ST. LOUIS -- It’ll be the first true test for the St. Louis Blues this preseason when they entertain the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (stlblues.com, Blues app, ESPN 101.1-FM).

The Blues (0-2-1) will see a Stars squad (3-1-0) that will resemble quite a bit of their opening night lineup, which includes Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz, among others.

“You’re getting toward the end of camp, so you’re seeing more and more NHL players in everybody’s lineup,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think for guys who are battling for spots, whether to make the team, whether to establish themselves in some roles, there’s some guys, this is an important game for them.”

The Blues will put to the test three players seeing their first preseason action, including the debut of Pius Suter, who will center Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou to see if this is a fit for the start of the season.

“Looking forward to seeing them playing together,” Montgomery said. “Suter’s biggest strength is his brain and his puck support offensively and defensively. He seems to come up with pucks or be available for pucks from teammates, and I think that ability to connect a line is going to lead to more possession time whoever he plays with. But we look forward to seeing him with Holloway and Kyrou.”

Kyrou and defenseman Justin Faulk will also be making their preseason debuts.

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With the Stars bringing a loaded lineup, this will be a tremendous test for some of the younger guys trying to either earn a job or establish footprints for when they do get the call up down the road.

That includes Otto Stenberg, the No. 25 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, who will play on a line with Jake Neighbours and Nick Bjugstad.

“It’s been fun,” Stenberg said. “Game is so much quicker, like all the players I play against, it’s so much better and the D’s are heavier.”

Montgomery has really come to appreciate the forward’s game throughout camp.

“I have found in the beginning he complemented (Robert) Thomas and (Jimmy) Snuggerud well and now he seems to be complementing everybody well,” Montgomery said of Stenberg. “I have really grown to like him more and more throughout camp.”

“I think it’s always been my type of game,” Stenberg said. “I think I can play in different roles on the team and different lines (and) execute it pretty well. I think I can change my game if I’m playing fourth line or first line. I think that’s one good thing. You can battle for a spot on four lines instead of I guess one line or two lines.”

Also, fellow 2023 first-round pick, Dalibor Dvorsky, the No. 10 overall pick who scored his first preseason goal on Saturday in a 4-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks, he’s continued to impress.

“I think he’s gotten better and better,” Montgomery said. “I thought last game was better than the first two, and I think in practice he’s become more noticeable to understanding to how we’re wanting to play and he’s playing faster.”

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Tonight, it’ll be Mathieu Joseph’s turn to take a crack on a line at center.

Joseph, who primarily plays wing, will center Alexandre Texier and Milan Lucic.

“If you have the ability to play all three forward positions, that puts you definitely in a little bit of an advantage,” Montgomery said. “’Mojo’ has that ability, Texier has that ability, Stenberg looks like he has that ability, (Aleksanteri) Kaskimaki comes to mind as well. That just gives you more flexibility as a coach so you can plug and play a guy. And if you have the hockey sense and the determination to play up, say, on the second line or the third and fourth, that adds to your value to the team.”

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Speaking of Neighbours, who has been Brayden Schenn’s wing man throughout camp, he’s getting himself caught up after missing the first few days due to personal reasons and will play his second straight game.

“I think it’s been long enough now where you get your footing back, your timing back, things like that,” Neighbours said. “Obviously game speed’s a whole another level. Looking forward to being back in the lineup tonight and continuing to build off the first one.”

And where does he put his game currently?

“Maybe a six out of 10, but that’s why you have preseason,” Neighbours said. “Just continue to get better. It’ll be a good test tonight. I think Dallas is bringing a pretty good lineup. It’ll be an NHL-type game and I’m excited for that. You’ve just got to keep building and ultimately have your game where it needs to be by October 9th. Just continuing to work towards that.”

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Blues Projected Lineup:

Dylan Holloway-Pius Suter-Jordan Kyrou

Jake Neighbours-Nick Bjugstad-Otto Stenberg

Alexey Toropchenko-Dalibor Dvorsky-Aleksanteri Kaskimaki

Milan Lucic-Mathieu Joseph-Alexandre Texier

Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk

Theo Lindstein-Matthew Kessel

Leo Loof-Hunter Skinner

Joel Hofer is projected to start and play two periods; Colten Ellis will be the backup.

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Stars Projected Lineup:

Jason Robertson-Roope Hintz-Mikko Rantanen

Sam Steel-Matt Duchene-Tyler Seguin

Justin Hryckowian-Wyatt Johnston-Mavrik Bourque

Oskar Back-Radek Faksa-Nathan Bastian

Artuu Hyry could be the extra F

Esa Lindell-Miro Heiskanen

Thomas Harley-Nils Lundkvist

lian Bichsel-Ilya Lyubushkin

Vladislav Kolyachonok could be the extra D

Casey DeSmith is projected to start in goal; Remi Poirier would be the backup.

The Ottawa Senators continue their preseason with the second of two neutral-site exhibition games in Quebec City on Tuesday night. After a 2-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, this time the Sens face the Montreal Canadiens. This game will  have English TV coverage on TSN2, RDS, and TSN5 at 7 pm.

Part of the reason the Senators are in Quebec City for these games is to build a fan base with people who lost their beloved Nordiques 30 years ago. It will be interesting to see where the crowd's allegiances lie.

The Habs are disliked by many in Quebec City, but they've likely won over some of the under-35 crowd who, other than history books or old highlights, have had no exposure to the Nordiques or the rivalry. Given that Montreal is two hours closer to Quebec City than Ottawa, it's also likely that a few more Montrealers bought tickets and made the trip.

The Senators' lines this morning suggest that they'll go with a roster on Tuesday split right down the middle between vets and hopefuls, though morning skates in the preseason aren't always reliable predictors of what we'll actually see at game time.  But let's work with what we have.

The top six forwards – Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto, and Michael Amadio – are all locked in and tuning up for opening night. Meanwhile, Olle Lycksell, Stephen Haliday, Arthur Kaliyev, Zack MacEwen, Jan Jenik, and Hayden Hodgson are hoping to squeeze onto the NHL roster as the 13th man or an injury replacement.

On the back end, Carter Yakemchuk, Nik Matinpalo, Donovan Sebrango, and Jordan Spence continue to try to impress. Spence will be on the team, but Travis Green hasn't had many opportunities to evaluate him in live fire action, so he's still trying to determine where he fits in as Spence learns the team's systems.

Sens lines this morning, as reported by the Coming in Hot podcast.

Tkachuk - Stützle - Giroux
Greig - Pinto - Amadio
Lycksell - Halliday - Kaliyev
MacEwen- Jenik - Hodgson

Sanderson - Zub
Sebrango - Spence
Yakemchuk - Matinpalo
Thomson

Merilainen

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Swedish defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka is one of the most intriguing prospects that the Detroit Red Wings have at their disposal, and he's been getting valuable experience and playing time thus far in Detroit's pre-season schedule. 

Monday night's setback against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena was Sandin-Pellikka's latest introduction to play at the NHL level, and he's held his own, having already logged heavy minutes. 

In his first preseason game, a 3-2 Detroit win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sept. 23, Sandin-Pellikka led all Red Wings skaters with 22:36 of ice time. He was literally seconds from leading all skaters in ice time in the next game, another 3-2 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres, finishing just 13 seconds behind Moritz Seider. 

He also ranked first and second in total ice time in Detroit’s most recent games, against the Sabres in Buffalo and on Monday night against Pittsburgh, respectively.

During each of the aforementioned games, he's seen ample time on Detroit's power-play, living up to his reputation of being, as goaltender John Gibson called it, "an offensive defenseman." 

'Yeah, tonight was really my first night playing with him," Gibson said. "In Traverse City, I was going against him the whole time. You can definitely tell that he's an offensive defenseman. He's joining the rush, shooting the puck. He looked solid out there tonight." 

Following Detroit's choppy 2-1 setback against the Penguins on Monday, head coach Todd McLellan bluntly said that multiple players who were on the ice needed their performances to improve, but that Sandin-Pellikka was not one of them. 

"I Wasn't Impressed": Todd McLellan Speaks Bluntly After Red Wings Play Flat In 2-1 Loss To Penguins The good news for the Detroit Red Wings is that their 2-1 setback at Little Caesars Arena against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins is that it won't count against them in the standings, as it was the fifth pre-season game of their schedule.

"I thought that Axe was, overall tonight, was certainly one or two on our blue line, as far as tonight's game went," McLellan said. "I thought he played a pretty solid outing. In our end, he handled the pressure and made plays from the red line in, he was dynamic and moved pucks around." 

"He was a factor. He wasn't someone I walked into the coach's room after the game and talked about or worried about, other than the positive side." 

That wasn’t the case for several other players who, although not mentioned by name, surely heard about it from McLellan behind closed doors.

"There were some others back there that need to get better," McLellan said.

Sandin-Pellikka chose to wear jersey No. 44, becoming the first Detroit defenseman to do so since Christian Djoos, who appeared in 36 games during the 2020-21 season. Before Djoos, the number had been worn by Anders Eriksson, later traded for Chris Chelios in 1999, and by Russian Five member Viacheslav Fetisov, who eventually switched to No. 2. 

The Montreal Canadiens made it back into the playoffs during the 2024-25 season, and a big reason for it was the incredible play of defenseman Lane Hutson. The 21-year-old cemented himself as a legitimate star during his rookie year, as he posted six goals, 60 assists, and 66 points in 82 games. With this, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year. 

Hutson's offense from the point during his rookie year was very impressive, and he has now been rewarded for it. 

Sportsnet recently released their rankings for the top 50 NHL players heading into the 2025-26 season, and Hutson just made the cut by grabbing the No. 50 spot.

When noting that Hutson had such an awesome rookie season, it makes all the sense in the world that he has been included in Sportsnet's top 50 players rankings. There is no question that he made a big impact in 2024-25, and he should only get better as he continues to gain more NHL experience. 

A few players who were ranked just ahead of Hutson on Sportsnet's list include Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay Lightning), Thomas Harley (Dallas Stars), and Jesper Bratt (New Jersey Devils).

It will now be interesting to see what kind of year Hutson has in 2025-26 with the Canadiens from here. If he takes another big step forward in his development, it would not be surprising in the slightest if he lands a higher ranking from Sportsnet next year.