DALLAS — The more the standings matter, the less the Blues are talking about them.
“That’s one thing that we’ve changed over break is we don’t talk about standings at all," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "We just talk about our process, staying in the moment and on to the next game. On to the next shift or play.â€
The Blues entered Sunday night's 6-3 loss in Dallas just one point out of the playoffs and could have put themselves into a wild-card spot for the first time since November with a win over the Stars. Despite outshooting the Stars by about a 2-to-1 margin, the Blues watched their four-game win streak end when they allowed four Dallas goals on the power play.
Zack Bolduc, Dylan Holloway and Nathan Walker scored for the Blues. Robert Thomas extended his assist streak to 10 games, tied for the second-longest in Blues history. He's only behind Pierre Turgeon's 12-game streak in December 1999.
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Wyatt Johnston had a hat trick (all three on the power play), and Mason Marchment (power play), Matt Duchene and Roope Hintz scored for the Stars. Dallas scored on all of its power-play chances, as the Blues penalty kill suddenly allowed goals on five straight power plays.
Entering Saturday's game, the Blues killed eight consecutive penalties, showing improvement in a unit that ranks as the worst PK in Blues history.
With the loss, the Blues remained one point behind Calgary (lost in overtime in Carolina on Sunday) and idle Vancouver. Montgomery said the Blues want "to be immersed in the moment, that allows to just stay focused and our minds don’t drift."
"We know where we stand, but we don’t want to be talking about it," Montgomery said. "It’s something that we control if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing.â€
The Blues will spend the next week in Southern California with games against the Kings on Wednesday, Ducks on Friday and the Kings again on Saturday. The trade deadline is 2 p.m. central time on Friday.
Hofer pulled
After allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period, Blues goaltender Joel Hofer was yanked in favor of Jordan Binnington at the start of the second period. It was the second time this season that Hofer was pulled and first under Montgomery.
Hofer allowed Marchment’s power-play goal at 1:56 on a shot from the circle, Duchene’s goal after swimming through the crease at 13:28 and Johnston’s power-play goal with just 1.3 seconds remaining in the period.
Since the start of 2025, Hofer has a 0.891 save percentage and 3.19 goals against average in 10 games played. His win Thursday in Washington was his first since Jan. 16 against the Flames.
Binnington started on Saturday against the Kings and made 25 saves on 26 shots faced. On Sunday, he allowed a goal on the first shot he faced, a goal by Hintz after a give and go with Jason Robertson just 66 seconds into the second period. The goal gave Dallas a 4-2 lead.
Faksa recognized
The Stars honored Blues forward Radek Faksa with a tribute video at the second television timeout of the first period, celebrating Faksa’s nine seasons in Dallas before his trade to St. Louis last summer. Before the tribute, though, Faksa already had an impact on the game.
On his first shift of the night, Faksa folded Stars defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin into the boards behind the Dallas net, earning a boarding penalty to put the Stars on the power play. It was Faksa’s sixth penalty in the past six games, and Lyubushkin missed the rest of the period before returning for the second.
The Stars scored on the ensuing power play, as Marchment ripped a shot past Hofer from the right circle. Dallas remained on the power play despite a Stars player slashing Colton Parayko’s stick and breaking it, which drew protests from the Blues bench.
Faksa played his 50th game for the Blues on Sunday night.
“He doesn’t show much emotion, but you know it matters to him,†Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “He had a really good career here and I know, having coached him here, that he enjoyed his time here in Dallas. But he’s a Blue now, and he’s eager to compete tonight.â€
Same lineup
Montgomery iced the same lineup for the sixth straight game on Sunday night in hopes of continuing the team’s five-game point streak and four-game win streak. Sunday, though, presented a back-to-back with travel and a start time two hours earlier than Saturday night’s game against the Kings.
“We all know we’ve been playing a lot of games in a short amount of days,†Montgomery said. “This is the end of six (games) in nine (days). The thing is we’ve been playing really well. The highest forward had 18 minutes and 12 seconds lats night. The lowest was like 12:40, I believe. Defensemen, no one had over 22 minutes. No one was lower than 18. It’s perfectly spread out, so no one was overtaxed. And when you play with the lead, it’s not as emotionally and mentally draining.â€
In using the same lineup, that meant forward Alexandre Texier and defenseman Tyler Tucker remained healthy scratches.
