No matter what happens over the final six games of the regular season for the St. Louis Blues, they’re not going down without a fight in this chase for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Their top line is making sure of it.
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Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud have been on fire, to say the least, since the Olympic break, and that trio was front and center yet again when Thomas netted his first NHL hat trick, and his linemates assisted on all three goals, and Joel Hofer was up to the challenge with 26 saves, as the Blues kept themselves in the conversation again with a thrilling 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver on Sunday.
The Blues (33-31-12), who completed their four-game road trip 2-1-1, losing to the San Jose Sharks 5-4 and to the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime before defeating the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 on Friday, moved within three points of the Nashville Predators and Kings, who square off Monday in Los Angeles, for that second wild card slot. They’re a point behind the Sharks and even with the Winnipeg Jets, who they host on Thursday.
The Blues and Avalanche (50-16-10), who could have wrapped up home ice in the Western Conference with a win Sunday, will meet again on Tuesday in St. Louis.
How about those game observations?
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* Thomas first NHL hat trick highlights sizzling top line — We’ve been talking about them for weeks now, but Sunday night, the Holloway-Thomas-Snuggerud line had its handprints all over the offense this team provided.
They’re playing with such confidence, kind of like the Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou line did down the stretch last season when the Blues made their big push to get in, perhaps even better.
And remember in recent memory how good the Jaden Schwartz-Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko line was that fueled the Blues?
It’s safe to say this trio is doing it now, and has been doing it since the Olympic break.
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First off, it’s an amazing statline to see that they are Nos. 1-2-3 since Feb. 26 in plus-minus, with Holloway leading at plus-24, Thomas at plus-23 and Snuggerud at plus-18.
They’ve combined for 67 points (28 goals, 39 assists); Holloway has 26 points in 19 games (11 goals, 15 assists), Thomas has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 16 games and Snuggerud has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 19 games, which is good for a tie for ninth, 21st and 51st in points during that stretch.
They got the ball rolling after the Blues successfully challenged — and won — an offside play when Ross Colton thought he had scored to give the Avalanche the lead at 9:09 of the first period but video review showed that Jack Drury was in ahead of the play to wipe out the goal.
Thomas would strike at 12:01 when Holloway entered the Avalanche zone with speed, fed Snuggerud for a shot, then Thomas had a shot that was saved by Mackenzie Blackwood, and Holloway was there for a rebound whack and that’s what kept this play alive was the convergence around the net because Snuggerud found the loose puck, fed Thomas in the high slot for a slapper top shelf:
They would strike again when just 29 seconds after Brent Burns had given Colorado a 2-1 lead at 3:40 of the second period, Thomas tied the game 2-2 and it was a beautifully-executed play that started with a Philip Broberg flipper into the neutral zone, and this time, it was Snuggerud with speed gaining the O-zone through the neutral zone, finding Holloway, who seam-passed to Thomas at the backside for the finish:
And to cap off the hat trick, this was a thing of beauty from Snuggerud, after Holloway gained speed and quickly whipping a pass cross ice to Snuggerud, who had the patience to out-wait Martin Necas with the toe-drag, fake the slot from the slot and finding Thomas at the left post for the whack-in one-timer and a 3-2 lead with 2:50 remaining in the third period:
We mentioned it on Friday after the win in Anaheim, but it should bear mentioning now with Snuggerud: does he deserve to be in the conversation, at least, for rookie of the year this year?
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I know there’s been fantastic seasons from Matthew Schaefer (New York Islanders), Ivan Demidov (Montreal Canadiens) and Beckett Sennecke (Ducks) to name a few, but Snuggerud is up to 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 64 games.
If the Blues somehow wind up overcoming this 14-point deficit, which would tie the largest deficit to overcome to reach the playoffs and first since the Ottawa Senators (2014-15), does Snuggerud’s contributions warrant the conversation, at least? And does this kid have the makings of being a bonafide star winger in this league as he gains the experience? I think it bears thought.
That toe-drag move to set up Thomas for the winner is what star-stuff is made of:
Not only did Snuggerud finish with three assists and a plus-3, he had a game-high eight shots on goal. He’s confident passing it, he’s confident shooting it.
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* Blues played the game the right way — I mentioned during the game that there are two things you must avoid if you’re going to have success against the Avalanche.
One, you have to close gaps, especially when guys like Nathan MacKinnon (easier said than done) have the puck on their sticks; and two, you have to take care of the puck in the neutral zone especially to not feed into the speed and transition that the Avalanche possess.
There were a couple of early moments, but I thought all in all, the Blues managed the game well.
When Colorado tends to overwhelm its opponents, the Avalanche have you chasing them around the ice and bombarding you with shots with an overwhelming amount of zone time.
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Shots were 28-28 in this game, but I didn’t think the Blues were never under any extended duress in this game. They actually had a 11-8 shot clock advantage in the first period and it stayed pretty even throughout.
Both teams had their moments, and the game was very well-balanced out.
* Hofer made key stops — This marks now two straight games in which Hofer was able to put together solid performances considering the way things ended last Monday in San Jose.
His best save of the game was on a Mackinnon breakaway moments before the Thomas goal that tied the game 2-2 after splitting the ‘D.’
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If MacKinnon scores there and makes it 3-1, it’s probably lights out, because the Avalanche would have likely carried a lead into the third period, and Colorado is a perfect 38-0-0 when leading after two.
But by making that save there, it kept it a one-shot game and Thomas didn’t waste any time making it 2-2.
Hofer also made a break-in stop on Necas in the first period to finish with
* PK continues to play well — We all know how well the Blues’ penalty kill has performed since the Olympic break; they were first in the league prior to last Monday’s game against the Sharks, when they allowed three power-play markers.
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They’re still a very respectable fourth since Feb. 26 at 83.6 percent after being a perfect 3-for-3 against Colorado’s very potent offense. The Avalanche’s power play is ninth in the NHL since the Olympic break and the Blues held them to three shots to offset an 0-for-4 power play night themselves.
* Avalanche success came through traffic — Part of the Blues’ revamped defensive structure is attributed to their commitment to not allowing players to camp out in front of their goalies.
The goals Hofer was beaten on Sunday came off two Burns wristers from the point, one from the left and the other from the right.
The one off the left came after the Avalanche put a puck in, won it back, got it to the point and had two layers of bodies trying to take Hofer’s eyes away, and Parker Kelly benefited from a tip-in at 15:10 of the first that tied the game 1-1, and when Burns was able to wrist one from the right point that snuck into the far lefthand side to give the Avs a 2-1 lead, Gabriel Landeskog provided the screen in the low slot.
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Colorado does a good job of sending bodies to the front of the net in the crease and in the slot, so it’s something the Blues need to be aware of in the rematch Tuesday.
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