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San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues

Thu Oct 87:00 PM CTESPN+St. Louis, MO
By JR·2 min read
Sharks(2-1-0)
Blues(1-1-0)
Thursday 10/087:00 PM

TLDR: St. Louis finally gets a home game after a 3-stop Central Division road trip, and the first visitor is a San Jose team whose whole night may depend on one lower-body injury. Thursday's home opener puts a question mark on both benches.

FRI OCT 9, 7:00 PMESPN+
Sharks
(2-1-0)
LWW
Blues
(1-1-0)
LW

San Jose comes into St. Louis for the Blues' home opener with Macklin Celebrini's lower-body injury hanging over the game. The Sharks scored 9 goals in 2 games with him and were shut out without him. St. Louis has a game in Chicago before this one and has been all over the place so far, from Joel Hofer's 25-save shutout in Dallas to a 6-1 loss in Colorado, with goaltending and a slow power play as the open questions. The board has it close to a coin flip, and Celebrini's status will go a long way toward deciding it.

San Jose Sharks
  • Scored 9 goals in 2 wins with Celebrini in the lineup
  • 2 days of rest after Dallas; Blues have 1
  • Celebrini scratched with lower-body injury, return date unclear
  • Shut out 5-0 by Dallas once he sat
  • Lund, Musty, Gaudette, Barre-Boulet all on IR
St. Louis Blues
  • Hofer's 25-save shutout in Dallas shows a reliable option in net
  • Home opener after a 3-game Central road trip
  • Jiricek's debut drew praise from Montgomery
  • Gave up 6 to Colorado; Binnington's rough start raised questions
  • Power play struggling early
  • Tucker and Mailloux out on the blue line

Everything about the Sharks right now starts with Macklin Celebrini. The new captain had 5 assists through San Jose's first 2 games, and the Sharks scored 4 and 5 in those wins. Then he left warmups early in Dallas with a lower-body injury, was scratched, and San Jose got shut out 5-0 by a Stars team that hadn't won yet. One game isn't a sample. But a lineup that goes from 9 goals in 2 nights to 0 the moment one guy sits tells you how much of the offense runs through him.

The Blues have a stop to make first. They play in Chicago on Tuesday to close the trip, and that game decides what St. Louis looks like on Thursday: who's in net, how the legs feel on 1 day of rest, and whether the opener in Dallas or the beating in Colorado is the truer picture. Those 2 games were about as far apart as it gets. Joel Hofer stopped all 25 shots in the shutout at Dallas, and then the Avalanche put 6 past them.

That swing is the Blues' early-season story. Hofer's debut was the best thing on the trip, Jordan Binnington's rough early outing has people asking questions, and the power play has looked like a problem in local coverage. On the good side, coach Montgomery came away pleased with young defenseman Adam Jiricek's NHL debut. That matters on a blue line already missing Tyler Tucker and Logan Mailloux.

San Jose's list is the longer one, and it gets worse the closer you look. Cam Lund, Quentin Musty, Adam Gaudette and Alex Barre-Boulet are all starting the year on injured reserve, which takes 2 centers and 2 wingers out of the forward group before Celebrini even enters the picture. Kyle Keyser is out of the goalie depth too. If Celebrini can't go, the Dallas game is the best preview you'll get of what's left. Our recap of that one said the thinned-out lineup "had nothing to offer."

San Jose Sharks
(2-1-0)
10/06L@Stars0-5
10/04WvsKings5-4
10/02WvsPanthers4-3
St. Louis Blues
(1-1-0)
10/04L@Avalanche1-6
10/03W@Stars4-0

Puck drop at Enterprise Center is 7:00 PM CT. Watch 2 things between now and then: whether Celebrini skates on Thursday morning, and who St. Louis starts in goal after Chicago. Every other storyline in this game depends on those 2 answers. The Sharks have 2 days off between Dallas and Thursday. The Blues come home on 1 night's rest to a building that hasn't seen them yet this season.

Blues Open Enterprise Center as Sharks Wait on Celebrini | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush