The way I see it, these are the top five moments in St. Louis Blues history:
1. Bobby Orr dives as his iconic goal sweeps the Blues out of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final, which St. Louis was only in because the NHL put all of the expansion teams in one half of the bracket.
2. Wayne Gretzky plays 31 games for them.
3. The team acquires a dog.
4. The Blues rally from last place in January to win a Stanley Cup—the first in franchise history and the last before COVID.
5. Cam Fowler's overtime winner Tuesday night.
The Detroit Red Wings, who badly needed a victory themselves, were this close to disrupting the Blues' roaring win streak. Despite being solidly outshot, they rode goalie Cam Talbot to a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the third period. But with the empty net, the Blues put pressure on the visitors and moved the puck brilliantly to find a weak point, where Jordan Kyrou was able to put a soft shot through Talbot's five-hole from close range. The Blues were wearing those retro jerseys that make them look like a Peewee team called "Blues," but they were professionals in the three-on-three, and their ability to convert made for their 10th win in a row. Three weeks ago, these guys looked like playoff also-rans, but with all the points they've picked up, St. Louis has vaulted over Calgary and Vancouver to hold the high ground in the chase for the last postseason tickets in the West.
This is all significant because it feels reminiscent of 2019, which was really the only other year (few months, really) when anyone has ever had to care about the St. Louis Blues. A team with atrocious vibes found a fiery young goalie in Jordan Binnington and a rousing victory song in Laura Branigan's "Gloria" and became the kind of guys who could outlast Boston in a Game 7. This year's model was never quite so awful, though it also changed its coach early on, but the last 10 games have seen the Blues become absolutely brutal to shoot against. The goalie tandem of Binnington and 24-year-old Joel Hofer is standing firm, while the defense, bolstered by the midseason trade for Fowler, is doing its part to keep those masked men protected by contributing some gnarly shot-blocking work. Here's the key bit: In seven of the Blues' last 10, they've allowed just one goal, and never more than three. That's demoralizing for the opposition, and easy mode for an OK offense that's playing above its usual level, too.
Now for the bad news: Very few of these wins have been against meaningful competition. Out of these 10 games, only three have come at the expense of current playoff teams—two wild cards and the Avalanche, third in their division. That potentially positions the Blues more as small-time overachievers who could still be overpowered by the league's best. But two points count the same every night, and at a time when plenty of their peers in the standings, West and East, are choking away their opportunities, the Blues look assured. At the very least, barring a sudden reversal of fortune, this little run should be a springboard into the chance to truly test themselves against a contender in the first round.
