Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

9 on the injury lists

St. Louis · injuries

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

New Jersey · injuries

Connor BrownLower BodyOutReturn12 Oct
Johnathan KovacevicKneeIRReturn10 Oct
Jonas SiegenthalerUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn10 Oct
Nick BjugstadPectoralIRReturn19 Jan
Seamus CaseyKneeIRReturn21 Nov
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.

27 Sep · NJD

Claimed LW Jeremie Poirier off waivers.

27 Sep · NJD

Claimed LW Jeremie Poirier off waivers. Placed C/RW Marc McLaughlin, LD Vladislav Kolyachonok, G David Rittich, LW Riley Tufte, LD Topias Vilen, and C/RW Colin White on waivers.

25 Sep · NJD

Assigned Ds Mikael Diotte, Ethan Edwards, Jeremy Hanzel, Etienne Morin and Anton Silaev, Fs Josh Filmon, Lenni Hameenaho, Shane Lachance, Matyas Melovsky, Xavier Parent, Cam Squires and Ben Steeves and G Jakub Malek to Utica (AHL). Waived for the purpose of assignment to Utica Ds DJ King, Charles Leddy and Eamon Powell, Fs Tristan Ashbrook, Zachary Gallant, Gabe Klassen, Jack Malone, Justin Pearson, Ryan Schmelzer, Cristophe Tellier and Jermey Wilmer and Gs Jeremy Brodeur and Seth Eisele.

Injury report
#11Tynan LawrenceRound 1 · Boston UniversityC
#16Maddox DagenaisRound 1 · QuebecC
#75Luke SchairerRound 3 · Usa U-18D
#107Landon NyczRound 4 · UmassD
Full draft
#12Alexander CommandRound 1 · Orebro Jr.C
#37Matias VanhanenRound 2 · EverettLW
#44Nikita ShcherbakovRound 2 · Ufa Jr.D
#119Lavr GashilovRound 4 · Yekaterinburg Jr.C
Full draft

Updated after every final