ST. LOUIS — When St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery was told his team had the puck a lot in Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, his response recalled legendary singer/songwriter Lionel Richie.
“All night long,” Montgomery said.
Toronto shouldn’t be confused with the quality teams in the NHL, and Leafs coach Craig Berube, the former Blues boss, said as much afterward.
“We had one player that showed up tonight and that was our goalie (Joseph Woll),” Berube said.
Still, it was the Blues’ fourth straight victory, pushing their record to 11-2-2 since the Olympic break, something few could’ve seen coming.
A club that had complained about its lack of five-man connectedness on the ice is suddenly in lockstep, having scored 40 of its 44 goals since the Olympics at even strength.
A club whose defense and goaltending were so poor that it revamped the entire system is suddenly stingy, allowing two goals or fewer for the 12th time in 15 games since the Olympics and one goal or fewer in four straight games.
A club whose penalty kill watched opponents rack up goals with regularity is suddenly a stone wall, killing 37 of 42 power plays (88.1 percent) since the Olympics and ranking No. 1 in the league in that span.
As a result, a club that hadn’t been better than .500 since Oct. 21 (3-2-1) got over the hump Saturday (31-30-11). The Blues were 14 points out of the Western Conference wild-card race when they returned from the Olympics, but have since made up 10 of those.
Yes, there are four teams between the Blues and the second wild-card spot, currently held by the Nashville Predators (77 points), but the Blues are just four points back and have one game in hand on the Predators. Having played 72 games, the only team ahead of them with fewer games played is the San Jose Sharks (71).
And guess who’s next on the schedule? That’s right, the Sharks on Monday.
“Massive,” Blues center Robert Thomas said. “We’ve got some big games coming up.”
Who would have thought at the trade deadline when the Blues traded captain Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk — and tried to trade Colton Parayko — we’d be talking about massive games in March?
Jimmy Snuggerud has stuck around; he’s been on the Blues roster all season but recently elevated his performance. He scored his 17th goal of the season Saturday, tying him for the team lead, and in his last 11 games, the right winger has seven goals and seven assists.
“His patience with the puck,” Thomas said. “He’s got a great shot and he’s a shot-first guy, (but) coming into the zone, he’s really finding patience, he’s making those high-end plays that are leading to scoring chances. And his stick. There’s a lot of times where we don’t have the puck and he makes a quick stick check and we’re able to attack. Those two areas, I think, have been really impressive lately.”
“There was a lot of immaturity in my game,” Snuggerud said. “Just a lot of ‘hope’ plays, not getting my head up, just kind of chucking pucks through the middle. I learned so much from (Schenn, Thomas and Jake Neighbours) of getting my head up and making plays through the neutral zone because that’s a lot of where the game’s played. Speed plays are something those guys have helped with a lot.”
Dalibor Dvorsky has played an important role in the Blues’ resurgence. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
Dalibor Dvorsky has been with the Blues for most of the season, but he’s now contributing more, too, and not only on the scoreboard. He filled in for Thomas Thursday and scored a goal in the Blues’ 2-1 overtime win over San Jose while helping handcuff Sharks phenom Macklin Celebrini.
“Divo has been really impressive, especially defensively,” Thomas said. “As a young player playing center, even last game he got matched up a lot against Celebrini and — I think Monty said it — he was able to dominate the middle of the ice. He’s only going to grow offensively and he’s going to be a great player in this league.”
Dvorsky centered the Blues’ third line with Otto Stenberg and Jonatan Berggren Saturday, and while they were on the ice for the Leafs’ lone goal, they had a Corsi rating of 90 percent (18-2) and outshot the opponent 10-2.
“They’re awesome,” Thomas said. “Those guys make high-end plays.”
On the blue line, rookie Theo Lindstein played just his ninth NHL game Saturday and is a plus-3. He had three shots and three blocked shots in 16:31 of ice time Saturday and continues to look smooth alongside Parayko.
“The way that he sees the game and the way he can skate, it makes that transition a little bit easier for him,” Blues defenseman Cam Fowler said of Lindstein. “If you were to try and draw up a perfect partner for him, you really wouldn’t be able to find anything better than (Parayko). But myself included, we try and help these young guys out as much as we can and when they’re comfortable, you see that confidence starts to come out in them and then you can see what they’re really made of.”
And it’s not just the rookies’ skill.
“Their maturity, too,” Thomas said. “When I was young in the league, you kind of feel a little hesitant and you don’t really trust yourself and these guys are coming in with so much confidence, and I think it’s really elevated our team. They’ve really stepped up in the room and really taken charge on how we want to play, and taken a lot of pride in it, and that’s what we’re seeing on the ice.”
There’s also Justin Holl, who arrived in the trade with the Detroit Red Wings for Faulk. He scored his first goal as a Blue on Saturday and is a plus-5 in six games with the team.
When you combine all of that, it’s brought a fresh feel to the locker room.
“We’re just kind of playing hockey, having fun,” Snuggerud said. “We’ve had low parts to this year and we’ve had high parts. Just keeping our eyes level-headed and our egos where they should be. Just keep our feet on the ground and keep winning games. The older guys here just showing us young guys the right way to do things. I give all the credit to all those guys for what they’ve shown us what to do.”
It was all night long Saturday, and the Blues hope it will last longer.
“We’re right in this playoff push,” Thomas said. “We’ve got some good energy in the room and I’m excited to see where it takes us.”