St. Louis Blues — Florida Panthers 1:4: result, scoring and stats

The St. Louis Blues return to Enterprise Center on a modest two-game winning streak, still searching for the complete sixty-minute performance that has eluded them for much of the season. The Florida Panthers arrive in the midst of a grueling seven-games-in-twelve-days stretch, having just authored their biggest comeback of the year. It is a meeting of a team rebuilding its identity and a team reasserting its championship pedigree, with the added emotional weight of a Hall of Fame celebration honoring a Blues legend whose sons will be on the opposing bench.

St. Louis finds its footing

The Blues snapped a three-game slide with a 3-2 win over Detroit on Nov. 10, then followed it with a 1-0 shootout victory in Utah two nights later, their first back-to-back wins since late October. Joel Hofer has been the anchor, stopping 29 shots through sixty-five minutes and five more in an eight-round shootout against the Mammoth, his second shutout of the season and tenth of his career. Head coach Jim Montgomery has been candid about the need for more urgency at five-on-five, particularly in the offensive zone, where the Blues have too often settled for perimeter looks. Jimmy Snuggerud leads the team with 10 goals, including seven in his last twelve games, and his willingness to drive the net has given St. Louis a dimension it lacked during its early-season slump.

Florida’s resilient championship core

The Panthers have won two straight and sit at 10-7-2, a respectable mark given the absences that have tested their depth. Their 5-4 comeback over Detroit was a statement of intent: trailing 4-1 late in the second period, Florida scored four unanswered goals, capped by Anton Lundell’s second of the night with 2:40 remaining. Sam Reinhart leads the team with 11 goals, while Carter Verhaeghe has been the engine behind the offence with three assists in that comeback and ten goals of his own. Head coach Paul Maurice acknowledged that a slow start was inevitable given the compressed schedule, but the maturity his group showed in staying with the game against the Red Wings is exactly the trait that carried Florida to consecutive championships in 2024 and 2025. The Panthers remain without captain Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, both recovering from knee injuries, though both have resumed skating and could return within two weeks.

The Tkachuk family affair and the head-to-head

This game carries a personal dimension unlike any other on the calendar. The Blues will celebrate the Hall of Fame induction of Keith Tkachuk, the franchise icon who spent nine seasons in St. Louis, and his sons — Brady and Matthew Tkachuk — will be on the opposite side of the ice. Brady, acquired by Florida in the offseason, has been a revelation with 10 goals and 21 points in his first 20 games as a Panther, including a stretch of back-to-back natural hat tricks that only two other players in NHL history have achieved. The Blues swept last season’s series, outscoring Florida 11-6 over two games, and have scored at least four goals in six of their last nine meetings against the Panthers. That history suggests St. Louis will not be intimidated by the defending champions, but Florida’s roster is deeper and more battle-tested than the version the Blues faced a year ago.

Goaltending and the injury picture

Hofer has started six of the Blues’ last eight games and has clearly seized the No. 1 role from Jordan Binnington, whose struggles earlier in the season opened the door. Hofer’s .938 save percentage over his last two starts and his calm demeanour in the shootout have earned the trust of his coach and teammates. For Florida, Jacob Markstrom has been the primary starter, though Akira Schmid has pushed him for playing time with strong performances in limited action. The Panthers’ blue line remains without Jonah Gadjovich (neck), but Sandis Vilmanis returned to the lineup against Detroit after missing two games. St. Louis is still without Tyler Tucker (knee) and Dillon Dube (neck), though the return of Logan Mailloux from a hand injury has stabilized a defensive corps that was stretched thin earlier in the month.

The chances and the expected shape

The chances are rated about even, with Florida at 39 percent and St. Louis at 38 percent, while a level score after regulation time carries a 23 percent chance and would send the game to overtime or a shootout. The most likely score after sixty minutes is 2-2, a reflection of two teams that have found their goaltending but still search for consistency in front of it. The Blues’ home record of 5-2-1 is among the better marks in the Central Division, and the energy of the Tkachuk ceremony should give them an early lift. Florida, however, has the offensive depth to weather an emotional opening and the championship experience to manage a tight third period. The team that avoids the slow start that has plagued both sides at times this season will likely be the one celebrating when the final horn sounds.

Preview prepared from the match data · 14 November