ST. LOUIS – The old adage that good teams find ways to win when they’re not at their best has found its way to the St. Louis Blues once again.
And in doing do on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the same team that was last in the NHL to put together a three-game winning streak has now matched a franchise record 11 straight wins.
The Blues were not at their best, but they found a way for a second straight overtime game when Robert Thomas’ power-play goal at 2:12 won it, 5-4, after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period at Enterprise Center.
Jake Neighbours scored twice to surpass the 20-goal mark for the second straight season, and Thomas and Jordan Kyrou each had a goal and an assist for the Blues (42-28-7), who moved two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for the first wild card in the Western Conference. They matched the Stanley Cup-winning team of 2018-19 for consecutive wins (Jan. 23-Feb. 19) and won their 10th in a row at home.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Thomas said. “We’ve beaten some really good teams and we’re playing really good hockey. We just got to consistently be there every single night and that’s what makes a great team and that’s what we’re on our way to be.”
Added forward Oskar Sundqvist, who was part of the 2019 team, “It's awesome. I was here for the last 11 straight wins. It's a good feeling in our group right now. Even if we haven't played our best games our last two games, but we're finding ways to win. That's what's important right now.”
Jimmy Snuggerud had an assist for his first NHL point in his second game, and Joel Hofer won his fifth straight start with 24 saves.
“Another one of those games where we didn’t think we played to our standard, but finding ways, goalies are playing well, guys are making big plays in big moments and keep finding ways,” Neighbours said.
Here are Thursday’s Three Takeaways --
* The power play finally connected – Even with the Blues scoring four times at 5-on-5, it was a game in which they could have put it away with better special teams.
Earlier in the game, they had a 38-second two-man advantage lumped in with a four-minute double minor for high-sticking and did nothing with it.
The Blues led the game 3-2 and had the chance to put the game away then but their unwillingness to be more direct allowed the Penguins to stay in the game despite Neighbours scoring at 5:56 on a great play by Snuggerud both defensively, then starting the transition offensively to make it 4-2.
St. Louis goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 4, 2025
Scored by Jake Neighbours with 14:04 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Jimmy Snuggerud and Oskar Sundqvist.
St. Louis: 4
Pittsburgh: 2#PITvsSTL#stlblues#LetsGoPenspic.twitter.com/hmGJMc5Zlm
But on the 4-on-3 in overtime, after Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was called for ...
