The St. Louis Blues are still seven points back from a playoff berth as a wildcard in the Western Conference, but they've been on quite a heater, going 7-2-1 since the Olympic break. Whether this winning stretch is a good thing or not is up for debate, since the trade deadline reflected a willingness to kickstart a rebuild, but there are a few players contributing to this late-season surge. You could point to Jimmy Snuggerud, named the NHL's Third Star of the Week yesterday, and his linemates Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway comprising one of the hottest lines in the league. On the backend, Philip Broberg's stepping up as a top-pair defenseman, and even Logan Mailloux seems to be figuring things out in a top-four role.
The primary reason the Blues have been red hot, though, is the shockingly strong goaltending that Joel Hofer and Jordan Binnington have been delivering on a nightly basis.
Yeah, this goaltending tandem.
Between Hofer and Binnington, the Blues have a .936 team save percentage (SV%) in the last ten games, allowing only 19 goals on 298 shots against. Hofer, in particular, has been lights out, with a 5-0-1 record and a .948 SV% and 1.7 Goals Against Average (GAA). Though Binnington's 2-2-0 record isn't as shiny, his .924 SV% is a tremendous improvement over his play the rest of the season; his minus-21.6 Goals Saved Above expected (GSAx) is still the worst among goaltenders with 10 or more starts, per Money Puck, but perhaps his Olympic performance revitalized him a bit.
The Blues are still playoff longshots, with a one (1!) percent chance of making the postseason, per Money Puck, but we've seen this team go on late-season runs before--though this time, it may already be too late.