After a successful performance in one of the NHL’s major events, the St. Louis Blues are hoping that their 6-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Discover NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on Tuesday will help them build momentum for a strong second half of the season.
The Blues (18-17-4) are undefeated in Winter Classic games, having beaten the Blackhawks 4-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in 2017 and the Minnesota Wild 6-4 at Target Field in Minneapolis in 2022. With a season marked by inconsistency, the Blues are happy to take any boost they can get from their third win in the last four games, especially after playing outdoors.
“Yeah, even the game (Sunday) against Buffalo (a 4-2 loss where the Blues outshot Buffalo 37-16), the last four games we’ve been playing well,” said forward Jake Neighbours, who had an assist on Tuesday.
“It feels like we’re building something. The offense is starting to score a little bit more. That stuff’s nice. You want to just take that feeling and ride with it and try to get on a little bit of a roll here.”
On Tuesday, St. Louis got off to a strong start, with Cam Fowler scoring a power-play goal at 1:40 in the first period and Jordan Kyrou adding another at 8:10 for a 2-0 lead. The Blues led 5-1 late in the second period.
The Blues, who are 9-5-3 in 17 games since Jim Montgomery replaced Drew Bannister as coach on Nov. 24, have a 3-1-1 record in their last five games, but they know they need to build on this success.
They trail the Calgary Flames by three points for the second wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference but have played two more games.
“We have to focus on winning hockey games,” said captain Brayden Schenn. “Because at the end of the day, when you look at the standings, these two points matter. The experience is one thing. You’ve got to play the hockey game, play the right way, and hopefully come out on top.”
The St. Louis players spent the rest of New Year’s Eve with their families in Chicago before returning to their regular routine, likely starting with practice Thursday, followed by back-to-back games on Friday at home against the Ottawa Senators and Saturday at the Columbus Blue Jackets. Montgomery hopes that this game on a big stage can help his team become more consistent.
“I hope playing the right way for 60 minutes and scoring goals, because we’re playing the right way, will lead us to be a little more consistent,” Montgomery said. “I’m glad we’re not playing for a couple of days because this is an emotional high.
I know it’s just two points like all the other two points, but this is not the same kind of game emotionally. So I’m glad we’re not playing tomorrow or even in two days, but for our group right now, we’ve got to start pushing.
“We have a lot of games at home here in January and February if we want to make a run at the playoffs. Our consistency and belief in our identity has to start showing game in, game out.”
