Early look The full preview opens on Saturday 2 January, 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 Carolina Hurricanes: game preview

Puck drop5 Jan · 7:00 PM ET
VenueLenovo Center
All-time meetings43 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Twenty-seven points apart last season

St. Louis finished last season 22nd in the league on 86 points. Carolina finished 2nd on 113.

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

Head-to-head

Meeting number 44

Across 43 completed games, St. Louis lead the head-to-head 23-18-2.

All-time record23-18-2St. Louis's record in the series
Meetings played43This is number 44
2025-26 series—
Last 53-2St. Louis
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
12 Mar 2026STL 3 – CAR 1——STL
13 Jan 2026CAR 0 – STL 3——STL
17 Nov 2024STL 1 – CAR 4——CAR
19 Oct 2024CAR 3 – STL 4——STL
12 Apr 2024CAR 5 – STL 2——CAR
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateSt. LouisCarolina
13 Jan 202618-21-8 · 44 pts29th28-15-4 · 60 pts5th
12 Mar 202626-29-10 · 62 pts28th41-18-6 · 88 pts3rd

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 13 Jan 2026, St. Louis were 29th in the league and Carolina 5th. By 12 Mar 2026 it was 28th and 3rd.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Carolina out-attempted St. Louis 139 to 81

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

St. Louis Blues

81 att · 48 on goal · 6 G · 12.5%
Crease10 att · 1 G
Slot23 att · 1 G
Wing34 att · 3 G
Point9 att · 1 G
Neutral zone5 att · 0 G

Carolina Hurricanes

139 att · 65 on goal · 1 G · 1.5%
Crease11 att · 0 G
Slot47 att · 1 G
Wing46 att · 0 G
Point31 att · 0 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Carolina 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. LouisCarolina
2.69xG for per game3.74
3.33xG against per game2.21
44.7%xG share62.9%
−1.1FinishingGoals minus expected goals−4.0
−0.0GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−3.2

This season: 3 games for St. Louis, 4 for Carolina. 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

Carolina

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2719.0%
Power play · 2025-2624.9% · 4th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2789.5%
Penalty kill · 2025-2680.5% · 11th
Faceoffs · 2026-2752.1% · 125/240
Drawn · 2026-2721 (5.25/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2719 (4.75/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
20Sebastian Aho44371.75
53Jackson Blake40330.75
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
55Colton Parayko30110.33
74Jaccob Slavin40220.50
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 3 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 2 Jan: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

St. Louis crease

STL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 2 Jan

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

No appearances against Carolina in the last meetings.

Carolina crease

CAR · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 2 Jan

Brandon Bussi.8513 GP · 1-1-1 · GSAx −3.7
Pyotr Kochetkov.8891 GP · 1-0-0 · GSAx +0.5

No appearances against St. Louis in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.1 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

12 Mar 20264 · STL 3–1 CAR
13 Jan 20263 · CAR 0–3 STL
17 Nov 20245 · STL 1–4 CAR
19 Oct 20247 · CAR 3–4 STL
12 Apr 20247 · CAR 5–2 STL

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
Carolina2.753.003.612.93

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 suggest6.1Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings5.2Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

6 on the injury lists

St. Louis · injuries

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

Carolina · injuries

Alexander NikishinContract DisputeOutReturn10 Oct
Seth JarvisShoulderIRReturn24 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.

30 Sep · CAR

Placed G Cayden Primeau on waivers.

27 Sep · CAR

Placed C Seth Jarvis on the injured non-roster list. Placed LD Juuso Valimaki on waivers.

27 Sep · CAR

Placed C Seth Jarvis on the injured non-roster list. Placed D Juuso Valimaki on waivers.

Injury report
#11Tynan LawrenceRound 1 · Boston UniversityC
#16Maddox DagenaisRound 1 · QuebecC
#75Luke SchairerRound 3 · Usa U-18D
#107Landon NyczRound 4 · UmassD
Full draft
#51William HakanssonRound 2 · LuleaD
#61Wiggo SorenssonRound 2 · Boro/vetlandaC
#68Zachary LansardRound 3 · ReginaRW
#105Michael BerchildRound 4 · Usa U-18LW
Full draft

Updated after every final