It's hard to believe that the Blues entered their contest with the Montreal Canadiens with just 10 games left in the 2024-25 season. It's been a lot of ups and down, but the regular season is now almost over.
Nevertheless, the Blues have saved their best hockey for last and the end of the regular season might not be the end of their season. St. Louis still needs wins, though.
Despite dominating Montreal for much of the first period, the Blues didn't have much to show for it for about 90% of the period. Then, the game opened up in the final two minutes.
The Blues opened the scoring with a Jordan Kyrou goal at 18:07. Kyrou stickhandled himself open in the high slot and then used Philip Broberg, who was standing right in front of him, as a screen and glanced one just off the goalie's glove and in to make it 1-0.
The lead didn't even last 50 seconds. Montreal took a shot that was likely heading wide to the right, or into Jordan Binnington's glove. Instead, Nick Suzuki had a great deflection to put it between the legs of Binner and a 1-1 score.
The Blues wasted no time regaining the lead. Dylan Holloway got a tip on a Broberg shot and it was 2-1 with just four seconds left.
St. Louis reestablished themselves pretty early in the second. Binnington had to make a couple of saves, but the Blues made it 3-1 before the five-minute mark.
Reminiscent of the Kyrou goal, Robert Thomas did the same thing from the left circle. He peeled around, used the Canadiens' defender as a screen, and beat the goalie to the glove side for a two-goal margin.
The Blues just kept their foot on the gas, which is what they have to do. About nine minutes in, a drop pass found Cam Fowler, who broke some ankles as he reversed back into the slot. His shot took some deflections on the way through, but Alexandre Texier got his second in as many games on the rebound, and it was 4-1.
Montreal's most sustained pressure came on a mid-period power play. Binnington had to make a handful of saves and the Canadiens glanced one off the outside of the post too, but it stayed 4-1.
Broberg just continued to pile up the stats in this game in the third. He drove into the zone and whistled a shot from the left circle that looked like it literally went through the goaltender's glove and in to make it 5-1.
The Blues added yet another in the final two minutes. While on the power play, Thomas found Zach Bolduc as he continues to push for a potential 20 goals. His 15th got the Blues a 6-1 win.
Pro: Offense
The St. Louis Blues, like their 2019 counterparts, are more a sum of their parts than a team of stars. They're all getting the job done right now.
The Blues have scored four or more goals in seven straight games. Not surprisingly, they've won all seven of those games too.
These aren't all pushover teams either. You get five against Minnesota, seven against Anaheim, four against Nashville twice, Vancouver, and Chicago.
Then the offense does it again against the Canadiens. Montreal isn't a great team, but they've been a hot team and, like the Blues, are pushing for a playoff spot.
Pro: Broberg
Both Broberg and Holloway have been more than fantastic since arriving from Edmonton on offer sheets. Their ability to get it done in both zones is phenomenal.
We often see the quality defending of Broberg, but he put out his A-game on the offensive side in this contest. Broberg had a four-point night, and they points were key.
He picked up the primary assist on three goals, including the game winner. Then, he decided to take things into his own hands and scored a goal as well.
Sure, that shot should have been stopped, but when they tally them up, they ask how many not how.
Overview:
This was an interesting game since I couldn't really find any major flaws with it. It wasn't a perfect game and wasn't a flawless performance, but they didn't really do anything wrong.
The offense was on point. They scored six goals and chased the goaltender from the game.
The defense was solid, and the goaltending made the stops to bail them out when they weren't. Montreal had points in 12 of 13 games, win or lose, so beating them handily in regulation wasn't a gimme.
Binnington didn't need to be superhuman in this game, but he made the stops he needed and a couple that were pretty good. The Blues allowed just 25 shots, keeping their opponent under 30, which has been almost a certainty since the 4 Nations break.
At this point, I think we just need to settle in and enjoy the ride. Who knows where this was or why they couldn't play like this earlier in the season?
Even early in the Jim Montgomery tenure, they weren't this solid or this consistent. I don't think it's coaching, although it clearly makes a difference.
For whatever reason, the team is just finally playing to their potential and with confidence. To paraphrase a line from The Natural, losing is a disease, and perhaps it afflicted the entire team before.
Winning is also contagious, which we are seeing now. The Blues couldn't even win three in a row until late February. Now, they've strung seven wins together at the best time of the year possible.
Also shocking is that St. Louis is now just two points back of the top wild card spot since Minnesota is currently in a free fall. Personally, I'd rather play the Winnipeg Jets in a potential first round series, but if the Blues keep playing how they are, no team frightens me.
St. Louis can't look toward that, though. They still have important games left against teams they need to beat to hold their spot, and the Canadian teams still have games in hand.
Still, thrashing the Canadiens after scoring four goals in poor performances against Chicago and Nashville shows that this team is more than capable even if they're not clicking on all cylinders.