Blues set franchise record with 12 consecutive victories, best in NHL this season

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ask coach Jim Montgomery about the St. Louis Blues' franchise-best 12-game winning streak and he'll give you a succinct answer.

“It means we’re good,” Montgomery said after Saturday night's 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche extended the longest winning streak in the NHL this season. "We’re a good hockey team.”

The Blues are 18-2-2 since the 4 Nations Face-Off break and have climbed into the first wild-card position in the Western Conference with the most wins (18) and points (38) by any team in the NHL in that span.

"The boys are rolling,” said Zach Bolduc, who scored two-power play goals against Colorado. “The whole team is playing well. It’s fun to be a part of it. We’ve just got to keep it going.”

The team's longest previous win streak of 11 games came during the 2018-19 season when St. Louis went on to win the Stanley Cup. Jordan Binnington was a starting goaltender as a rookie that season.

He stopped 35 shots on Saturday and matched the franchise-record home win streak for a goaltender at 10.

“It’s very cool. It’s good to enjoy these moments, especially at home,” Binnington said. “It’s really fun to play here right now and you can tell there’s good energy all around. At the same time, we’ve got to focus and keep looking forward while we’re here.”

What Montgomery likes best is how his club is focusing on each game. There is no talking about the streak or what players are out because of injury.

That has been the key.

“I think staying in the moment, just worrying about our next game and getting prepared for it,” Montgomery said. "Our day-to-day habits have been excellent. Not discussing where we are in the standings and not talking about who’s injured. We haven’t talked about any of them once as a group together.”

The Blues are without Colton Parayko, who hurt his knee March 5 against the Kings in Los Angeles. He had a scope procedure afterward.

In 62 games this season, Parayko has scored a career-high 15 goals and has 35 points. They’ve gone 13-1-1 without him.

Dylan Holloway is also out and is listed as week to week with a lower-body injury. He has 26 goals and 37 assists in 77 games.

“I am proud of that group in there to be able to overcome all of the adversity that we’ve had this year, whether that was self-inflicted by us,” Montgomery said. "It doesn’t matter. We’ve overcome it. I’m proud of that group for what they’ve achieved.”

It's been a total team effort, Pavel Buchnevich said.

"It’s not just who scores the goals. It’s a full team shift in, shift out and it’s hard to play against us,” Buchnevich said. “We play for each other right now and sacrifice for the team.”

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