During his three months as the Blues’ head coach, Jim Montgomery waited for Pavel Buchnevich’s creativity to return. And in a three-point night during a 4-3 shootout loss to Winnipeg on Saturday night, it did.
Buchnevich muscled his way to hard-earned assists on Robert Thomas’ two goals, then scored himself on the power play in the third period to give the Blues a one-goal lead that was squandered when Winnipeg scored an extra-attacker goal. Buchnevich faked a shot from the top of the circle, moved closer to the hash marks before unleashing a slap shot for his third power-play goal of the season.
Buchnevich and Thomas combined for six points on Saturday night, the second time this season that they each had multiple points in the same game.
“I thought they had a really good week of practice, that line,†Montgomery said. “I thought they practiced really hard all three days. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were invested in practice and they got rewarded with how well they played tonight, positionally. I felt like that last goal, Buchy faking that, he did it in the first, too. That’s the Buchy that is being creative and playing natural on his instincts. I thought Tommer was dominant 200 feet of the ice tonight.â€
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The Blues have been looking for Buchnevich to regain his offensive form for most of the season, as his 0.67 points per game would be the fewest since the 2019-20 season when he was with the Rangers. His 5.39 shots per 60 minutes at five on five are the lowest since he was a rookie in New York back in 2016-17.
The goal on Saturday night snapped a 13-game goal drought that tied Buchnevich’s longest as a member of the Blues.
“Everybody say I need to shoot more,†Buchnevich said. “I just close the eyes and shoot it. Hit the spot. Usually, I’m looking for the next play, passes and basically nothing happened. Talking to coaches, they told me to shoot the puck, and it goes in.â€
Thomas: “He was great, closing out plays. He carried the puck through the neutral zone a lot. In the (offensive) zone, he was holding on to it, making good slip plays, possessing it. You felt like he had his confidence back and you could see it in his puck plays and the way he held on to it.â€
In both the present and the future, both Buchnevich and Thomas will be important for the Blues franchise.
Right now, production from them will help keep alive the distant hopes the Blues have of qualifying for the playoffs. They entered Sunday’s game vs. Colorado seven points back of Vancouver, which had the final wild-card slot at the time, with one more game played than the Canucks. Three other teams were tied with or ahead of the Blues and behind Vancouver.
Long term, Thomas is signed for six more years at a $8.125 million salary-cap hit. Buchnevich’s six-year extension worth $8 million annually kicks in next season and will expire at the same time as Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.
The two players entered the recent NHL break with a productive game vs. Chicago, combining for three points. But January was tough for both players.
“We went into the break not happy with how we were playing, and wanted to make a point to play better and get better in different areas,†Thomas said. “It’s a start. We’ve got a long way to go, but just got to keep on going from there.â€
Montgomery and Buchnevich each talked about how helpful the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off was to mentally reset.
“Of course it helps,†Buchnevich said. “Before the break, we have chances but we couldn’t score. Now, me and ‘Tommer’ find the back of the net. I felt like the reset a little bit helped us. When you doesn’t score one, two, five games in a row, frustration’s building. We got a week off, look at some good hockey on TV and help us to reset.â€
Montgomery: “You’re not frustrated coming to the rink. (Buchnevich) practiced really well. He had a smile on his face in practice. (Alexey Toropchenko) laid him out and he had a smile on his face. If that was three weeks ago, he might have broken a stick over his head.â€
Buchnevich started the season playing center for coach Drew Bannister, but has played exclusively wing under Montgomery. On Saturday night, Jake Neighbours was the third member of their line, and he’s been the most common linemate for Thomas and Buchnevich as Montgomery has continuously tried to find the right fit on the top line.
“We were supporting each other, we were forechecking well,†Thomas said. “Able to get pucks quick and transition them. We did some good things to continue to build on.â€
