DENVER — During the Blues’ practice on Friday in Nashville, Dylan Holloway did what he’s been doing for the last month during games: played confidently.
Holloway dished a pair of no-look passes during power play work, and even scored while on the man-advantage. It’s part of the carryover from Holloway’s torrid stretch in games, as he’s been one of the best players in the NHL since the start of March.
Holloway entered Saturday afternoon’s game in Colorado riding a nine-game point streak, and coming off a two-goal game during the Blues’ 3-2 win over Nashville on Thursday night.
“I’ve always believed in myself,” Holloway said. “I’ve always had big goals for myself. I’m just trying to keep working hard. There’s a lot of guys in the league that light up the league in crazy ways, and I’ve got a long way to go. I’m just trying to work hard every day. I’ve been fortunate to play with some really good linemates, too. They’ve helped me.”
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During his nine-game point streak, Holloway has six goals and nine assists. Since Jim Montgomery took over as Blues coach in late November, Holloway has produced 54 points in 52 games.
“I got to be honest, all the credit goes to him, his work ethic,” Montgomery said. “I’d love to take credit for it, but I’m not a big fan of taking credit where it’s not due. The one thing is I’ve had a couple of conversations with him, the last one was ‘You’re playing too well. I want you to really hone in on what we do in pulled goalie situations.’ Because his physical assets and the way his details and habits have improved defensively, he has the ability to end games by himself in pulled goalie situations. He’s done a good job here.”
Just how good has Holloway’s play been across this season and this streak? Let’s put it in perspective.
- Holloway entered Saturday tied with Sidney Crosby for the longest active point streak in the NHL. Connor McDavid has a point in his last 13 games, but has missed recent games due to an injury.
- Since the start of March, only Jack Eichel (21) and William Nylander (20) have more points than Holloway’s 19 points. Holloway is tied with Crosby, Nikita Kucherov and Roope Hintz in scoring league-wide.
- In March, the Blues have outscored opponents 16-6 at 5 on 5 when Holloway’s been on the ice. The plus-10 goal margin is tied for fifth in the league behind Pierre-Luc Dubois (plus-12), Aliaksei Protas (plus-11), teammate Jordan Kyrou (plus-11) and Cody Ceci (plus-11).
- Only one player 24 or younger has a point streak longer than Holloway’s nine-gamer. That belonged to Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle and his 14-game streak from January to March.
- In the last three decades, the only Blues players under 24 years old to have a nine-game point streak are Holloway, Robert Thomas, Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo.
- Holloway entered Saturday with 26 goals and 36 assists, a 62-point season that was tied for second on the Blues in scoring. Here are the most recent Blues players younger than 24 to post a 60-plus-point season: Thomas, Kyrou, Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Pavol Demitra, Brendan Shanahan, Rob Brind’Amour, Peter Zezel, Brett Hull and Doug Gilmour.
- Holloway has 13 points on the power play this season, which is behind only Thomas and Kyrou amongst Blues.
“He’s a student of the game,” Montgomery said. “He’s always looking to get better. So he’s watching other players in the league. He’s watching Robbie Thomas and Kyrou on the halfwall, and he’s also talking with Steve Ott a lot on elements where he can get better when he has the puck, and when he doesn’t on the power play.”
During Thursday’s win over Nashville, the Blues switched lines up, moving Thomas between Holloway and Kyrou, and putting Brayden Schenn between Jake Neighbours and Zack Bolduc. While both lines led to goals by the Blues, Montgomery and the Blues went back to their previous lines for Saturday’s game in Colorado, aided by the addition of Pavel Buchnevich.
That meant a top-six of Neighbours-Thomas-Buchnevich and Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou, with Bolduc sliding to the third line with Oskar Sundqvist and Mathieu Joseph.
But Holloway was very complimentary of his time with Thomas on Thursday.
“A guy like Thommer, I don’t think he’s getting enough credit for how good he is as a player,” Holloway said. “He’s a top centerman in the league. He’s always gets their hardest matchups and he’s playing really good defensively as well as putting up points every night. He’s a stud. He’s a legit, legit No. 1 centerman. To play with him has been awesome. He always seems to make the best play. He supports well. A lot of times, try and get him the puck and get open.”