Blues to be home opener for second straight opponent looking to play spoiler; Hofer gets first start of season on front end of back-to-back; Celebrini, Smith each to make his NHL debut against St. Louis
For the second straight game to open their season, the St. Louis Blues open an opponent's home schedule.
After successfully spoiling the home opener for the Seattle Kraken, overcoming a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 on Tuesday, the Blues (1-0-0) will look to make it two straight when they open the schedule for the San Jose Sharks today at 9:30 p.m. (ESPN+, HULU, ESPN 101.1-FM).
The Blues, who were 0-2-1 last season against the Sharks, last in the NHL with 47 points (19-54-9), were able to accomplish a couple things with their come-from-behind win on Tuesday.
One, they overcame a multi-goal deficit, something that didn't happen often, and two, the power play, which was dead last for the first month of the season, got the ball rolling when Jordan Kyrou made it a 2-1 game in the second period en route to three goals in 1:55.
Now moving forward, another goal for the new season is winning games against teams below them in the standings, and only gaining one out of six points against the last-place team in the league when the Blues needed seven points to reach the playoffs, speaks volumes.
The Blues will want to buck that trend moving forward this season. Against the four last place teams, St. Louis was 5-5-1 last season, and if the Blues are to be a playoff/contending team, that won't be good enough.
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Not only will the Blues be dealing with more home opener festivities, tonight will also mark the debut of San Jose's first-round picks from each of the past two seasons: center Macklin Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and center Will Smith, the No. 4 pick in 2023.
Celebrini comes as the top overall pick on the heels of Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks; he comes off a 64-point season (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games at Boston University last year.
Smith, who had 71 points (25 goals, 46 assists) in 41 games last season, was a rival of Celebrini at crosstown Boston College.
Each will center San Jose's top two lines tonight, something the Blues will need to be wary of.
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Blues coach Drew Bannister told reporters on Wednesday that forwards Alexandre Texier and Kasperi Kapanen each missed practice with maintenance days but each is projected to be in the lineup tonight.
With the Blues playing the front of a back to back tonight, Joel Hofer gets his first start in goal of the season, and Jordan Binnington, who was rock solid stopping 30 shots on Tuesday, will get the nod on Friday when the Blues end the trip against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Dylan Holloway-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours
Alexandre Texier-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter-Matthew Kessel
Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Zack Bolduc, P.O. Joseph and Scott Perunovich. Brandon Saad (paternity leave), Oskar Sundqvist (knee) and Torey Krug (ankle) are out.
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Sharks Projected Lineup:
William Eklund-Macklin Celebrini-Tyler Toffoli
Mikael Granlund-Will Smith-Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow-Alexander Wennberg-Luke Kunin
Danil Gushchin-Nico Sturm-Ty Dellandrea
Jake Walman-Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro-Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun-Matt Benning
Mackenzie Blackwood will start in goal; Vitek Vanecek will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Klim Kostin, Carl Grundstrom and Givani Smith. Marc-Edouard Vlasic (upper body) and Shakir Mukamadullin (lower body) are out. Logan Couture (lower body) and Thomas Bordeleau (lower body) are on injured reserve.
