St Louis Blues News

Despite consecutive excellent performances for Binnington, the Blues turned to Joel Hofer between the pipes on Tuesday, a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. Binninton has won two straight and allowed two or fewer goals in each of his last three contests (2-1-0), boasting a sparkling .949 SV%. Binnington will look to extend his win streak to three games but has a difficult task ahead as the Blues are +145 home underdogs on Thursday against the New York Rangers, who have lost two straight (0-1-1).

Hofer will make his first start of 2024 but has become more of a regular fixture between the pipes for the Blues over the last two weeks due largely to a strong stretch of play. Hofer has allowed three or fewer goals in each of his last four appearances (2-1-0), posting a tremendous .949 SV% in the process. That said, the Blues will need to be heroic on Tuesday if they expect to get a victory against a Florida Panthers club that is riding a season-best seven-game winning streak and has outscored their opposition 22-7 over their last four games.

Hofer will make his first start of 2024 but has become more of a regular fixture between the pipes for the Blues over the last two weeks due largely to a strong stretch of play. Hofer has allowed three or fewer goals in each of his last four appearances (2-1-0), posting a tremendous .949 SV% in the process. That said, the Blues will need to be heroic on Tuesday if they expect to get a victory against a Florida Panthers club that is riding a season-best seven-game winning streak and has outscored their opposition 22-7 over their last four games.

The Blues have signed the Welsh-born Walker to a two-year, $1.55 million contract extension on Tuesday. Walker has spent the majority of the 2023-24 season with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL, scoring 29 points (13G / 16A) in 30 games.

Walker earned his call up from Springfield after producing 29 points (13G/16A) in 30 games played and is expected to make his season debut Thursday vs. Vancouver. The 29-year-old left-winger appeared in 58 games for the Blues in 2022-23, where he had two goals, eight assists, 43 SOG, 25 PIMs and a +10 plus/minus.

Binninngton saved 21 of 23 shots (.913 SV%) in a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in his last outing and will look to rebound as the Blue's starter on Thursday. Binnington has a sub-.900 SV% in six of his last eight games (3-5-0), posting an ugly .867 SV%. The Blues will be hard-pressed to shut things down defensively as +134 home underdogs against the Vancouver Canucks are their league-best offence (3.84 GF / GP).

Holloway has been out since November 13th due to a lower-body injury but has been activated off the Long-Term Injured Reserve Wednesday and loaned to Bakersfield (AHL) for a conditioning stint. The 22-year-old sophomore got out to a bit of a slump prior to his injury as he had only a goal, no assists, 29 SOG, 13 PIMs and a -3 plus/minus in 14 games played.

Holl was a healthy scratch for the Red Wings' last two games but will draw back into the lineup Tuesday for Jeff Petry. The 31-year-old Holl signed a three-year, $10.2 million contract in the offseason and has provided no goals, four assists, five SOG, 18 PIMs and a +5 plus/minus in 25 games played this season.

Despite a heroic effort from Joel Hofer in the Blues' last contest, in which he saved 39 of 40 shots (.975 SV%) in a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars, they will turn back to Binnington on Friday. Binnington has allowed five goals in each of his last two outings, posting an abysmal .767 SV%, but managed to salvage a 1-1-0 record. The Blues, who have won three straight, are +147 home underdogs against a Colorado Avalanche team that they demolished 8-2 on November 11th.

Buchnevich missed Thursday's practice due to illness but was a full participant Friday and is expected to be in the lineup vs. Colorado. The 28-year-old left-winger has been one of the Blues' most productive forward this season with his 12 goals, 28 points, 87 SOG, 22 PIMs and +5 plus/minus through 32 games played this season.