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Not much has nudged the Blues off their game in the last month.

Captain in trade rumors? Don’t worry about that. Allow four power-play goals in one game? Rebound to kill 12 of the next 13. Lose their best defenseman (for six weeks), and his running mate (for one night)? Next men up.

Have airplane mechanical issues that force them to stay in Minnesota on Saturday night and land Sunday eight hours before facing a rested Ducks squad? Ho-hum.

The Blues responded to their latest obstacle with a 7-2 drubbing of the Ducks on Sunday night at Enterprise Center, a win that moved them into a tie with Vancouver for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoffs. The Canucks own the tiebreaker because they have played one fewer game than the Blues.

With 14 games remaining in the regular season, the Blues have put themselves in position to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

“We’ve worked hard, we’ve clawed back, but at the end of the day, we have 14 left and you just can’t be happy that you’re in the wild-card (position),� Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “Teams have games in hand. At the end of the day, you need a strong week here. I thought we did a heck of a job flying on game day today and coming out and starting the way we did.�

The playoff chase in the Western Conference has become tight thanks to the Blues’ 8-2-2 record since the 4 Nations break, combined with stumbles by the Flames (4-3-3) and Canucks (5-7-0). Add in a surge from Utah (6-3-2), and it’s a four-way battle for the last spot in the West.

Entering Monday, Vancouver (67 games played) and St. Louis (68 games) each had 73 points. Calgary (65 games) and Utah (67 games) both have 71 points.

Any way you break down the race, it’s close. By points percentage, the Flames have the best record. The Canucks, Blues and Flames each have 24 regulation wins, which is the first tiebreaker used when every team is equal in games played. Vancouver, St. Louis and Utah each have 29 regulation and overtime wins, the second tiebreaker at year end.

“When we played this way, we were getting good results, we just had a really tough time doing it consistently,� Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said. “I think the break helped us reset. We came back, changed a few things, tightened some stuff up in practice.

“We’ve been able to find a pretty consistent brand of hockey. It feels good. I think the guys all realize that and realize what it does to the group when we’re all playing on the same page and committed to the same goal. It’s been fun.�

On Sunday night, the Blues broke the game open in the game’s first 90 seconds with goals from Schenn (41 seconds in) and Pavel Buchnevich (49 seconds later). That laid to rest any concerns about a tired Blues team sleeping through a game vs. a draft lottery-bound team.

The three power-play goals (from Dylan Holloway, Jake Neighbours and Oskar Sundqvist) and shorthanded tally (from Mathieu Joseph) helped massage any sputters against the Ducks. Not that Blues coach Jim Montgomery was troubled by much.

“As soon as they said something was wrong with our plane and we couldn’t get home, and we were staying, I said ‘We’re going to win tomorrow night,’� Montgomery said. “It looks like our group is looking for challenges now, and looking to accept them and overcome them.�

Sunday was the latest example of the Blues simply outplaying their opponent.

At five on five, the Blues once again controlled the majority of expected goals. For the 13th straight game, they allowed fewer than 30 shots on goal, the club’s longest streak since Dec. 29, 2018 to Feb. 5, 2019. You might remember that time for Jordan Binnington’s arrival, the start of an 11-game win streak, and a Cup on the horizon.

Since the break, the Blues lead the league in controlling 58.68% of expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick. They are second in high-danger chance share and first in goal differential at five on five. No team has more points than the Blues, and they’re doing it with goaltending that ranks 15th in the league in save percentage.

This is not a stretch buoyed by special teams and goaltending like last spring’s Blues. These are legitimate results. Did Montgomery see this coming?

“I’d be lying if I said yes,� Montgomery said. “It’s been fun to witness and watch. I thought it would have happened by Jan. 10 if I’m going to be honest. And it didn’t, so that’s why I can’t say I saw this coming. This good of hockey. I don’t know the stats, does anyone have a better record than us since the break?�

Only Montreal and Colorado have better points percentages than the Blues since the break.

With an even goal margin, the Blues suddenly have the seventh-best margin in the West. It’s the best margin for the Blues since they were even on Oct. 26 after a loss in Montreal. Their .537 points percentage is the best since they were 7-6-0 on Nov. 5.

MoneyPuck gives the Blues a 35.4% chance to make the playoffs, the highest mark of the quartet of Western Conference wild-card hopefuls.

“To be honest, our mind is just game to game,� Faulk said. “We’re going to go into Nashville (on Tuesday) and try to play a real good game, real solid, consistent game. That’s where we’re at right now. We’re not looking ahead. We know what’s at stake and we know what position we put ourselves in. We’re not there, we’ve got to keep going.

“It’s a good feeling in here right now, but we know it’s got to continue and there’s a lot of work left. There’s a good foundation, we’ve just got to keep building off of. There still needs to be a lot more wins. I know there’s the confidence in this group to go get it done.�