As the St. Louis Blues currently stand, they are 6th in the Central Division with a little over 4 months to go in the 2024/25 season. With a 5-4-1 record in their last 10 games, the team is looking to improve if they want to fight for a potential wild card playoff spot further down the road. The Blues do shine in a few specific categories that will undoubtedly help them in the long run.
First off, St. Louis has done well when they are the trailing team. It may seem like a strange thing to lead in, but the Blues' 6 wins after trailing rank in the top 10 of the league. St. Louis was also strong in the wins when scoring first category last season, picking up 33 wins for 8th best in the NHL. The amount of wins the Blues have accumulated when initially trailing is also notable since they were 27th in the NHL last season, with just 10 wins. The one major problem with all of this is how it results in one of the league's worst goal differentials, at 73 goals for and 87 against, which is a -14 ratio. That's 28th in the NHL this season. Compared to last season, the Blues had a 239-250 ratio for -11, which ranked 24th in the league.
St. Louis has also had some prowess in the extra 5-minute period, with the 4th most overtime goals this season, part of their 4-3 overtime record. The Blues did have to settle for the extra period in two of those games, but that was with their now-old head coach, Drew Bannister, before Jim Montgomery took control of the bench. Montgomery's first two games ended in regulation victories of 2 or more goals, something that Bannister wasn't nearly as capable of during his tenure. Last season, the Blues finished in the top 10 in overtime wins with a 7/17 ratio. They also pushed most of those overtime games into a shootout and ranked in the top 10 in the NHL in that statistic as well.
Finally, St. Louis has been one of the more physical teams this season. Led by their heavy hitters in Nathan Walker, Jake Neighbours, and captain Brayden Schenn, the Blues have logged over 600 total hits this season, which like some of their other peculiar statistics, is again top 10 in the NHL. It's especially notable because St. Louis was one of the least physical teams last season, totaling 1654 checks which ranked 27th in the league. Now former Blue Sammy Blais and Alexey Toropchenko, in addition to Schenn, were the team's hit leaders in 2023/24
As the 2024/25 season continues, St. Louis looks to also continue its tenure under Jim Montgomery, a head coach who has above all else helped turn around a struggling Blues defensive core. With consistent winning, more goal-scoring and a much-improved defense, this team could be a dark horse for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this April if they continue this positive trend.