St. Louis Blues – The Hottest Team in The NHL

The St. Louis Blues are not kidding anymore, as the franchise from Missouri won their 8th straight win last night against Arizona Coyotes. It is something this franchise hasn’t experienced for the previous 18 years.

The Blues (29-22-5) are the hottest team in the league at the moment, and the way they play since the New Year, they might be the biggest surprise during the playoffs.

That is if they continue in this manner.

Coyotes (25-27-5) were trashed 4-0 in Arizona, and that was the 9th win of the Blues away from Enterprise Center in the last 12 matches.

In general, this team is fantastic in this calendar year having 14-4-1.

“I’m excited about the direction this is headed,” goalie Jordan Binnington said. “How disciplined we’re being, selfless. It’s fun to be a part of.”

Binnington is one of the crucial pieces in this excellent streak. Without him on the goal, St. Louis had entirely different results. But since the 25-year old rookie became the part of the starting lineup, things have changed.

This is his second shutdown this week, and the seventh straight victory. That matched him with Brad Johnson who had a similar achievement back in 2001. Them two are now tying the franchise record. If by any chance St. Louis conquers Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, Binnington will become the sole record-holder.

Against Arizona, the young goalie had 21 saves.

“He’s playing unreal. It’s really huge for our team,” Vladimir Tarasenko said about Binnington. “It’s really amazing.”

The Russian right wing is playing very well himself during this stretch. Tarasenko scored twice against the Coyotes, and in the last 10 games, he delivered at least one point in each, 9 goals and 8 assists.

So far this season the 27-year old scored 23 goals.

“I got away early in the season from counting my goals and points, and tried to enjoy the game. But I’m not going to lie; it feels nice. It feels nicer helping the team win.” Tarasenko said about his productivity this year.

The Blues’ chemistry on the ice is looking very well, and the coach Craig Berube could be satisfied with the way things are developing at the moment.

An excellent series of results throughout the last three weeks propelled them to place No.6 in the Western Conference, with a tendency to go even higher. All the teams in front of them have played more matches than they did, and if they properly use that circumstance, Blues might be placed much better than they are now.

Vegas Golden Knights have three points and three games more than St. Louis, while Nashville Predators, who are fourth-seed right now, have four games and 10 points more. The important thing is that Blues defeated Predators at the beginning of the week in both back-to-back games, getting the edge over them if there is a need for using a tiebreak rule.

We need to add one more thing. Six of these eight wins came on the road. Among them the one against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Blues managed to shut down the best offense in the entire NHL.

So, that’s got to mean something, it simply can’t be just plain luck.

The next four matches are going to be defining for this team. They have two more stops before heading back home. First in Colorado, then in Minnesota. Both of these teams are playoff contenders and the direct rivals. After that, the Maple Leafs are coming to St. Louis, followed by a road match in Dallas against the Stars who have the same number of points as Blues. With three wins, or even two, St. Louis could be very pleased.

It would still allow them to dream big and aim better position before the start of the playoffs.