Don't count the St. Louis Blues out of the playoff race just yet. After a 6-2 drubbing of the Anaheim Ducks on the road on Friday night, Jim Montgomery's club has reduced the magic number for a Western Conference postseason berth to just three.
While it's still improbable, as the Blues have only seven games left — and need to leapfrog three teams — the result at Honda Center was encouraging.
“Two times we've been in this building has been two of, probably, our five best performances of the year,” Montgomery said afterwards, per NHL.com's Dan Arritt. “We played fast, we were really smart with the puck, we didn't force things through the middle because that's a team that really occupies the middle of the ice and they have great sticks and they transition extremely well off turnovers.”
It was a fast and furious first period, with the Blues and Ducks combining for five goals in the opening frame. St. Louis led 3-2 after 20, and didn't look back.
With Robert Thomas leading the charge, the Blues scored three unanswered — two in the second and one in the third — to seal the lopsided final.
Thomas finished with a goal and two assists, while Jake Neighbours and Philip Broberg chipped in two apples each. Pius Suter and Colton Parayko each went for one and one.
“He's the most underrated passer in the league,” forward Dylan Holloway, who scored twice, said of Thomas. “Such a nice pass and I was kind of blessed to have that lay right on my tape like that.”
The Blues have had the Ducks' number lately; they also beat their cross-division rivals 4-0 in this same building back on March 8.
Now 32-31-12, St. Louis will likely need to win five or six of their last seven games to be one of the last eight standing in the Western Conference come the middle of April.
It's unlikely, but the squad has been known for late-season surges. Things don't get any easier, though, with a back-to-back set against the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche coming up. Those two games will make or break their 2025-26 campaign.
