St. Louis Blues Weekly Prospect Report (March 1)
Justin Carbonneau rips off pair of hat tricks, up to 48 goals; a goalie fight(?); Colin Ralph(?) deciding games in a shootout; Jiricek ties franchise record; Stenberg back in action; Korotky scoring like Ovi
Story by[The Hockey News - St. Louis Blues]
St. Louis Blues Weekly Prospect Report (March 1)
(St. Louis Blues photo)
Lou Korac
Mon, March 2, 2026 at 5:25 AM UTC·
6 min read
A four-game goalless streak for St. Louis Blues prospect Justin Carbonneau must not have sat too well for the first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The forward had just gone goalless for four straight games for the second time this season. The past time it happened, he ripped off 12 goals in scoring in nine of 12 games.
This time, how about a pair of hat tricks ... back-to-back hat tricks.
Carbonneau scored three times and had an assist on Friday for Blainville-Boisbriand of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League in a 7-1 win over Rimouski:
Justin Carbonneau was on fire tonight! 🔥🔥🔥
A hat trick and a 4-point night; Carbonneau has now 45 goals this season! @ArmadaBLB @StLouisBlues | #stlblues #HatTrick | #Vidéotron pic.twitter.com/6Q0lu3NaQI
— QMJHL (@QMJHL) February 28, 2026
He then followed it up with another hat trick on Sunday in a 7-4 loss to Charlottetown:
And he's now at 4⃣7⃣ !
Justin Carbonneau adds 2 goals in the 1st period, and he's closer to the 50's! @ArmadaBLB @StLouisBlues | #stlblues pic.twitter.com/glKMyMaHzH
— QMJHL (@QMJHL) March 1, 2026
Justin Carbonneau, unstoppable!🔥
A 2nd straight hat trick, and he has now 48 goals this season! 🎩🎩🎩 @armadablb#HatTrick | #Vidéotron@StLouisBlues | #stlblues pic.twitter.com/A8kypAs3Rp
— QMJHL (@QMJHL) March 1, 2026
That's seven points the past two games and eight points (six goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak, which now gives Carbonneau 48 goals and 73 points in 52 games on the season. The back-to-back hat tricks give Carbonneau 12 multi-goal games on the season, or 21 percent of the games he's played.
* Adam Jiricek ended a goal drought at 17 games when he scored twice, including the tying goal in the third period, and had an assist in a 5-4 win for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League over Brampton on Wednesday.
His first gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead:
The Dogs have doubled down🐶
Caleb Malhotra makes a FILTHY pass to Adam Jiricek who extends the @BulldogsOHL lead with his 14th of the season!#stlblues | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/9P1LjdHCL4
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) February 26, 2026
And his second of the game tied the score 4-4 and tied a Bulldogs record for most goals by a defenseman in a season:
Jiricek cashes in on the powerplay💰
The @BulldogsOHL defenceman ties the franchise record for most goals in a singular season by a blue-liner with his 15th!#stlblues pic.twitter.com/vmQhqdisdp
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) February 26, 2026
The game gave Jiricek a three-game point streak (two goals, four assists) before coming up empty on Friday in a 7-3 win over Oshawa.
The 2024 first-round pick is now up to 49 points (15 goals, 34 assists) in 47 games this season and will break the franchise record for goals in a season by a defenseman with his next one.
- Colin Ralph (Colin Ralph?) was in the spotlight for top-ranked Michigan State on Saturday to help the Spartans salvage a weekend split with Ohio State.
After falling 5-1 on Friday, the Spartans came back with a 13-round shootout win, 4-3, and the Blues' 2024 second-round pick scored the deciding goal in the 13th round:
Clutch from Colin Ralph to put us ahead in the shootout! pic.twitter.com/otEbVuHR5J
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 1, 2026
Here's what Spartans coach Adam Nightingale had to say about using Ralph at that critical junture:
Michigan State hockey coach Adam Nightingale discusses the 13 round shootout win over Ohio State and Colin Ralph scoring in the final round. @WLNS
"Ralphy actually about the fourth shooter, he was staring me down. He wanted out there." pic.twitter.com/JzHtHzQSg1
— DeSherion McBroom (@DMcBroomTV) March 1, 2026
- Otto Stenberg (2025, first round) was back in action for Springfield of the American Hockey League after missing 13 days with a knee injury; he had two assists for the Thunderbirds in a 5-1 win over Charlotte on Saturday, including this beauty setting up Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (2022, third round) for this breakaway goal:
28 ➡️ 41 = 🚨 pic.twitter.com/wrMfnAUl6r
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) March 1, 2026
I would suspect that once rosters can expand following the trade deadline on Friday that we see Stenberg back in St. Louis, as long as the Blues remain cap compliant.
* Matvei Korotky (2024, seventh round) was at it again, scoring twice in three games for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.
The center scored scored a net front goal in a 4-2 win against Admiral Vladivostok last Tuesday (11:55 mark):
He would also draw this penalty (3:14 mark) and score a beauty of a one-timer to tie the game 1-1 in a 5-2 loss to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv on Saturday, a very Ovi-like goal:
The 20-year-old is now up to 23 points (13 goals, 10 assists) in 35 games and is averaging 15:31 of ice time.
* Zach Dean (2021, first round, No. 30) has scored in back-to-back games for the Thunderbirds this weekend, and now has three goals in the past six games.
He would pick the op corner with the opening goal for Springfield in a 3-2 loss to Charlotte on Friday:
PICK A CORNER, ANY CORNER pic.twitter.com/dJUQ8zu8V3
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) February 28, 2026
And on Saturday, he once again opened the scoring in the 5-1 win over the Checkers with this cheeky goal:
PICTURE PERFECT PLAY & GOAL pic.twitter.com/sxnNIwJGDn
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) February 28, 2026
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