It’s a staggering feat in and of itself to win 11 straight games in any league, be it in the NHL, NFL, NBA, or MLB. But it’s even more staggering when a team takes over the league in every facet. And while I’ll stand by what I said recently about the Blues having yet to reach their pinnacle as a team, they’ve shown us a glimpse of what they’re capable of.
Words can’t even express how good the Blues have been through 11 games and yes, they’ve been more than just winning most of the time. We’ve seen them win ugly in recent games, but they’ve also outright crushed opponents.
Here’s a small clue: Remember when I would talk about how bland the Blues had been throughout most of the season? Well, I measured that blandness, mainly in goals scored vs. goals allowed, and the Blues never looked good in either category. As of Friday afternoon, they’re 12th in the league in both categories.
St. Louis Blues have dominated the NHL through winning streak
Winning 11 straight games is dominant enough, but consider this: The Blues have scored 46 goals and allowed just 18 during that span. Take those two numbers and divide them by 11, and you get 4.18 goals per game, with just 1.63 goals allowed. This means they’ve beaten teams, on average, by 2.55 goals per game.
What’s more staggering about this is that they haven’t spent over 50 percent of the time creating chances in the offensive zone at 5-on-5, given their Corsi For a total of 49.8. Sure, they’ve won 54.3 percent of their faceoffs, and the Blues have had a decent power play, but that Corsi number is telling. It shows that they don’t need to create so many chances every time you turn around for them to end up winning big.
Overall, their power play had gone 8 for 34 in that stretch, good for a 23.5 conversion percentage. As for their penalty kill, the Blues have allowed just three goals on 23 chances, which equals a penalty kill percentage of 87 percent. I mean, think about these numbers, and, for the most part, it’s easy to see why the Blues have dominated to the extent that they have.
Don’t worry if the Blues don’t keep up this level of play
If the Blues keep playing dominant hockey, then great. I’m sure every single one of us will be more than okay with that. But it’s not a prerequisite for winning the Stanley Cup or, to put things into more realistic terms, making a respectable run in the playoffs.
No, I’m still not a major believer. But if you want any hope, I also didn’t think the 2017-18 Vegas Golden Knights would get as far as they did. Fast-forward to 2018-19, I also didn’t see the Blues winning the Stanley Cup while I toiled away at my old job - though I got to listen to any hockey game I wanted to, so there was at least that.
Anyway, if the Blues fall back to reality, then fine, whatever. If they keep edging out opponents and racking up the W’s, that’s the only stat we need to worry about.