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ANAHEIM, Calif. – In the period leading up to Friday afternoon’s trade deadline, Brayden Schenn’s phone was a popular target. As his name swirled in trade rumors, and his phone continuously lit up. And when the deadline passed, and Schenn remained the captain of the Blues, the stress could dissipate.

For Schenn and the Blues, there was no better way for it to manifest itself than Schenn scoring two goals during a 4-3 win over the Ducks on Friday night.

“It’s no secret where my name was, tossed around,� Schenn said. “Just people texting me literally daily. Part of the business. Obviously, a little bit tough to deal with. At the end of the day, I’ve always said, I love being a Blue. I love playing here.

“I feel like we’ve got a good thing going on, and we’re going to make a push to the playoffs. I feel I couldn’t go out there and quit on my teammates. It’s important for us to keep on taking steps here and we’re going to do everything we can to get in.�

Alexey Toropchenko and Zack Bolduc also scored for the Blues, who held off a last-minute rally by the Ducks. Mason McTavish’s bid at the buzzer to tie the game crossed the goalline after time expired, and lifted the Blues to another win.

“The horn went, the whistle went and then the crowd reacted,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I didn’t think the clock started at the right time, that was another thing.�

The result gave the Blues a 6-1-1 record in the eight games since the 4 Nations break, and brought them one point back of Vancouver for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. St. Louis (31-27-6) has as many points as the Flames, but Calgary is ahead in the standings since the Flames have played two fewer games.

Friday’s game ended up as the biggest news surrounding the Blues after general manager Doug Armstrong did not make any trades before the deadline. But it didn’t always have that potential.

Schenn’s name was thrown around in trade rumors for weeks leading up to the deadline, linked to teams like Toronto and Vegas. Armstrong declined to get into specifics regarding Schenn in particular, and Schenn himself did not say whether he was asked to waive his no-trade clause.

“At the end of the day, I like being a St. Louis Blue and I’ll leave it at that,� Schenn said.

Schenn is the Blues’ emotional and physical heartbeat, a throwback of a player that hits and fights and scores and passes. At 33 years old, he scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season on Friday night (his empty-net goal ended up as the game-winning one for the Blues) and has eight points in the eight games since the break.

He’s been traded twice in his career. But once was as a teenager, and the other was during the summer. When he was in rumors this time, it was as an established captain of a team making a push – and with the trump card of a no-trade clause to either stay put or choose his destination.

“We’ve all been through it every year,� Schenn said. “Obviously, this one’s a little bit different because I was obviously so talked about. People text you non-stop and whatnot. You lean on your family, you lean on my brother, you lean on parents.

“Decisions have to be made. At the end of the day, I love being here. Obviously, or else I wouldn’t have signed here for eight years. I know it’s part of the business with trade rumors and everything else. We’ve got a good thing going on right now, and we’ll keep pushing.�

Before the game, Montgomery spoke to reporters about the relief that comes over a team when the deadline passes. And how did that apply to his captain?

“I think with our captain, what a true pro and what a great leader,� Montgomery said. “Just comes out leads us the right way, so many rumors swirling with the trade deadline, and he just keeps playing and keeps leading us. That’s why he’s our captain and that’s why we are very grateful that we have him.�

Relative to their recent games, the Blues delivered a substandard performance on Friday night, an indication that the bar has raised for this group. They benefitted from two iffy goals allowed by Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal. They allowed an extra-attacker goal late by Alex Killorn to make it a one-goal game, and nearly allowed the equalizer to McTavish in the dying seconds.

For the first time in more than a month, the Blues allowed more expected goals than they generated at 5 on 5, snapping a streak of eight straight games. But the victory still tastes the same.

“From my perspective and a few others, we haven’t had this feeling in a couple years,� Schenn said. “It’s important to keep pushing this forward. St. Louis is going to be obviously set up good for the future. But these are big games to play in. It gets guys competitive. It gets guys playing for one another. That’s how you establish, or start building, a culture and a winning culture again.�

With each win, the playoff math becomes more favorable for the Blues.

In chasing Vancouver (on pace for 91 points), the Blues would need a 11-6-1 record in the final 18 games of the season in order to match the Canucks. It’s still asking more out of a team currently on pace for 87 points, and that much was acknowledged by Armstrong when he spoke to reporters on Friday afternoon.

Armstrong also said that deeming the rest of the season a success would revolve around “how we play.�

“If we continue to play the way we’re playing now, and firm and hard and determined and for each other — I think we’ll win more than we lose, whether it’ll be enough to get into the playoffs – is success,� Armstrong said. “If we start to lose games and then get individualistic, cheating the game, cheating for offense, not playing for the guys, you’re up a goal and it’s not quite worth blocking a shot because we’re not in the playoff hunt, those things will tell the tale about who wants to be here and who doesn’t want to be here.

“The success will be determined by the things that aren’t just on the scoreboard, but on how we conduct ourselves.�(tncms-asset)c498eea0-fae0-11ef-807c-9b00ef689cf6[2](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)3551f52e-f929-11ef-9995-9f0e914ab7c2[3](/tncms-asset)