Early look · NHL 2026-27

Carolina Hurricanes at St. Louis Blues: game preview

CarolinaHurricanes2026-27: 2-1-1 · 5 pts · 2025-26: 53-22-7 · 113 pts · 2ndat

St. LouisBlues2026-27: 1-2-0 · 2 pts · 2025-26: 37-33-12 · 86 pts · 22nd

Puck drop24 Oct · 7:00 PM ET

VenueEnterprise Center

All-time meetings43 completed

BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26

The thesis

Twenty-seven points apart last season

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

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

Last 5 meetings

See all: Last 5 meetings →

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

DateCarolinaSt. Louis

13 Jan 202628-15-4 · 60 pts5th18-21-8 · 44 pts29th

12 Mar 202641-18-6 · 88 pts3rd26-29-10 · 62 pts28th

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

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.

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

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

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.

CarolinaSt. Louis

3.74xG for per game2.69

2.21xG against per game3.33

62.9%xG share44.7%

−4.0FinishingGoals minus expected goals−1.1

−3.2GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−0.0

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

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

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

Skaters

Skaters to watch

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

Forwards to watch

See all: Forwards to watch →

PlayerGPGAPP/GP

20Sebastian Aho44371.75

37Andrei Svechnikov41341.00

53Jackson Blake40330.75

77Connor McMichael31231.00

83Mason McTavish32020.67

15Dalibor Dvorsky32020.67

Points leaders

Defencemen to watch

See all: Defencemen to watch →

PlayerGPGAPP/GP

4Shayne Gostisbehere41120.50

74Jaccob Slavin40220.50

5Jalen Chatfield40110.25

6Philip Broberg30220.67

55Colton Parayko30110.33

4Theo Lindstein30110.33

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 →

Carolina

Expected starter after their game on 22 Oct: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

St. Louis

Expected starter after their game on 22 Oct: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Carolina crease

CAR · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 21 Oct

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.

St. Louis crease

STL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 21 Oct

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.

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

Carolina2.753.003.612.93

St. Louis2.333.332.823.15

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

Carolina · injuries

Alexander NikishinContract DisputeOutReturn10 Oct

Seth JarvisShoulderIRReturn24 Oct

St. Louis · injuries

Alexey ToropchenkoUpper BodyIRReturn14 Nov

Felix TrudeauUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct

Logan MaillouxHandIRReturn25 Nov

Tyler TuckerKneeIRReturn12 Nov

Latest moves

See all: Latest moves →

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.

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.

Injury report

Carolina · 2026 draft

See all: Carolina · 2026 draft →

#51William HakanssonRound 2 · LuleaD

#61Wiggo SorenssonRound 2 · Boro/vetlandaC

#68Zachary LansardRound 3 · ReginaRW

#105Michael BerchildRound 4 · Usa U-18LW

Full draft

St. Louis · 2026 draft

See all: St. Louis · 2026 draft →

#11Tynan LawrenceRound 1 · Boston UniversityC

#16Maddox DagenaisRound 1 · QuebecC

#75Luke SchairerRound 3 · Usa U-18D

#107Landon NyczRound 4 · UmassD

Full draft

Saturday 24 October · the full slate

See all: Saturday 24 October · the full slate →

STLThis game 7:00 PM ET

Updated after every final