3 players who have ignited the St. Louis Blues late-season surge
The St. Louis Blues have been surging lately, and there are a few players responsible for keeping this team in serious playoff contention.
Since the day following the trade deadline, the St. Louis Blues have been a team on the rise with a record of 8-3-1, good for 17 points and 1.42 points per game. To put things into further perspective, the Blues are tied for third in points in that stretch and are 10th in points per.
Sure, they had a major slip-up vs. the San Jose Sharks this past weekend in what was a 4-0 shutout loss. But hey, there is no such thing as an easy game this time of year, so they can get the free pass. If the Blues aren’t playing serious contenders, some of which are shoo-ins for a postseason berth, they are facing teams that have nothing to lose, and that makes for a plethora of tough opponents.
Currently, the Blues find themselves in the ‘serious contender’ category, with a 40-31-4 record and they are just three points outside of the second wild card, with 84 points in the year. It hasn’t been a season of smooth sailing, as this team currently has a minus-10 goal differential.
But then again, the Philadelphia Flyers (minus-17) and Washington Capitals (minus-31) sit in the same category, and they are both further ahead of the Blues in their respective conference as far as playoffs go.
Several St. Louis Blues players have stepped up to give this team a surge
One player who has stepped up big lately is Jordan Binnington who, in 53 appearances, is boasting 27 wins, a trio of shutouts, a 0.913 save percentage, a 2.82 GAA, and a 0.608 quality starts percentage. Binnington has allowed just under a goal over his xGA of 112.4 at even strength, but he’s nonetheless been one of the better goaltenders this year, especially recently.
From March 9th onward, Binnington has a 0.919 save percentage, a 2.70 GAA, and five wins in eight appearances. He and Joel Hofer - who has also played some sensational hockey in his four appearances since March 9th - have been a borderline elite goaltending duo, but they are not among the three players most responsible for St. Louis’ late-season surge.
Brandon Saad has been a top-tier player in the league as of late
Brandon Saad hasn’t just been one of the best players on the team, but you can argue he’s up there with the likes of Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon as far as the last few weeks have gone. He’s no Hart Trophy candidate, don’t get me wrong, but with 22 shots on goal, Saad has scored seven times and in the process, has logged an eye-popping 31.8 shooting percentage.
Of his seven goals, three have been game-winning, and he’s posting a remarkable 2.534 even strength goals per 60 minutes in this stretch. Saad’s three assists in this frame also tie him for the lead in points with Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou with 10.
Overall, the Blues needed someone to step up and just take over games, and nobody has done that more than Brandon Saad. It’s also an understatement to say this has been a late-season surge; in his first 63 games this season, Saad had just 29 points and 18 goals.
The latter number isn’t bad, but here’s a fun fact: Last night’s goal just gave him the second-best total of his career. While there is no way he will match his career-high of 31 that he set in 2015-16, Saad has shown us that he can still be a prolific scorer in the NHL.
Jake Neighbours has been a force on both sides of the ice
I debated on whether to put Jake Neighbours or Jordan Kyrou in this slot, as both players deserve it. Yet I rolled with the former, despite the latter registering one more point, mainly because of his play on both sides of the ice.
Neighbours, logging nine points instead of Kyrou’s 10 in this stretch, has found the net six times, which also helped give him the edge here. He’s second on the team in Goals Per 60 at Even Strength, with 1.671, and like Saad, his shooting percentage over the past three weeks has been ridiculous. Since the ninth, it’s sitting at 30.0 from 20 shots on goal.
Defensively, Neighbours has also logged over a half-block per game and landed 32 body checks - the latter being the most on the team over the past 12 games.
Neighbours has been a force all season on both ends of the ice, totaling 37 points in 26 goals in 75 contests, and there is a chance the 22-year-old will hit the 30-goal mark if he keeps up this pace in St. Louis’ final seven games. The only questions surrounding Neighbours is a) Will he keep up this pace?, and b) If so, what will he do in 2024-25 for an encore? It won’t be long until we get our answer to the former.
Justin Faulk hasn’t scored, but he’s been nonetheless effective
Justin Faulk is tied for fifth on the team in points since March 9th with eight helpers, and while he has no goals in this stretch, no other blueliner on the team has made quite the same impact. Faulk is fourth among Blues skaters and defensemen in average time on ice with 21:41, but he’s more than made the most of it, with half his points coming at even strength and the other half on the power play.
He’s also in a three-way tie for first on the team in game-winning points alongside Brandon Saad and Jake Neighbours, and he’s held up in the defensive zone with 22 hits and 16 blocked shots - good for 150 and 109 when stretched over 82 games.
Counting last night’s contest, Faulk has registered 28 points and two goals in 58 contests, which hasn’t been his strongest outing throughout his 13 seasons in the league. But he’s come on strong as of late, and he remains a solid player in all situations, including on the power play and when short-handed.
The more prominent names on the blue line, like Colton Parayko and Torey Krug, have also made solid impacts, but you can argue that nobody has been better over the past 12 contests than Faulk. We will see if this trend continues for the final seven games of 2023-24 and if it’s enough to push the Blues into the playoffs.
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(Statistics provided by QuantHockey and Hockey-Reference)