The St. Louis Blues face a formidable opponent in the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Having lost their last two games, this was a major test for St. Louis early in the season. The Blues were up for the challenge, beating the Devils 4-1 in front of their home fans for their fourth win of the year.

St. Louis received a big-time performance from goalie Jordan Binnington. He faced 34 shots from the Devils and saved all but one on Friday. Binnington has played incredibly well at home to start the year, as evidenced by his performance against New Jersey.

After the game, the Blues puck-stopper raved about Friday night's victory. “It was a hard-fought game. That's a good team over there. I think we made a lot of big plays,” he said, via team reporter Lou Korac. “Guys stepped up and kind of trusted each other, trusted the system. All around, it's a big victory.”

Offensively, St. Louis was led by veteran forward Kevin Hayes. The 31-year-old scored his first two goals for the club against New Jersey. One of them was an empty net goal to help put the game out of reach. Hayes also provided an assist on Robert Thomas's empty-net goal in the third period.

Despite the Blues winning, the major story coming out of this game revolves around Devils star Jack Hughes. Hughes, the NHL's league leader in points, left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury.

What comes of the Hughes injury remains to be seen. For the Blues, they take the ice again on Saturday. They remain home as they play host to a Montreal Canadiens team that has lost their last two games.