The St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] dropped their second preseason game in as many days to open the 2025-26 season with a 4-1 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets [http://thn.com/columbus] at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Sunday. Nikita Alexandrov scored the lone Blues goal, assisted by Justin Carbonneau, the 2025 first-round pick’s second point in as many days; he scored the lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss against the Dallas Stars on Saturday [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/obervations-from-blues-2-1-preseason-shootout-loss-vs-stars]. Joel Hofer played the first two periods and stopped 13 of 15 shots, and Vadim Zherenko stopped five of six shots in the third period. Blues coach Jim Montgomery had this to say on Sunday morning about the lineup prior to departing for Columbus: “See who’s going to start asserting themselves to wanting to make the Blues team,” Montgomery said. “It’s really that basic, who can show us the habits and details of [Nathan] Walker and [Alexey] Toropchenko, who has that dogged determination that Holloway plays with, who is the defenseman that is going to break up plays and look to jump and go like [Colton] Parayko and [Cam] Fowler and [Justin] Faulk do.” There were some decent performances on Sunday but nothing that would make the coach say, ‘That guy is ready to make the Blues team.’ Here are some observations from the game: * Otto Stenberg – The 2023 first-round pick had himself a decent game, logging 16:05 of ice time and really asserting himself with some nice shifts, particularly in the first period when he set up two strong scoring chances, went right to the net in his first shift, which is where he will make his living and then making a crucial shot block that obviously stung to thwart a solid scoring chance against. Stenberg started the game with Alexandrov and Mathieu Joseph and finished with Carbonneau and Alexandrov, a sign that Montgomery was liking some of the things he was seeing from the 20-year-old. He finished with two shots on five attempts, one hit and two blocked shots, a game that can certainly be built on. * Justin Carbonneau – The well has been a bit dry for the Blues offense, but Carbonneau has been part of each one thus far. The Blues were down 2-0 when he took a pass from Lucic after an initial puck was rimmed around, spun at the top of the left circle and whipped a shot to the net that Alexandrov tipped at 16:58 of the second period to cut the Blues’ deficit to 2-1. Carbonneau played 17:33 and again displayed a penchant to shoot the puck, and the more reps he gets, the better his career will begin in St. Louis. He’s definitely showing signs that it won’t be terribly long before No. 68 will be playing here regularly. Another game in which he didn’t look out of place. * Adam Jiricek – What I like about the 2024 first-round pick, just like Logan Mailloux on Saturday, is his shot-first mindset when the puck is on his stick at the point. Yes, he was on the ice for the first two goals against, and one can make the argument that when he pinched on the first goal by Brendan Gaunce and missed, it created a 2-on-0, but there were other varying differences that led to the sequence. Jiricek logged a team high 23:04 and had six shot attempts (two on goal) and was also involved in a number of plays that were killed with his stick. Columbus had multiple 2-on-1s and Jiricek was part of breaking up at least two that I can remember. I thought he had himself a good game. * Joel Hofer/goaltending – Hofer and Zherenko picked up where Jordan Binnington and Colten Ellis left off Saturday. Maybe not quite on par since that duo stopped 33 of 34 in Dallas, but they made the saves necessary to give their team a chance on Sunday and that’s all that can be asked. * Milan Lucic – The 37-year-old veteran on a PTO had an assist, had a scoring chance moments later and he did use his body to his advantage in 15:26 of ice time. He’s the type of guy you want to see in front of the net when Jiricek or whoever is bringing pucks from the point, and there were moments but not there could have been more. Seemed to get better as the game progressed. * Nick Bjugstad – It wasn’t a performance like Lucic that screamed, ‘Wow,’ but what will be important is that stat line of 10 face-off wins on 15 opportunities in 16:14 of ice time. Sixty-seven percent will do. That will go a long way this season late in games, protecting a one- or two-goal lead late, or trying to kill a 6-on-5. * Puck play, particularly in the offensive zone was sloppy – The Blues didn’t generate quite enough O-zone possession because they just didn’t make enough smart puck plays. The one instance that stood out was a sequence with roughly eight minutes left in the second period when Columbus starting goalie Ivan Fedotov made two terrific saves on Mathieu Joseph, followed by a shot block of a Hunter Skinner shot, and then another save on Alexandre Texier. Those moments were far and few between. Too many one-and-dones. Puck placement wasn’t all that great. And speaking of Skinner, part of the trade that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers, he played 16:43 and was assertive in this game, with six shot attempts, three hits and one blocked shot. Really used his body well. Someone to keep an eye on as camp rolls around. -- The Blues are off Monday, resume practice Tuesday and play their next preseason game Saturday at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.
