ST. LOUIS — Dalibor Dvorsky and his sticks arrived in St. Louis Wednesday night after his call-up from AHL Springfield. The 20-year-old prospect took the ice for the Blues’ morning skate Thursday, and toward the end, one of those sticks broke.

No problem: Associate head coach Steve Ott, a fellow left-shot forward who scored 109 goals during a 14-year NHL career, offered his.

Dvorsky finished the practice with Ott’s stick, and when asked if he’d used it for that night’s game, he joked: “I didn’t score, so probably not.”

Indeed, the Slovakian went back to his own — a CCM Ribcor Trigger 9 Pro — and while he didn’t score in the Blues’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks, it was quite a performance in his return to the NHL.

In a game that saw more production but continued many spiraling trends for the club, Dvorsky and fellow rookie Jimmy Snuggerud demonstrated what the future could look like.

“(Dvorsky) played a really good game,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought he did some really good things on the power play. I liked his speed and pace. So there were a lot of good things about him, and then I thought our other young forward (Snuggerud) was our best forward tonight.”

Dvorsky, who was the No. 10 pick in 2023, played two games with the Blues in 2024-25, and the hope was that he might make the team out of training camp this season. That didn’t happen, but with injuries to Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours in the Blues’ 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings last week, he was recalled Wednesday.

Dvorsky joins the Blues this morning and will be in the lineup tonight. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/60zOVqZm3i

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 30, 2025

Dvorsky was leading Springfield with three goals, including two on the power play, so he was seen as a much-welcomed addition to the Blues’ offense, especially the special teams unit.

Montgomery inserted him into the lineup at center, playing on a line with Jordan Kyrou and Mathieu Joseph against Vancouver.

“We want to give the kid a chance to have success, so let’s give him a really dynamic offensive winger and let’s give him a winger that checks and really goes hard at both ends of the ice and knows the details of our game,” Montgomery said pregame. “There’s a lot of things to complement (Dvorsky), who we think is an offensive centerman who can drive the line.”

Joseph, who played with Dvorsky when the prospect played his first NHL game last season, said he’d talk to him prior to puck-drop Thursday.

“I’ll tell him it’s the same game, just a different level, and then just let him do his thing,” Joseph said. “I’m not worried about him. He’s going to be ready.”

Dvorsky was excited about the assignment.

“Kyrou is super-fast, great shot — same with Joseph,” Dvorsky said. “I’m going to try to make plays and shoot the puck when I can.”

Dvorsky didn’t disappoint.

He logged 16:36 of ice time, including 2:45 on the power play. He had two shots on net and another on the power play that hit the post. When he was on the ice five-on-five, the team had seven shots for and none against.

“Dvorsky came in and played amazing today,” Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist said.

Even though it was just his third-career game, it had been six months since he’d made his debut, playing two games last spring.

“I’m a little older, more experienced,” he said. “I learned more stuff at this year’s camp, so I just feel like I’m more experienced than last year.”

Dvorsky broke his stick late in today’s practice and associate coach Steve Ott gave him his.

Asked if he’d be using Ott’s stick tonight, Dvorsky said, “I didn’t score, so probably not.” #stlblues pic.twitter.com/Lcztqz06yO

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 30, 2025

In the third period, the Blues tied the score, 3-3, on a power-play goal by Pius Suter. The scoring sequence began with a point shot from Cam Fowler, and Dvorsky was standing in the slot ready for a deflection opportunity. He didn’t get a piece of it, so he’s still looking for his first NHL point.

Dvorsky, who was 3-3 on faceoffs when he was with the Blues last season, finished 9-4 in the circle (69 percent). He won three of five chances in the offensive zone and two of four in the defensive zone.

“I think I’ve improved on my draws,” he said.

But what was most impressive Thursday was the fact that with two minutes left in regulation of a game tied 3-3, Montgomery had both Dvorsky and Snuggerud on the ice. He said afterward that their play through the night led to that.

“As a coach, you have a gut feel behind the bench, you have a gut feel about who are the players that might get it done and that’s who you put out there in those situations. Usually it’s not your young forwards, but they played really well and they had earned it.”

Snuggerud netted his fourth goal of the season and was the team’s co-leader in shots with four. He also made several key defensive plays with his stick, getting the puck out of Vancouver’s offensive zone late in regulation and then breaking up a potential Canucks scoring chance in overtime.

“They’re super skillful, and they’re smart players,” Sundqvist said. “For those two, they just need to keep going, keep bringing energy.”

“They just battled hard,” Suter added. “They’re doing a good job, playing the system and winning their one-on-one battles.”

Thomas is being listed as day-to-day, while Neighbours won’t be re-evaluated for at least five weeks. It seems like there’s room for Dvorsky to stick on the roster, especially after his performance Thursday, but Montgomery warned not to get too far ahead.

“Too early to tell,” Montgomery said. “You get called up, you get really excited, your adrenaline is going … there’s a lot of dopamine going on. It’s the NHL and we play in front of great fans. But now it’s every day, it’s the recovery. We practice tomorrow. We go to Columbus. It’s rinse, repeat.”

However long he stays, Dvorsky will need some more sticks because he’s not going to use Ott’s.

“I saw that,” Joseph said. “I think Dvo is good with his curve, so hopefully he sticks with it.”