The Blues don’t have much room for patience anymore.
St. Louis sits at 7-8-2, stuck on the outside of the playoff picture and watching the gap open a little more each night.
The Blues are seventh in the Central Division with 16 standings points, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks, and they’re carrying a three-game losing streak into a week that could tell us a lot about where this season is headed. They’ve gone 4-5-1 in their last 10, so the margin for error is thin.
The schedule offers one softer landing spot, but the other two games are the kind that can either steady a team or shove it deeper into the hole.
First up is Detroit on 11/10, and the Red Wings are in almost the exact same place. They’re 7-8-3, also on a three-game skid, and also 4-5-1 over their last 10.
Their 17 points leave them last in the Atlantic Division, which is turning into the NHL’s strongest group this season. On paper, this is the most winnable game of the week for St.
Louis, and somebody is going to walk away with a losing streak snapped.
Detroit’s bigger storyline has nothing to do with the standings. Dylan Larkin’s unresolved trade request is still hanging over the team, and he’s now sitting out games until it gets handled. That said, the news that Nikita Kucherov won’t be staying in Tampa Bay has pushed Larkin’s situation out of the spotlight a bit.
The most important game for the Blues may come two nights later against Utah on 11/12. The Mammoth have slipped into a strange middle ground, losing back-to-back games and falling to the second wild-card spot.
They’re also 4-5-1 in their last 10, which puts them in the same recent form as St. Louis and Detroit, but Utah has been scoring.
Their 63 goals for are tied for second in the Central. The issue has been in net, especially with Karel Vejmelka not finding last season’s form.
That one feels like the swing game of the week. If the Blues are serious about clawing back into the race, they need to beat teams sitting above them. Those are the four-point games that matter when the standings are already tight.
Then comes Florida on 11/14, and that’s the toughest assignment of the three. The Panthers made a huge offseason splash by adding Brady Tkachuk and Jacob Markstrom while letting Sergei Bobrovsky walk in free agency, but the start to 2026-27 has been messy. Florida is 9-7-2, with 20 points and the second wild-card spot in the East, and they’re 5-5-0 in their last 10.
Goaltending has been a concern there too. Bobrovsky was shaky last season, and Markstrom’s .870 SV% hasn’t exactly fixed the problem.
Aleksander Barkov has also been out with another injury, and that’s a familiar problem for the Panthers. Their top end is still stronger than St.
Louis’ on paper, but the Blues may have a path if Joel Hofer delivers a big night and the depth players chip in.
In Other News...
Blues Just Sent Dalibor Dvorsky A Message He Cant Ignore
Dalibor Dvorskys night against the Red Wings was a clear sign the Blues are not going to hand him anything, even as they continue to view him as one of the organizations important long-term pieces. In St. Louis 3-2 win, the young forward saw his role trimmed sharply, and the message from the coaching staff was less about one game than about the standard he is being asked to meet every time he steps on the ice.
Jim Montgomery has made it plain that Dvorskys development will be measured against the pace and detail the Blues expect from their forwards, which is why this latest benching carries more weight than a routine lineup decision. The organization still believes in where his game can go, but the path forward is starting to look more demanding, and how Dvorsky responds now will matter just as much as the promise that brought him here. [Read more 🡒]
Jake Neighbours Suddenly Faces Real Pressure In St. Louis
Jake Neighbours has reached an important point in his Blues tenure, with a contract year now carrying real weight and restricted free agency looming after the season. The winger still brings the kind of physical edge St. Louis values, but the offensive side of his game has not matched what he showed in previous seasons, leaving the organization with a tougher read on where he fits long term.
The Blues do have other young wingers pushing for ice time, which only adds to the pressure on Neighbours to steady his production. Even so, none of those options appears ready to simply take his spot, so his role remains important for a team that still needs him to be more than just a hard-nosed presence. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Slump Is Putting Cam Fowlers Role Under Real Pressure
The Blues skid has pushed the conversation around the blue line into sharper focus, and Cam Fowler is right in the middle of it. St. Louis has slipped near the bottom of the division and conference standings, and while Fowlers underlying numbers have held up better than the eye test might suggest, his overall impact has not matched the expectations that came with his arrival.
That leaves the coaching staff weighing a difficult balancing act as it looks for ways to steady the defense. Logan Mailloux and Adam Jiricek are part of the mix the Blues can turn to, but Fowlers place in the lineup is not a simple matter of performance alone, which is why this situation feels bigger than one rough stretch. The next move on the back end could say a lot about how aggressively St. Louis is willing to reshape things while the losses keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]