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Three Takeaways From Blues' 5-4 Win Against Avalanche

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St. Louis Blues forwards (from L-R) Robert Thomas, Jimmy Snuggerud and Pavel Buchnevich celebrate a goal on Saturday in a 5-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche, helping the Blues set a franchise record with their 12th straight win. (Jeff Curry-Imagn Images)

ST. LOUIS – There are currently five St. Louis Blues players who were part of the longest winning streak in franchise history in 2019.

Jordan Binnington, Brayden Schenn, Oskar Sundqvist, Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko (injured) can now stake claim to a second historical streak.

The Blues set a new benchmark with their 12th straight win when they held off the Colorado Avalanche, 5-4 at Enterprise on Saturday.

For all the talk about this current Blues team not being able to put together a three-game winning streak as late as January, right now, they can’t seem to lose a game no matter how what the score is.

“It’s very cool,” Binnington said after making 35 saves. “It’s good to enjoy these moments, especially at home. It’s really fun to play here right now and you can tell there’s good energy all around. At the same time, we’ve got to focus and keep looking forward while we’re here.”

Robert Thomas continues to tear a blazing trail of points; he had a goal and four assists to give him 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in an eight-game point streak; Cam Fowler had three assists and Zack Bolduc scored two power-play goals to lead the Blues (43-28-7), who are now four points clear of the Minnesota Wild for the first wild card from the Western Conference.

And they’re doing this without Parayko, who’s been out with a left knee injury since March 5, and now Dylan Holloway, who’s week to week with a lower-body injury.

“We've lost some really good, important players to our lineup,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “It means we're good. We're a good hockey team.

“I am proud of that group in there to be able to overcome all of the adversity that we've had this year, whether that was self-inflicted by us. It doesn't matter. We've overcome it. I'm proud of that group for what they've achieved.”

The Blues built a 4-0 lead before getting a bit complacent and then having to fend off the Avalanche (47-27-4), who the Blues also beat 2-1 in Denver a week ago Saturday, giving Colorado (6-2-1) its only two regulation losses in the past nine games.

“We’re playing the right way,” said Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich, who scored his 100th goal with the Blues. “We’re playing for each other. Sacrifice for the team and it’s working right now. We should keep going.”

Let’s look at Saturday’s Three Takeaways:

* Winning the special teams – The Blues didn’t do themselves any favors, especially early, by taking three minor penalties in the first period, and despite being outshot 13-4 on special teams by the Avalanche, the Blues won the game with special teams’ play.

The Avalanche had 12 shots on their three power plays; the Blues had three shots on their three power plays. But they made two of theirs count and won the special teams’ battle 2-0, thanks to a pair of power-play goals by Bolduc, each in the bumper position and receiving passes from Thomas.

The first came at the 49-second mark of the opening period, or 18 seconds after Joel Kiviranta was whistled for cross checking Jordan Kyrou, to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

And the second came at 8:53 of the second period, similar play, but this time, Bolduc had some time to whip a shot top shelf on Mackenzie Blackwood for a 4-0 lead.

“You’ve got to be ready,” Bolduc said. “I’ve been trying to find the open space. You never know when the puck’s going to come your way. I just try to set myself up and be ready to shoot. I want to hit the net for sure.

“I don’t know but teams will adjust. It’ll be on us to get better and find other options that will be open.”

* Good sticks, forecheck – Despite getting a bit complacent and allowing Colorado back into the game with a couple late second-period goals, the Blues had good sticks in this game.

They broke up a lot of plays, and it was everyone on the ice doing the job. Whether it was the Radek Faksa line with Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko grinding pucks down low after winning them, or Jimmy Snuggerud, in his third NHL game breaking plays up playing with Buchnevich and Thomas, knocking pucks down and then instead of being overwhelmed, putting pucks into good areas to go and forecheck them back, which the Blues did. Or Thomas defending the Nathan MacKinnon line all night and until MacKinnon scored with an extra attacker, shutting one of the NHL’s best players down.

It was a collective effort to break up any rush plays the Avalanche was trying to create.

“I thought our sticks and our angling above them,” Montgomery said. “Third period, they scored two pulled goalies situations, but outside of that, I didn’t think we gave them much and I thought we had great chances (off good defensive plays). Bolduc had a good chance to get his hat trick and Snuggerud had two in a row there among others.”

Speaking of Snuggerud, he and Thomas had good stick plays that helped set up Buchnevich’s goal at 1:01 of the third period for a 3-0 lead.

It came after Jake Neighbours also using his stick off the bench to create O-zone time, and Neighbours eventually finding a Thomas pass in the low slot and conversion for a 2-0 lead at 7:41 of the first period.

“(We) put some pucks deep, play below the goal line,” Buchnevich said. ‘We got first eight minutes, we kind of dominate, and got the early power-play goal. ‘Boldy’ have a good shot, and it's easier when you play with the lead.”

* Binnington’s key saves – Forget that he allowed four goals, and none of his own doing. Jordan Binnington was rock solid, and his saves, especially during Colorado’s barrage of shots on the man advantage were crucial.

Sometimes your goalie has to be your best penalty killer and Binnington was.

“We found a way to get it done,” Binnington said. “Obviously they’ve got some high-end talent. We found a way to get it done and that’s just a testament to all our guys and our penalty killers. You got a guy like Walker, I don’t know how many blocked shots he had. Just point blank and ‘Torps’ too. We’re just sacrificing and playing the right way and finding a way to win.”

Binnington also made a breakaway on Artturi Lehkonen after a Bolduc mishap in the neutral zone, and there was also a reflex save off a rebound by Valeri Nichushkin in the second.

“He was really good,” Montgomery said. “They had a lot of shot attempts. It was a hard-working night for him. It was clear that they wanted a shot-volume night tonight. We ate a lot of pucks blocking them, but he was there and he was really seeing the puck well through traffic.”

It all led to Binnington winning his 10th straight home start to tie a franchise record, tying John Davidson and Jaroslav Halak.

The Avalanche did get two sixth-attacker goals, including one with 8.1 seconds remaining by Sam Malinski that made the score academic after Thomas hit the empty net off the goal post and in at 19:30.

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