Slumping forwards and key injuries have forced the Blues to look to the blue line to find offense in the midst of a remarkably tight playoff race.
St. Louis' defensemen continued to respond by contributing a total of eight points (two goals, six assists) in a wild 7-5 win over Dallas on Saturday night. Zbynek Michalek got credit for the game-tying goal in the third period when he skated in and fired the puck across the front of the net, banking it in off Jason Demers' stick. About five minutes later, Alex Pietrangelo turned and fired a missile into the back of the net for the game-winner with 10:03 remaining.
With Friday's tallies from Michalek and Pietrangelo, the Blues' defensemen have four goals in the last five games, and they've created plenty of other opportunities by sending pucks toward the net and letting their forwards take care of the rest. If Kevin Shattenkirk can get back up to the level he played at prior to an injury that kept him out for six weeks, St. Louis will have even more offensive firepower from the back line.
Those goals make it easier to forget costly mistakes, such as a mishandled puck by Jay Bouwmeester that led to a goal for Stars forward Jamie Benn just six seconds after Jaden Schwartz put the Blues ahead 3-1 with the first of his three goals early in the second period. Michalek let Tyler Seguin and Antoine Roussel get in a little too easily on their goals, and all of the defensemen missed some chances to clear the offensive zone as Dallas kept the pressure on in the first two periods.
But after averaging less than two goals over an 11-game span before a 4-1 win against Calgary, it would be hard to blame the Blues' defensemen for taking a few more risks to try to jump-start the offense. They did enough in Dallas to move into a tie with Nashville for first place in the Central Division, one point ahead of Chicago with four games remaining for all three teams.
More goals will be needed to get home ice and St. Louis will take them any way it can get them.
HAT TRICK
Watch the Blues Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every St. Louis Blues game on FOX Sports Midwest.
• Berglund brilliant again. Two of the assists from the blueliners wouldn't have been possible without a pair of great deflections from the suddenly red-hot Patrik Berglund.
He redirected Michalek's shot late in the first period to open the scoring and when Shattenkirk fired a wrister toward the net less than 20 seconds into the second period, Berglund again changed the puck's direction and left goaltender Kari Lehtonen with no chance. Berglund's first two-goal game since March 15, 2014 (at Nashville) gave him three goals through two games in April, which is more than he's scored in any other month this season.
"It's hard to explain, actually," he told FOX Sports Midwest analyst Darren Pang. "We're obviously closing into the playoffs and everybody's got to step up and play even better."
Berglund is clearly doing his part, and he nearly finished off his first career hat trick on a breakaway in the second period. Lehtonen denied that chance, but no one can deny Berglund has been looking better in all aspects of his game of late, even beyond his increased production.
• Rough night for Elliott. The Blues' top goaltender may have snapped a four-game losing streak, but it would be a stretch to say he got back on track in Dallas.
Elliott stayed in net despite allowing five goals for the first time all season, and he even made several good saves to keep the Stars off the board through almost all of the first period. Dallas had 11 shots on goal before Travis Moen scored on a penalty shot with 10 seconds left, opening the floodgates for the Western Conference's two most prolific offenses.
The Blues scored the next two goals, but Benn's goal 38 seconds into the second period made it the first time in NHL history two teams have combined to score four goals in 49 seconds. Elliott would give up three more goals in the period and he looked helpless by the time Benn tipped in a Seguin shot, then Roussel jammed in the puck on a wraparound just 43 seconds later.
Even though Elliott bounced back to save all seven shots in the third period to preserve the victory, he's still sporting just an .821 save percentage over his last four games. His experience and some unlucky breaks should still give him the nod, but rookie Jake Allen's recent play and 3-0-1 record in his last four starts will certainly put a dent in Elliott's hold on the No. 1 spot.
• Timely timeouts. It's always hard to tell just how much of a factor coaching plays in any single hockey game.
But Dallas coach Lindy Ruff and St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock sure looked smart after the way their teams responded to timeouts. The Stars scored four goals in less than 15 minutes after Ruff's timeout, which caused Hitchcock to call a timeout that may or may not have led to the Blues scoring the game's last four goals.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
