All these one-goal games feed right into Blues' competitive spirit
ST. LOUIS -- Few things have come easily for the Blues in the first five weeks of a season filled with key injuries and tough opponents.
Other than the spectacular scoring run of the STL line featuring Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera, grit and competitiveness may be the team's most defining features while winning nine of its last 10 games. Eight of them were decided by one goal or went to a shootout, including the Blues' only loss.
"In order to win close games, you've got to have really competitive players and we've got a lot of competitive players," coach Ken Hitchcock says. "The second part is we manage the game the right way. When we get a lead in the third period, we do a real good job of managing the game the right way."
St. Louis demonstrated that again Thursday night when it made Paul Stastny's goal with 5:54 remaining stand up for a 4-3 win over Nashville to move into first place in the Central Division. The win avenged a 2-1 loss to the Predators last Saturday, when James Neal scored the game-winner with 6:32 left.
The Blues have lost a third-period lead only twice all season, and both times they were able to rebound and win in a shootout. The New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche both scored the game-tying goals early in the third period, though New Jersey came dangerously close to erasing a three-goal lead in the last four minutes against goaltender Jake Allen.
Allen saved the final Devils shot to preserve a 4-3 victory in that game, and it took a few more key saves for him to improve to 5-1 Thursday night. As usual, the Blues' defense offered plenty of help by keeping the dangerous Preds attack off balance and getting in the way of several shots.
"We get a lot of guys that put a lot of sacrifice or that second effort just to either block a shot or get the puck out, take a hit," Allen says. "When I see guys do that, it just makes me want to try that much harder. And when you hear that last-minute call and you're only up by one goal, you do whatever it takes to keep the puck out of the net."
Strong goaltending has been a major reason the Blues are almost never out of a game, with both Allen and Brian Elliott turning in consistently strong performances. Allen leads the league with a 1.67 goals-against average, and Elliott isn't far behind at 1.96 in 10 games.
St. Louis is one of just five teams in the NHL yet to allow more than four goals in a game, and it took three third-period goals including an empty-netter by Vancouver to even reach that mark. The Canucks' 4-1 win sent the Blues to 2-3-1 with a one-goal loss and another in a shootout, and they've looked like a different team since.
Like most offensive trends for St. Louis, the key has been the scoring of its 22-year-old Russian sensation. All nine of Tarasenko's goals in the last nine games have either tied the game or given the Blues the lead, as he did with a rocket wrist shot in the second period to beat Nashville's Pekka Rinne.
Even a fully healthy roster for the first time all season couldn't give St. Louis any separation, though the return of forward T.J. Oshie certainly provided a boost. He scored the first goal of the game on a hard shot from near the blue line on the power play, and another player who missed several games with injury, Carl Gunnarsson, put the Blues ahead 2-0.
More scoring, particularly from other lines, could be an encouraging sign for a team ranked 13th in the league with 2.69 goals per game. Maybe that means the Blues will see more games like Tuesday's 6-1 win over last-place Buffalo, but then again, that happened only because of three late goals during a long power play.
"We're not a team that is possibly going to blow you out by any means or beat you like that," center Steve Ott said earlier this week. "We're going to rely on our structure, continue to be heavy to play against in the right areas, and it might not give us the same amount of goals to score every single night, but at least we're in every single game and can close out games that way."
As long as they're getting two points, no one seems to mind.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
