Playing in the same division as the Blackhawks and in the same conference as the red-hot Ducks has made the Blues less noticeable than those teams, but man, are they having a fine season.
Their recent run started during the strike-shortened season of 2013, when the Blues finished 29-17-2, fourth in the Western Conference, and many thought they would be contenders this year. Well, they have been.
With a 32-8-5 record, the Blues have the third-most wins in the league and have played all-around great hockey. Their home record is 18-3-2, while they’re 14-5-3 on the road. They rank in the top five in goals per game (1st), goals against (3rd), power-play percentage (3rd) and penalty kill percentage (5th) and have a league-best plus-63 goal differential. The next closest teams – Chicago and Anaheim — are plus-42.
And the Blues have been playing the past month without top goal scorer Alex Steen, who suffered a concussion. Other players – such as David Backes, Jaden Schwartz and T.J. Oshie – have stepped up, a big reason why St. Louis has been held pointless in back-to-back games only once. Now they’re hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s first-round playoff exit.
(Last week’s rankings in parentheses)
1. Ducks (1): The Ducks are 7-0-0 in 2014 and have 17 wins in 18 games. Goalie Jonas Hiller has won 14 straight starts.
2. Blues (3):Â St. Louis is two points behind the Blackhawks for the Central Division lead … with four games in hand.
3. Penguins (2): With a 16-point lead over the next closest team in the Atlantic Division, it’s only a matter of time before they have a magic number.
4. Blackhawks (4): Chicago has played 15 overtime games this season, but has yet to score an overtime goal, and dropped to 0-5 in overtime with a 3-2 loss to the Avalanche on Tuesday. They are 4-6 in shootouts.
5. Avalanche (9):Â After big road wins against the Wild and Blackhawks, looking for their first three-game winning streak in two months on Thursday against the Devils.
6. Lightning (7): Two goals in a nine-second span early in the second period was enough for the Lightning to take down the Rangers, 2-1, on Tuesday.
7. Sharks (5): Have alternated wins and losses over the past nine games, but all the losses have been in regulation, and those missed points could be important down the stretch.
8. Bruins (6): Boston has lost three of four games, as Tuukka Rask appears to be slumping, having allowed 12 goals in four games.
9. Kings (8): Don’t blame it on the goalies — the Kings allow a league-low 2.0 goals per game — but Los Angeles has won just three times in 10 games.
10. Canadiens (10):Â With a mediocre 6-4-2 record against Atlantic Division foes, the Canadiens need to improve that mark if they hope to win the division.
11. Flyers (13): Responded to two clunkers in weekend losses to the Lightning and Rangers with a 4-3 win against the Sabres on Tuesday, scoring the game-winning goal with 15 seconds left in regulation.
12. Canucks (11):Â Vancouver is 4-4-3 in its past 11, but its top-ranked penalty kill (89.7 percent) has excelled, allowing three goals in 11 games (28-for-31).
13. Rangers (17): Were a season-high four games over .500 before a 2-1 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday, but still own a 6-2-1 mark in their past nine games.
14. Wild (12): Zach Parise may start skating this week, and that’s good news for the goal-starved Wild.
15. Capitals (15): Crazy stat of the day: After his shootout miss in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Sharks, Alex Ovechkin has now missed 11 of his past 12 shootout attempts.
16. Senators (20): A current 6-0-1 stretch has been nice, but now comes the tough part: games against the Canadiens, Rangers, Capitals and Lightning in the next week.
17. Stars (14): It only took seven games, but Dallas finally has a win in 2014 after a 5-2 victory over Edmonton on Tuesday.
18. Maple Leafs (18): The Leafs have three regulation wins in their past 27 games. That’s not very good.
19. Devils (22): It could’ve been Martin Brodeur’s final game in his hometown of Montreal on Tuesday. If so, he went out in style with 29 saves in a 4-1 victory to earn career win No. 682 – 45 of which have come against the Canadiens.
20. Red Wings (19): Lots of reasons to be concerned in Detroit, and here’s one: The power play is 0-for-21 in five games.
21. Coyotes (16): Three wins in 15 games has pushed them out of a playoff spot, but somehow, in the tough Western Conference, they’re still within four points of a playoff spot.
22. Islanders (23): All good things must come to an end, as did the Islanders’ seven-game road winning streak with a 4-2 loss to the Panthers on Tuesday. But they have slowly climbed back into playoff contention with seven wins in nine games.
23. Blue Jackets (26): In three starts since returning from injury, Sergei Bobrovsky has three wins, including a shutout, and a .953 save percentage to get Columbus back on track.
24. Hurricanes (21): Had been playing well, but back-to-back shutout losses against the Blue Jackets and Flames is cause for concern.
25. Predators (24): Rookie defenseman Seth Jones has one goal in 26 games, and the Predators continue to struggle on offense, ranking 26th in the league with 2.3 goals per game.
26. Panthers (27): At one point, Florida was 4-12-4, but they have gone 14-9-3 since in large part due to Tim Thomas, who has given the Panthers something they haven’t had in years: solid goaltending.
27. Jets (25): After five consecutive defeats, the Jets fired coach Claude Noel this weekend and replaced him with Paul Maurice. His debut Monday was a success: a dominant 5-1 win against the Coyotes.
28. Sabres (29): Buffalo was seconds away from earning a point in four straight games for the first time this season. Not so fast. The Sabres allowed a late regulation goal in a 4-3 loss to the Flyers on Tuesday to dash those hopes.
29. Flames (28): The Flames lost to the Predators, 4-2, on Tuesday but hey, at least they scored two goals!
30. Oilers (30): Not going to win many games when you’re outshot, as Edmonton has been in seven of its past eight games (two wins, six losses).