Game 28: Montreal Canadiens vs. St. Louis Blues

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Blue region: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+

The Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues were the top stories of the final third of the season last year. Both teams picked up after the 4 Nations Face-Off well out of a playoff position, but they put together remarkable finishes to end up in the final wild-card spot of their respective conferences. The Canadiens have carried enough of that momentum into 2025-26 to currently sit a point out of top spot in the Atlantic Division with one-third of the season played. It hasn’t been the same for the St. Louis Blues, who currently rank seventh in the Western Conference wild-card battle and will need something similar to last year’s sprint to change that.

St. Louis’s main issue is that it can’t score. The Blues rank 31st in the league with an average of just 2.52 goals per game. Robert Thomas’s 17 points make for the second-lowest team-leading total in the NHL behind Jordan Eberle’s and Matty Beniers’s 16 in Seattle. For some context on how St. Louis compares to the eighth-ranked Canadiens, the Habs’ top seven assist totals match or eclipse the production of the Blues’ top seven scorers.

If that weren’t enough, the Blues are also struggling to keep other teams from scoring, with a team save percentage of .877 through their opening 29 games. They were able to make the playoffs last year by being 11th in goals against per game, but that average is 0.59 goals higher this time around. The struggles have been particularly great for Jordan Binnington, the goalie who was expected to lead Canada in the 2026 Olympics, who holds just an .874 save percentage, and comes into tonight’s game with a 6-7-5 record.

Tale of the Tape

Canadiens
Statistics
Blues

15-9-3
Record
10-12-7

47.9% (22nd)
Expected-goal share
50.1% (15th)

3.22 (8th)
Goals per game
2.52 (31st)

3.44 (28th)
Goals against per game
3.41 (25th)

26.3% (4th)
PP%
18.2% (19th)

78.2% (25th)
PK%
76.7% (26th)

1-1-0
Head-to-Head Record (24-25)
1-1-0

Cole Caufield (15)
Most goals
Jordan Kyrou (8)

Nick Suzuki (23)
Most assists
Robert Thomas (13)

Nick Suzuki (31)
Most points
Robert Thomas (17)

The Blues had a plan to improve their offensive totals this season. The acquisition of Logan Mailloux from Montreal was made to give the team a more dynamic player on the blue line to act as a transition leader and playmaker in the offensive zone. That isn’t panning out for them as the defenceman clearly still needs some seasoning, contributing just one assist in 16 games played, holding a -15 goal differential, and spending a brief stint in the AHL as the Blues tried to get him a splash of confidence in a league he performed well in last year.

Things are better for the player Mailloux was traded for, but Zachary Bolduc hasn’t been the immediate force Kent Hughes thought he was acquiring either. The forward does have six goals and six assists, but three of those goals and an assist came in the opening three games of the season. Following a short period of time on Montreal’s top line, Bolduc is now playing on the fourth, and has been held pointless in four consecutive games. This particular trade of 22-year-old players will need more time to see which of the two develops into the better performer.

A lack of offence from Mailloux and company is good news for Samuel Montembeault who needs all the help he can get from the opposition right now. Jakub Dobeš has taken over starting duties, just beating a hot Toronto Maple Leafs club last night and looking ahead to an important start versus the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, so tonight’s result will be up to Montembeault no matter what happens. Including this game, the Canadiens have six back-to-back sets between now and January 13, and they need Montembeault to get back on form for this busy section of the schedule.