The St. Louis Blues were facing a franchise-tying losing streak when they hosted the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. In a decisive 3-2 victory over the back-to-back Western Conference champions, the seven-game losing streak does not become eight.
There are a ton of things that you can take asway from this game. But only three really stand above the rest.
The Blues are back, baby
Let's welcome back in all of the Blues faithful and rejoice over this monumental victory. This season has been a tiring and exhausting one, and it is only a little over a dozen games into it. The storyline have been endlessly bad, and the thinking now is that the expectations on this team are just way too high.
But, the performance shown from these Blues against the Oilers on home ice, in front of the home fans, was special. Facing off against the Oilers is always a tough test, as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisitl can change the entire landscape of the game inside of a single shift.
Now, can this team build off this win and flip the script for a winning streak?
Robert Thomas is back, baby
Welcome back, Robert Thomas. It is so nice to have you back. With a goal and an assist, he seems to be completely healed from whatever upper-body injury he sustained.
The Blues needed him back desperately. Not to say that Brayden Schenn and Pius Suter did not hold their own at the first line center spot, but they cannot hold a candle to what kind of impact Thomas brings. It seems like the forward lines are starting to finally take shape. The next question is, where in the world will head coach Jim Montgomery fit in Dalibor Dvorsky when Jake Neighbours is healthy?
Jordan Binnington is back, baby
As you can see, there is a trend here. Welcome back, Jordan Binnington, and welcome back solid Blues goaltending. AfterJoel Hofer seemingly looked like his usual self in the losing effort to Columbus, Binnington looked sharp in his start against Edmonton.
Facing the duo of aforementioned McDavid and Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard from the blue line, Binnington had himself a tough task. But, he stopped 26 of 28 shots, and including 10 medium and high-danger shot attempts, it was a solid night from him.
Can he keep it up himself as November rolls along?