After their first regulation loss since Jim Montgomery took over as St. Louis Blues coach on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, it was imperative for the Blues to have a short memory and close a road trip with a third win in four.
It wouldn’t come easy though against the Vancouver Canucks to close out a four-game Canadian road swing. But that’s exactly what the Blues did when Dylan Holloway ended it by scoring the game-winner in overtime of a 4-3 win at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.
Robert Thomas, who assisted on Holloway’s goal, had a goal and two assists to give him a four-game point streak (three goals, six assists); Holloway extended his NHL-best seven-game point streak (six goals, five assists) with a goal and assist, his fourth multi-point game; Zack Bolduc and Jordan Kyrou scored and Joel Hofer made 22 saves for his third straight win.
The Blues (14-13-2) are 5-1-1 since the coaching change with 11 of 14 points since Montgomery took over.
Let’s look at the three takeaways that were keys to tonight’s win:
* Multiple rush chances as a result of playing connected, north style — The Canucks knew coming in that the Blues thrive off rush chances. Coach Rick Tocchet spoke of that very scenario at the morning skate that Vancouver had to limit.
But the Blues’ defensive six played connected to the forwards, and they were able to move it up ice quickly that resulted in multiple Grade A scoring chances that had it not been for Thatcher Demko, this game may have been over sooner.
Brayden Schenn had a speed break-in that hit the post in the first period; Holloway was robbed on a literal 2-on-0 by Demko off the backhand in the first; Pavel Buchnevich and Oskar Sundqvist had great looks in the second that required solid saves, and Kyrou and Holloway had breakaway chances in the second.
The Blues had just 25 shots on goal, which doesn’t sound like a lot but they really had some doozies in this game that were of high quality.
Zack Bolduc scored in the first period from the high slot, and Thomas did convert his breakaway with the first shorthanded goal of the season that put the Blues ahead 2-1 at 17:30 of the first period:
Kyrou gave the Blues a 3-1 lead with a one-timer on the power play off a fortuitous call at 16:18 of the second period that made it 3-1:
The offense was percolating for the Blues on Tuesday.
* Best players were the best players — Let’s face it, if the Blues have to rely on their role players to win hockey games, they’re in big trouble.
Not that those guys can’t contribute to wins, because they surely do, but for the team to consistently be good, their top guys have to have an impact on the game.
Thomas, Holloway, Kyrou, Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and Pavel Buchnevich combined for nine of 10 points that the Blues produced tonight. Having the defensemen pitch in is always a welcomed sight and Parayko assisted on the Thomas shorty and Faulk produced a power play point.
Thomas also won 63 percent of his face-offs (15 of 24).
* Limiting Vancouver’s offense — The Canucks have some high-end skill, even with forward J.T. Miller (personal reasons) and defenseman Filip Hronek (lower-body injury) out of the lineup.
The Canucks have players that also drive the net, by limiting them to 25 shots on goal, it limited Joel Hofer having to be over-extended.
Reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes drove a lot of the offensive numbers by the Blues, but they did end the defenseman’s seven-game point streak tonight; he did have four shots on goal with 13 attempts, but he had seven attempts blocked.
The Blues had 18 blocks in the game, with Holloway leading the way with four.
Hear what Montgomery, Holloway and Hofer had to say postgame:
