Analyzing Torey Krug's Single Game Points Record
The 32-year-old joins some elite company with his 5 points in St. Louis' win over Montreal this past weekend
By Andy Knapp
With St. Louis' dominant 7-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens last Sunday came a new benchmark for one player in particular - defenseman Torey Krug. He set a franchise single-game record for a defender with 5 assists in the Blues' rout of the Habs.
The 32-year-old native of Royal Oak, Michigan, who already enjoyed success with the Boston Bruins in the first 9 years of his now 13-year NHL career, assisted on all but two of the Blues' 7 goals on Sunday. Two of those came on St. Louis power plays, where, as a team, they went 3-for-5.
Now, Krug isn't a noted goalscorer like some of his higher-powered teammates, but he can dish out assists like no one else in the league. After all, defensemen aren't usually particularly known for goals anyway, being wrapped up in stopping the other team from doing just that most of the time.
Krug does have a few double-digit goal seasons under his belt, namely in 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2017-18, all with Boston. He's come close during his 4 years in St. Louis, such as in 2019-20 and 2021-22.
He's got 1 goal and 24 assists this season, well on track to surpass his assists total from 2022-23. He could return to the standard 30+ assist seasons he's done with the Blues across 229 career games with the team.
Krug's game Sunday is just the 43rd time in NHL history that a defenseman has recorded at least five assists in a game. He's also just the 4th D-man in league history to do that against Montreal specifically, joining Hall of Famers Babe Pratt, Doug Harvey, and Lyle Odelein.
Furthermore, he's one of 2 currently active US-born defensemen to achieve 5 assists in a game, alongside the New York Rangers' Adam Fox. And 2023-24 is the first season in 20 that's had at least 2 players reach 5 assists in one game, the other player being Pittsburgh's Kris Letang against the Islanders on Dec. 27. Letang also did it in a single period, becoming the first D-man in league history to accomplish that.
The future looks bright for one of St. Louis' most experienced veterans. He may not score the goals, but he absolutely knows how to set them up!