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They know that the line of Dylan Holloway, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou will deliver.

Thanks to Schenn’s two goals, Kyrou’s goal and Holloway’s pair of assists, the line combined for five points in another important win over Calgary. The Blues followed up Tuesday’s win over the Flames with the sequel, pulling them within one point of the second wild-card spot in the NHL’s Western Conference playoffs, but with two more games played than the Flames.

“We needed to win both games to really get close,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “Now, we’re one point behind them. They have two games in hand, but they’ve got to go win those games to separate from us. We did what we needed to do here in these two games.�

Colton Parayko scored the other goal for the Blues as he tied his career high with 10 goals in a season. Joel Hofer made 28 saves to win his second straight start.

The Blues (22-20-4) finished their four-game homestand with a 3-1-0 record, hoping to string together three straight wins for the first time this season when they face the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. St. Louis is the only team in the NHL without a three-game win streak this season.

On Thursday night, the Schenn line led the Blues.

Holloway pickpocketed MacKenzie Weegar behind the Flames’ net to set up Schenn in the slot to make it 1-0. Holloway drew a penalty before he set up Kyrou for his 20th of the season that gave the Blues a 3-0 lead. And Schenn added his second of the night, on a power play in the second period, to extend the lead to 4-1.

“I thought that that was the best game they’ve had,� Montgomery said. “(Three) games ago against Anaheim, they scored quite a bit, I didn’t think they were as dominant as they were tonight. I thought the (Robert) Thomas line was dominant, too, tonight at 5 on 5. When those big boys are going like they were tonight, we’re a lot to handle.�

During the 10:49 of ice time at 5 on 5 for the line, the Blues were outshot 8-4, sure, but they controlled 62% of expected goals, 69% of scoring chances and 80% of high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. In the 13 games that the trio has been together, the Blues have allowed more expected goals than generated in just one game.

According to MoneyPuck, Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou rank among the best lines in the league in shot quality controlled. They are 17th in the NHL in expected goals percentage among the 120 lines with at least 100 minutes together. That leaves them a few ticks away from Edmonton’s Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. They are directly ahead of Toronto’s Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, plus Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson.

The Blues’ No. 2 line certainly looks like a No. 1 unit.

The biggest surprise is Holloway, the 23-year-old is in his first season in St. Louis after signing an offer sheet with the Blues over the summer.

He came into the season with 18 career points in 89 games with the Oilers. Now at 34 points in 46 games, Holloway has nearly doubled his career output with Edmonton. He’s on pace for 61 points, which would make him the fifth Blue since 2000 under 24 years old to eclipse 60 points in a season. Holloway would join Thomas, Kyrou, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz.

“I think we’re seeing a guy emerge as a real player in this league,� Montgomery said. “I think his confidence is through the roof. He knows he’s a good hockey player in the league and he’s going out expecting to be an impact player. He’s being that for us.�

Schenn added: “He’s relentless. He comes to the rink every day and tries to get better. I’m not just saying that, I mean that. He’s a guy that wants to be the best version of himself, works extremely hard, goes to the hard areas. He has a tremendous amount of skill.�

No forward in the NHL has more points at 5 on 5 than Holloway’s 11 since Dec. 23. Could he have imagined this kind of production when he signed with the Blues over the summer?

“I’ve very grateful just for the opportunity that I’ve been getting,� Holloway said. “How welcoming this team has been for me. It seems like it’s been a great fit so far, and I’m having a lot of fun. To answer your question if I imagined it, I got high standards for myself and it was definitely a goal of mine. I think it’s been great so far, and I’m really grateful for it.�

Kyrou, meanwhile, has blossomed into one of the league’s best goal scorers since Montgomery took over on Nov. 24. He has 14 goals in his last 24 games, which is tied for sixth-most in the NHL behind serial scorers like Leon Draisaitl (15) and Brayden Point (15). Under Montgomery, Kyrou is scoring at a 48-goal pace.

“One, I want him buzzing and that means him skating,� Montgomery said. “Him skating without the puck is where he’s dangerous. I find he’s creating turnovers now. He’s winning one on one battles because his feet are moving. And then he’s so dangerous when he gets the puck, and he has a step on someone that he can make real gifted plays, whether he’s shooting it or whether he’s passing it.�

Holloway added: “He’s electric. He’s so fast and skilled, demands the puck, wants the puck. Anytime you’ve got a player like that, it’s fun to play with him. I just try to read off of him. He’s been playing great hockey, and I think he’s an incredible player.�

Schenn is the glue that holds it all together: physically, emotionally and defensively.

The combination has allowed the Blues to wander through a top-line experiment around Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. It’s allowed them to overcome shoddy special teams and post a plus-17 goal differential under Montgomery that’s sixth-best in the league. It’s blurred the line between secondary and primary scoring at the top of the lineup.

“I think we’ve been really connected as a line,� Kyrou said. “We’ve been all over the puck without the puck, we’re all hounding, creating turnovers, supporting each other and just playing fast.�

Blues 4, Flames 1

Calgary 0 1 0 — 1

St. Louis 3 1 0 — 4

First Period—1, St. Louis, Schenn 9 (Holloway), 4:55. 2, St. Louis, Parayko 10 (Thomas, Fowler), 13:53. 3, St. Louis, Kyrou 20 (Tucker, Holloway), 15:40. ±Ê±ð²Ô²¹±ô³Ù¾±±ð²õ—None.

Second Period—4, Calgary, Sharangovich 8 (Pelletier, Kerins), 11:14. 5, St. Louis, Schenn 10 (Faulk, Neighbours), 17:39 (pp). ±Ê±ð²Ô²¹±ô³Ù¾±±ð²õ—Broberg, STL (Holding), 6:23; Pachal, CGY (Roughing), 13:09; Sundqvist, STL (Roughing), 13:09; Pachal, CGY (Slashing), 17:11.

Third Period—None. ±Ê±ð²Ô²¹±ô³Ù¾±±ð²õ—Coronato, CGY (Holding), 6:11; Calgary bench, served by Rooney (Holding), 17:49; Pachal, CGY (Fighting), 17:49; Walker, STL (Fighting), 17:49.

Shots on Goal—Calgary 7-17-6—30. St. Louis 15-9-5—29.

Power-play opportunities—Calgary 0 of 1; St. Louis 1 of 3.

³Ò´Ç²¹±ô¾±±ð²õ—Calgary, Wolf 15-7-2 (29 shots-25 saves). St. Louis, Hofer 10-4-1 (30-29).

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