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Four years ago, Jim Montgomery got a glimpse into who Joel Hofer is.

During the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Montgomery was a Blues assistant coach on Craig Berube’s staff, and a 20-year-old Hofer was on the team’s taxi squad. Before he eventually was assigned to Utica in the AHL, Hofer served as the emergency option behind Jordan Binnington and Ville Husso.

“He stayed up with us for the first month, but he hated being scored on in breakaways,” Montgomery recalled over the weekend. “He’s naturally competitive, and his self-confidence is unreal.”

Hofer displayed his resilience in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Kings on Saturday night, making 21 saves to bounce back from a poor performance in Dallas six nights prior. Against the Stars on March 2, Hofer allowed three goals on nine shots and was pulled after playing just one period.

Binnington started and won the next two games, putting Hofer in line to start against the Kings on Saturday night. Hofer was beaten on a tip by Anze Kopitar in the first period, and then a quick shot from Quinton Byfield on the first shift in overtime.

“I felt good,” Hofer said. “It’s fun to play these meaningful games, and guys were all laying it out there. It’s great. We’re all battling hard, and we’re going to make a big push here.”

It was a credit to Hofer that the Blues got to overtime in the first place thanks to a number of massive saves in the second and third periods.

In the second period, Hofer stopped Alex Laferriere at the net-front after a feed from Tanner Jeannot. When Trevor Moore’s pass to Warren Foegele was redirected toward the crease to Phillip Danault, Hofer was there to smother the shot.

“Just trying to get across and make myself big,” Hofer said. “Luckily, it hit me.”

In the third period, Hofer went cross-crease on a power play to make a right arm save on Adrian Kempe, who was later denied when he cut to the net from the left wing. Hofer stopped Laferriere again on a rebound of a Byfield drive, and benefited from Andrei Kuzmenko hitting the post.

“So many big saves to give us an opportunity to get a point and get into overtime,” Montgomery said. “I’ve said it often: We’ve got two really good goalies. Binner has been proven what he can do in big moments, and I’m sure Hofer’s days are ahead of him to show those things as well.”

Overall, Hofer faced 1.724 expected goals in the third period against the Kings, according to MoneyPuck. It was the second-most dangerous third period allowed by the Blues this season, trailing only the third period vs. Washington during an 8-1 loss on Nov. 9 (2.448 expected goals allowed).

For Hofer in any period, it was his third-toughest workload in a period this season. The others were the first period vs. Florida on Feb. 6 (2.436) and the first period in Columbus on Jan. 4 (2.035).

“He was amazing,” Blues defenseman Nick Leddy said. “He was the reason why we were in it still and made some incredible saves when we needed them.”

Hofer was beaten by an outside shot from Vladislav Gavrikov at 3:43 of the second period, likely a goal that he would have wanted back. And he did get it back, as the goal was disallowed after a successful Blues challenge for offside.

After the challenge reversal, Hofer made 19 straight saves before Byfield’s goal in overtime off a turnover by Dylan Holloway.

“He was our best player (Saturday),” Blues forward Zack Bolduc said. “Made some key saves. Both of our goalies have been great lately. They’re always giving us a chance to win some games. It’s great. Hofer did a great job tonight.”

This season has been up and down for Hofer, who now owns a .899 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average in 24 games (22 starts). He’s been pulled from two starts and has just one win in his past eight appearances. According to MoneyPuck, Hofer has allowed 9.7 more goals than expected, the seventh-worst figure among NHL goalies this season.

On Saturday, he saved 1.076 goals above expected, his best performance since Jan. 16 against Calgary (1.088 above expected) and third-best of the season, per the MoneyPuck model. It also happened to come immediately after one of his most forgettable starts of the season in Dallas.

“Try and have a short memory,” Hofer said. “Try to do it as much as I can to help the team. Guys are playing well, so anything helps.”

Notable

Springfield goaltender Colten Ellis was named the AHL player of the week on Monday after he went 2-0-0 and stopped 95 of 97 shots in two games for the Thunderbirds. On the season, Ellis is tied for the league lead with a .928 save percentage in 32 games.

Last week, he signed a two-year, two-way contract extension with Blues, through the 2026-27 season.