MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues are right back at it in preseason action on Sunday, another road tilt, but this time against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 4 p.m. (stlblues.com, Blues app, 101.1-FM ESPN).
The Blues will send out another group after opening on Saturday and falling 2-1 in a shootout against the Dallas Stars.
One player who will get another look is 2025 first-round pick, forward Justin Carbonneau, who scored the Blues’ lone goal on Saturday.
Justin Carbonneau was our first-round pick for a reason. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/zMX2VzqUle
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) September 21, 2025
“You know what I love about the kid is he loves to play hockey,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of the 18-year-old. “He loves to be on the ice, and you know he loves to score goals. He’s trying always to figure out where he can go to get the puck to score. Then you know there’s areas of his game, naturally, that he’s got to get better. He loves to go to the open ice, which is outside the dots. He’s got to get inside the dots. He’s got to become a more classic goal scorer we’ve seen here in the Brett Hulls, the Brendan Shanahans, Tkachuks. Those people score goals inside the dots.”
Carbonneau skated with Dylan Holloway and 2023 first-round pick Dalibor Dvorsky and made a couple subtle, sneaky plays to free up his linemates with strong scoring opportunities.
“He’s got high-end hockey sense. That he does,” Montgomery said. “In junior hockey, you get used to having to get the puck to make something happen. Now he has guys that think the game like him, he’s got to trust that if he gets open, now he’s getting a Grade A from inside the dots, the one-timers and stuff.”
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Montgomery’s overall impressions with Saturday night’s game?
“One, it’s early in camp; we’ve still got a lot of work to do when I look at the team game,” he said. “Individually, our goaltenders (Jordan Binnington and Colten Ellis) were excellent. I thought out top pairing was very good (Philip Broberg and Logan Mailloux). I thought some individuals up front looked very good, and then there were some individuals that didn’t show enough.”
Mailloux broke up a play during the overtime when the Blues were shorthanded 4-on-3 that really helped them settle into getting an important kill, and it’s roles like those that the coaches are looking to trust the 22-year-old in.
“We’ve got to see what he can handle, because his instincts are really good as a player,” Montgomery said. “Offensively, I saw some really good instincts. Defensively off the rush, I saw some good stuff. It’s his first time playing a zone, so he’s a little slow in the D-zone. That’s to be expected. There’s a little thinking going on by both teams last night. That’s why there weren’t that many scoring chances. But our goalies were fantastic.”
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The Blues are taking more players on Sunday that have things to prove and not as much of a more polished lineup again, leaving a number of veterans behind.
Among those making his debut include Milan Lucic, in camp on a PTO; Nick Bjugstad is making his Blues debut; Mathieu Joseph and Alexandre Texier are in the lineup, and young guys to go with Carbonneau include 2023 first-rounder Otto Stenberg, Dylan Peterson, Jakub Stancl, 2024 first-round pick Adam Jiricek, Quinton Burns, and Tyler Tucker, playing his first game since ending his season with a lower-body injury in the playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets.
“See who’s going to start asserting themselves to wanting to make the Blues team,” Montgomery said. “It’s really that basic, who can show is the habits and details of [Nathan] Walker and [Alexey] Toropchenko, who has that dogged determination that Holloway plays with, who is the defenseman that is going to break up plays and look to jump and go like [Colton] Parayko and [Cam] Fowler and [Justin] Faulk do.”
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Jake Neighbours (personal) and Juraj Pekarcik (undisclosed injury), each who hasn’t been on the ice for the start of training camp, did not practice on Sunday but each was on the ice after skaters practiced doing skating drills and conditioning.
“Yeah, he’ll be back on Tuesday,” Montgomery said of Neighbours. “He’ll do a light skate today without the team and he’ll be ready to go on Tuesday.”
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Blues roster:
Forwards – Nikita Alexandrov, Sam Bitten, Nick Bjugstad, Justin Carbonneau, Hugh McGing, Mathieu Joseph, Milan Lucic, Dylan Peterson, Jakub Stancl, Otto Stenberg, Alexandre Texier, Chris Wagner.
Defensemen – Quinton Burns, Adam Jiricek, Leo Loof, Corey Schueneman, Hunter Skinner, Tyler Tucker.
Goalies: Joel Hofer, Vadim Zherenko.
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Blue Jackets Projected Lineup:
Yegor Chinakhov-Cole Sillinger-Mathieu Olivier
Dmitri Voronkov-Luca Del Bel Belluz-Hudson Fasching
Mikael Pyythia-Brendan Gaunce-James Malatesta
Roman Ahcan-Oiva Keskinen-Jack Williams
Brendan Smith-Jake Christiansen
Daemon Hunt-Charlie Elick
Marcus Kearsey-Dyson Mayo
Ivan Fedotov is projected to start in goal; Evan Gardner is projected to be the backup.
Observations From Blues' 2-1 Preseason Shootout Loss Vs. Stars The St. Louis Blues
opened the preseason with a 2-1
shootout loss against the Dallas
Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday.
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