ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

The Blues signed defenseman Tyler Tucker to a two-year contract extension worth an average of $925,000 per season, the team announced Friday.

Tucker's contract was set to expire this summer. He will be paid $900,000 next season and $950,000 in 2026-27.

If he played in eight of the Blues' remaining games, he would have been a restricted free agent with rights controlled by St. Louis. Had he not played in eight more games, Tucker would have become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent available to sign with any team in the league.

This season, Tucker has two goals and two assists in 20 games.

After he was recalled from AHL affiliate Springfield on Dec. 19, Tucker played in 19 of the next 20 games, including a career-long 18 in a row. He missed three games with an upper-body injury before the 4 Nations break, and has now been a healthy scratch in favor of Nick Leddy for the last three games.

With Tucker now under contract, the Blues have seven defensemen signed for next season. That includes Colton Parayko ($6.5 million salary-cap hit), Justin Faulk ($6.5 million), Torey Krug ($6.5 million), Philip Broberg ($4.581 million), Cam Fowler ($4 million) and Leddy ($4 million).

Krug has missed the entire season following ankle surgery in September.

Ryan Suter is the only current Blues defenseman that will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Minor-league defensemen Hunter Skinner and Anton Malmstrom will be restricted free agents.

St. Louis Blues

Philip Broberg continues goal-scoring from defensemen with first multi-goal game: Blues Extra

• Matthew DeFranks

St. Louis Blues

Blues creep closer to Western Conference playoff race with 5-2 win over Washington

• Matthew DeFranks

Lynn Worthy

Worthy: The Blues can't sell just when Jim Montgomery has them looking connected, confident

• Lynn Worthy

WASHINGTON — For one play, Philip Broberg resembled an NHL icon.

When Broberg scored his second goal in the Blues’ 5-2 win over Washington on Thursday night, he did so flying through the air right at the edge of the crease, and ended up at the opposite boards. For a moment, it harkened back to one of the most famous goals in NHL history — and also one of the most dramatic in Blues history: Bobby Orr’s overtime Cup winner in Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final against the Blues.

“I wouldn’t say that,� Broberg said. “It was nice to see it go in, though.�

Broberg secured his first multi-goal game in the NHL by jumping into the rush and collecting the puck at the left dot, cutting toward the crease, avoiding a poke check by Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren then tucking a backhander in and sliding on the ice. Broberg involved himself in the offense early, sneaking up the far wing when Pavel Buchnevich broke up a play at the blue line, allowing Jake Neighbours to battle for the puck in the neutral zone and eventually find Broberg.

“I saw that it was kind of a 50-50 battle with ‘Jakey’ and I trust ‘Jakey’ to make a play,� Broberg said. “I saw an opportunity to jump, so he made a great play and I had a breakaway.�

Both of Broberg’s goals on Thursday were derived from him jumping into the rush, as his first goal was the result of carrying the puck in transition and then camping himself out in the right circle for a pass from Mathieu Joseph. Broberg said he was “just trying to get lost there on the backside.�

Broberg now has five points in the last five games, as he also had two points on Feb. 8 against the Blackhawks.

“I think he’s just getting more and more comfortable with us wanting him to take advantage of his skating and his ability to make plays,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.

On Sunday against Colorado, Broberg didn’t crack the scoresheet but was noticeable offensively, pinching down walls in the offensive zone to create chances for teammates with passes from the corner to the net-front. One found Brayden Schenn in the slot, one almost connected with Oskar Sundqvist.

It was Broberg’s skating that, in part, attracted the Blues to him over the summer, and it’s his skating that has allowed him to contribute more offensively, too. In February, Broberg had five points at 5 on 5, and only six NHL defensemen had more than him in that span.

“His skating is so elite, he can break away from guys,� Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. “I always tell him he’s a one-man breakout because he gets it back there, starts crossing over, he’s hard to hit, hard to catch. It seems like he’s found his legs. He’s been playing well all year, but recently, he’s been skating really well and when he’s generating offense, too, he’s skating really well.�

Overall, Blues defensemen have been scoring in bunches lately. With Broberg’s two and Colton Parayko’s one goal on Thursday, St. Louis blue-liners had three goals in Washington. Blues defensemen have scored at least one goal in each of the three games in the current win streak.

On the season, Blues defensemen have 34 goals, which is tied for third-most in the NHL, and they’ve scored 20.1% of the team’s goals, which is the highest rate in the league.

Montgomery said Broberg’s ability to jump into the rush is part hockey IQ, and part comfortability with how the Blues coaching staff wants defensemen involved offensively.

“He’s really starting to just trust that it’s OK, you don’t have to back up the forwards,� Montgomery said. “You can just go because it’s the guy with the puck, it’s his decision to make good decisions so that we can gain numbers like we did on both his goals.�

Broberg: “I want to play my game, and if I see opportunity to jump, I’ll jump up in the play for sure.�

Tucker re-signs

The Blues signed defenseman Tyler Tucker to a two-year contract extension worth an average of $925,000 per season, the team announced Friday. His contract was set to expire this summer.

He will be paid $900,000 next season and $950,000 in 2026-27. Tucker has two goals and two assists in 20 games this season.

Rest time

The Blues did not practice on Friday before this weekend’s back-to-back games, at home Saturday against Los Angeles and Sunday in Dallas.

Lynn Worthy

Worthy: The Blues can't sell just when Jim Montgomery has them looking connected, confident

• Lynn Worthy

St. Louis Blues

Oskar Sundqvist, Zack Bolduc provide depth scoring from the third line: Blues Extra

• Matthew DeFranks

Media views

Blues broadcaster Chris Kerber to return Saturday in wake of his father's death

• Dan Caesar

A true playoff push by the Blues, one with a real possibility of bearing fruit as opposed to frustration, is tough to buy into right now. They’re on the outside looking in, with several teams blocking their path to the postseason.

Even so, it’s also tough to swallow the idea of the Blues selling off parts and kicking the can further down the road. They’ve looked different coming out of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. They registered points in their last three games entering Thursday night, including two wins in regulation.

Three games a season does not make. However, they’ve built a measure of momentum for the first time in more than a month. That’s not just because they gave the Seattle Kraken the old beat ’em down treatment, 7-2, on Tuesday night in Enterprise Center.

The Blues now look like they’ve got the firmest grasp on head coach Jim Montgomery’s systems and the identity he’d envisioned for the team. They’re beginning to display a level of connectedness that we previously only saw in fits and starts or isolated to one line or the other.

It certainly jumped out to Montgomery in Tuesday’s win. One of the first comments he made postgame was, “I just liked the way every line looked the same on the ice, checking-wise, but especially offensively.�

Yes, they smoked a team in the Kraken that has struggled this season.

This is not making a mountain out of an anthill, because it started before Tuesday night.

Following morning skate prior to that game, acknowledged the club being more in sync in their back-to-back weekend games against a pair of teams in playoff positions: Winnipeg and Colorado.

Thomas pointed to the practice time come out of the break, which in his opinion, “allowed us to all get on the same page and start working together.�

It’s easy for those of us on the outside to overlook that practice time, but it was Thomas’ comment served as a reminder that the three consecutive days leading up to the weekend restart were the longest stretch of on-ice work for the team since Montgomery took over.

“Yeah, it would have been the first time we’ve had three days of practice in between games,� Thomas said. “Stuff like that is really important, especially when you’re trying to kind of adjust a little bit to new systems and stuff like that. I think it showed over the weekend.�

Montgomery has made the phrase “hard offensive hockey� a recent refrain. Through the weekend, the Blues showed signs of turning those words into a style of play.

“I think it’s just about smothering teams,� Thomas said. “It’s hard to break pucks out when you’ve got good reloads, you’ve got tight gaps. When you’re playing in your own end, it frustrates teams and it feels like the longest night ever. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish, and we’re getting better at it.�

They’ve certainly maintained possessions more effectively and limited turnovers.

Is that an individual thing or just a matter of better cohesion?

“I think it’s both,� Thomas said. “I think when you’re connected, it makes making those plays easier, which makes less turnovers. So it’s a little bit about decision making and it’s a little bit about supporting each other out there and everyone being on the same page.�

The Blues just turned up the volume on Tuesday. They dictated play from the first period. They uncorked 14 shots to just four for the Kraken in that first stanza. The Blues also won 13 of 18 faceoffs. They had the lone power play of the period, and they scored eight seconds into that opportunity.

They put the game away in the second period. Thomas goal, the third of the game for the Blues, came right after an extended period of time in the offensive zone. The Kraken forced the puck out of the zone, but the Blues regrouped quickly, made a line change and then charged quickly to keep applying pressure.

They ended up with a three-on-one entering the zone. Jake Neighbours made a nice pass and Thomas banged home the rebound of his own initial shot.

The Blues were largely able to play downhill from there as they led 6-0 with more than eight minutes remaining in the second period.

The Blues have successfully transferred things they talked about wanting to do better as well as adjustments they’ve worked to make from practice into games. That includes tweaking the forecheck and unleashing the defensemen a bit more.

“We do feel like with the way we can skate back there, we can keep more pucks alive,� defenseman Cam Fowler said. “So it’s something that we had talked about after break. We wanted to be more aggressive when we had the opportunity.

“You can see it when we’re doing it properly. We’re able to hem teams in their own end and get a lot more offensive pressure too. It’s something that we worked on, that we put a lot of emphasis on after the break.�

Again, it’s three games. The Blues laying an egg against the Washington Capitals and the ageless Alexander Ovechkin on Thursday night in Washington, D.C., might make it easier for some to brush off the way the Blues looked in three home games coming out of the break (Note: This column was written prior to Thursday night’s game).

It’s clear that the Blues have taken significant steps toward establishing a style and standard of play.

Building upon that momentum and the improved dynamic we’ve seen on the ice has got to be a better recipe than swapping out players just to better sell hope to fans.

Lynn Worthy

Worthy: St. Louis City SC didn’t offer goal in opener but did offer solid starting point

• Lynn Worthy

Lynn Worthy

Worthy: Why do 'The Greatest Show on Turf' Rams still hold a special place in St. Louis lore?

• Lynn Worthy

Lynn Worthy

Worthy: The NHL created a wonderful and dangerous monster with the 4 Nations Face-Off

• Lynn Worthy

Photos: Blues travel to Washington and defeat the Capitals

WASHINGTON — And on the ninth try, the Blues hurled the monkey off their back, hurdled the obstacle, pushed the ball uphill, bit the snake back, and personified whatever other cliché would fit finally winning three in a row.

In dispatching the Capitals 5-2 on Thursday night, the Blues have strung together three consecutive wins for the first time this season, becoming the last NHL team to do so. They just happened to do it with a defensive effort that strangled any Washington offense, by handing Alex Ovechkin a minus-4 instead of a statline that brought him closer to Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, and on the same night that they celebrated captain Brayden Schenn’s 1,000th NHL game.

Philip Broberg scored twice, as the Blues received goals from Dylan Holloway, Colton Parayko and Jake Neighbours (empty net). Joel Hofer made 16 saves, and Robert Thomas (eight games) and Pavel Buchnevich (five games) each extended their point streaks.

“I think everybody here believes in each other,� Broberg said. “We’ve just got to keep building, taking steps and keep working.�

The Blues came into Thursday night 0-7-1 in games in which they had a chance to win a third straight game. Two-game bumps died right there, and some of them were deflating defeats.

There was the Jan. 18 loss in Utah when Thomas and Buchnevich were benched for half of the first period. There was a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jackets that featured a loose third period. A post-Christmas, pre-Winter Classic loss to Buffalo felt like a missed opportunity. And even a Dec. 7 setback in Edmonton dulled momentum early in new coach Jim Montgomery’s tenure with the Blues.

Now, that talking point is gone.

“It’s massive, especially a game like tonight going against one of the best teams in the league and then Schenner’s 1,000th game,� Holloway said. “We wanted this one bad. I know the media, it’s been a thing where we haven’t won three in a row at all this year.

“At times, we’ve been playing some good hockey but recently, we’ve been playing awesome. We’re playing the right way. All four lines are buzzing and playing honest. As long as we keep going, playing the right way, I think we can go on a little run.�

With the win, the Blues (28-26-6) pulled to within three points of Vancouver for the second (and final) wild-card spot playoff in the Western Conference though St. Louis has played one more game than the Canucks have done.

In beating the best team in the Eastern Conference on Thursday night, the Blues continued to give general manager Doug Armstrong something to think about in the week leading up to the trade deadline of March 7. The team will play three more games before the deadline, more data points to give Armstrong a reason to keep the band together through at least April.

“We have a really close, close group in here and everybody is tight-knit,� Parayko said. “It’s a great group of guys that want to win for each other. In this locker room, we’re just going out each game and we’re going to play together and play for each other. Everything else is out of our control and we’re just going to do what we can for each other.�

Armstrong’s history doesn’t point to him being swayed by a bubble team close to the deadline. In 2018, he dealt Paul Stastny when the Blues were one point out of a playoff spot, but had lost six in a row. In 2022, he traded Ryan O’Reilly while the Blues were riding a three-game win streak, but were six points back of a playoff spot.

A week ago, the Blues were closer to a top-five draft pick than they were to a playoff spot. But their recent run has changed the math.

“Feels good, but most importantly, it’s the way we’re doing it,� Montgomery said. “We’re in control of games right now in these three wins. We’ve got to keep it up, we’ve got to stay with the process.�

Indeed the Blues have deserved these wins. They’ve been the better team. They haven’t benefitted from fluky goals or fortunate bounces. They haven’t ridden a scorching power play or Herculean goaltending. They’re simply beating teams.

In the last five games, the Blues have controlled expected goals at 5 on 5, according to Natural Stat Trick. Same with high-danger chances. And it’s resulted in a 19-12 advantage in goals. On Thursday night, the Blues limited Washington to 16 shots on goal at 5 on 5, the lowest total allowed in more than a month.

“Everybody likes to play with the puck, and when you control the game, you have the puck a lot,� Montgomery said. “Everyone feels better about their game, especially the offensive part of the game.�

The Blues still need to string more wins together, of course. In order to reach the Canucks’ current 90-point pace, the Blues need a 14-8-0 record in the remaining 22 games, and the final playoff cutoff likely will be higher than that current threshold. And now, the Blues are one of six teams without a four-game win streak this season.

“It feels nice to get three in a row, but obviously, lots of season left here and a lot of points to be had for everybody,� Parayko said. “We’re right there, and there’s a lot of teams that are close. Everybody’s pushing right now, it’s kind of the fun part of the season. If we keep playing like that, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win a lot of games. That’s all we can do is control how we play and go from there.�

St. Louis Blues

Blues are on a roll heading into their clash with the Great 8: Net Front Presence

• Matthew DeFranks ,  Jeff Gordon

St. Louis Blues

Blues captain Brayden Schenn reflects on 1,000 NHL games, calls St. Louis ‘best thing’ for his career

• Matthew DeFranks

Photos: Blues travel to Washington and defeat the Capitals

Longtime Blues radio play-by-play broadcaster Chris Kerber is expected to be back to work Saturday after a tough stretch, in which he took several days off following the recent death of his father, Lou Kerber. He was 82.

He “raised nine of us and has 20 grandkids,� said Kerber, who is the second-oldest. Kerber was 22 when his mom died in 1993, “and Dad kept the family tight and close. He was a spectacular man.�

Kerber had a special moment with his father in 2019, when he was able to share the Stanley Cup with him after the Blues won it that summer.

“We had an amazing couple hours,� he said.

Kerber was instrumental in finding the announcers to fill in for him this week, one a broadcaster early in his career and the other an accomplished veteran.

Joe Benson, who calls games of the Kansas City Mavericks of the minor league ECHL, took over Tuesday for the Blues’ 7-2 victory at home over Seattle. Then Chuck Kaiton did so Thursday for a contest the Blues won 5-2.

Kaiton spent nearly four decades calling NHL games for the Hartford/Carolina franchise and in 2004 received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, presented annually by the Hockey Hall of Fame for excellence in broadcasting the sport.

Kerber is glad Benson had the opportunity because, while still a minor-league announcer, Kerber once was given a chance to call NHL action in Philadelphia and used that tape to help land his current job and return to his hometown.

“The Blues have always let me pay that forward, and hopefully the seven goals scored Tuesday night ... helps Joe kick open a door, too,� Kerber said.

Meanwhile, Kaiton was calling NHL games for Hartford when Kerber still was in the minors, at nearby Springfield, Massachusetts. Many years later, Kaiton had a somewhat messy departure from the team, which now was in Raleigh, North Carolina, in what was termed a salary dispute. That was after the 2018 season.

“Chuck was always great to me,� Kerber said. “He didn’t get what I feel was a deserved sendoff ... and I’m thrilled he was willing and able to step in. It’s a treat to have a Hall of Famer take the reins for a game.�

Kaiton, 73, was thankful for the opportunity.

“I really appreciated Chris reaching out and asking me to do it,� he told the Raleigh News & Observer before the game. “It’s very exciting to me. Let’s face it — even though I’m in my 70s, I obviously wish I was still working. Some days I do, some days I don’t, depending on the travel schedule, but I do miss the people. It’s going to be an opportunity to see a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time who I really like.�

Kerber will be ready to return Saturday, when the Blues entertain Los Angeles at 7 p.m. in a game to be broadcast on WXOS (101.1 FM), after having a lot of time this week to reflect. Included in those thoughts is gratitude for being hired for the radio post by then-Blues vice president Jim Woodcock.

“I’ve always thanked him for bringing me home and giving me the chance to be the broadcaster for the Blues,� Kerber said. “What I realized this past week that was more important was that he gave me the chance to be with dad and family for the last 25 years, and there aren’t enough thank-yous to cover that.�

Television times

On the TV broadcasting front for the Blues, Tom Ackerman filled in for Alexa Datt on Thursday night as host of the pregame, postgame and between-periods reports for FanDuel ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Network. A spokesperson for FDSN said Datt, who had been in Florida to broadcast Cardinals games earlier in the week, was ill.

• Ratings for Saturday’s Blues game — the first one in the team’s local TV production lineup to be shown over the air in 16 years — were not yet available as of Thursday. That contest was carried on KMOV (Channel 4) and Matrix Midwest (Channel 32).

St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals' direct-to-fans streaming option will cost about $20 monthly, $190 yearly

• Dan Caesar

WASHINGTON – The Blues can stop hearing about their inability to win three games in a row.

They took care of that with a 5-2 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals on Thursday night, running their win streak to three games and their point streak to five games.

Philip Broberg scored twice, and Dylan Holloway, Colton Parayko and Jake Neighbours (empty-net) each added a goal while Joel Hofer made 17 saves. Robert Thomas had an assist to extend his point streak to eight games, while Pavel Buchnevich's point streak stretched to five games with two assists.

The Blues entered Thursday night 0-7-1 this season with a chance to win three straight games. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were the only team in the NHL not to win three consecutive games this season. And with just 23 games remaining, their runway to push themselves into the playoff conversation was shortening.

But St. Louis (28-26-6) pushed through Thursday night, and now only three games remain before the March 7 trade deadline, beginning with Saturday's home game against the Kings.

Active from the back end

Broberg scored twice in the first period and both times when he joined the rush. Broberg gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 11:14, finishing a one-timer on a cross-slot pass from Mathieu Joseph. Joseph began the play by breaking up a pass in the defensive zone, allowing Broberg to lead the rush and later camp out in the right circle to await Joseph’s pass.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Capitals at 15:04 to tie the game, tucking home his 14th goal of the season. But Broberg responded shortly after that to regain a one-goal lead for the Blues.

When Pavel Buchnevich disrupted a Capitals entry at the Blues blue line, Broberg hopped up the weak side and made himself an option for Jake Neighbours’ pass through the neutral zone. Broberg collected the puck at the left dot and cut towards the net, evading Charlie Lindgren’s poke check and sweeping a backhand into the goal before flying into the corner as if he were Bobby Orr.

It was Broberg’s first career multi-goal game and gave him six goals on the season, his first in St. Louis.

Responding in a flash

Connor McMichael scored with 3:05 remaining in the second period to tie the game at 2, avoiding checks by Jordan Kyrou and Oskar Sundqvist to walk from the wall into the circle and rip a shot far side on Hofer. The goal came 26 seconds after the Blues successfully killed Kyrou's holding penalty.

But the Blues took over quickly.

Twenty-eight seconds after McMichael tied the game, Holloway untied it by tipping a Ryan Suter point shot. Brayden Schenn picked up the secondary assist on the goal, giving him a point in his 1,000th NHL game.

The Blues extended the lead to 4-2 just 35 seconds later when Parayko scored his 14th goal of the season at the net-front after a goal-mouth scramble popped the puck loose to him. Parayko is tied with Zach Werenski for the most goals at 5 on 5 among NHL defensemen (11).

Celebrating Schenn

The Blues recognized captain Brayden Schenn’s 1,000th NHL game by wearing white hats during warmup with a navy bill and a navy “10� emblazoned on it. Schenn was the only Blue not wearing a hat, and Jordan Kyrou, Dylan Holloway and Zack Bolduc wore them backwards. The hats were designed by Jordan Binnington and ordered with the help of former Blue Jordan Schmaltz.

Schenn’s father, Jeff, read the starting lineup inside the Blues dressing room. The starters, of course, included his son.

Capital One Arena honored Schenn during a timeout in the first period by posting a graphic on the video board and announcing that it was Schenn’s 1,000th game, which drew light applause from the crowd and stick taps from the Blues bench.

Cashing in

Blues defenseman Ryan Suter earned a $600,000 bonus by playing in his 60th game of the season on Thursday night. Suter is playing on a salary worth the league minimum $775,000, but already earned bonuses of $225,000 at 10 games played, $400,000 at 30 games played and $500,000 at 40 games played. He can earn an additional $500,000 bonus for making the playoffs.

This season, Suter is also being paid $833,333 by the Wild and $783,333 by the Stars as part of buyouts in Minnesota and Dallas.

For the Blues, Suter’s performance bonuses could impact them if they force St. Louis to finish this season over the salary cap. Any bonus overages would be carried over to next season’s cap structure.

-- Charlie Lindgren started in goal for the Capitals opposite of Joel Hofer, meaning the two goaltenders that took the Springfield Thunderbirds to the 2022 Calder Cup Final started against each other on Thursday night.

St. Louis Blues

Blues captain Brayden Schenn reflects on 1,000 NHL games, calls St. Louis ‘best thing’ for his career

• Matthew DeFranks

St. Louis Blues

‘Hard offensive hockey’ leads to outburst as Blues extend point streak to four games

• Matthew DeFranks

St. Louis Blues

Jordan Binnington's next task after winning 4 Nations title? Drag Blues into playoff hunt

• Matthew DeFranks

Photos: Blues travel to Washington and defeat the Capitals

WASHINGTON — The Blues have been waiting for this kind of depth to show itself for quite some time now.

During Tuesday’s 7-2 win over the Seattle Kraken, the contributions received spewed from up and down the Blues lineup. The Blues scored two goals with Robert Thomas’ line on the ice. They scored another two with Brayden Schenn’s line on the ice. And Oskar Sundqvist’s line? Yeah, the Blues scored twice with him on the ice, too.

It was the first time in almost four years that the Blues scored multiple goals with three different lines, dating back to a 9-1 win over Minnesota on April 9, 2021. Back then, the centers were Ryan O’Reilly, Schenn and Tyler Bozak.

While the Schenn line (with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou) and the Thomas line (with Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich) have each been the team’s best unit at different times this season, Sundqvist’s line isn’t used to nights like Tuesday. Sundqvist had the first three-point night of his NHL career, while Zack Bolduc scored twice and Mathieu Joseph added an assist.

“I’m playing with two very talented players,� Sundqvist said. “I’m always trying to give them room and be a safety valve for them. Help them out with different aspects of the game that I’m pretty good at. It’s fun to play right now, and I think our team has been playing some good hockey since break.�

Sundqvist scored a power-play goal in the first period, while Bolduc scored on the rush in the second and at the net-front via a tip in the third period. As Alexandre Texier has gotten over his illness, the third line’s on-ice success has kept him as a healthy scratch.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery called Sundqvist “the glue guy that connects� Bolduc and Joseph, saying “he’s like the brains behind the operations.�

“He ties them together, he ties his wings together because he knows positionally where he should be,� Montgomery said. “Whether it’s offensively in the O-zone, he’s usually at the net being the net anchor, screen guy. In the D-zone, he really does a good job down low.�

Bolduc: “Sometimes, I’m out of position and he’s covering me and no one sees that, but he’s smart and he’s taking care of the defensive zone of the ice.�

While Sundqvist had his first three-point performance in his 471st NHL game, Bolduc continued his strong play with another productive night. He now has three goals and two assists in his past five games entering Thursday night in Washington.

“Boldy’s habits are getting really good without the puck,� Montgomery said. “He’s stopping on pucks. He had a defensive play in the first period, a tracking play where they stopped and tried to go east-west. He’s seeing it now, he’s stopping. He’s making real calm, collected plays offensively. The skill set, as we all know, is there. There’s a reason why he was drafted where we drafted him, and it’s because of his ability to make offensive plays and score goals.�

Bolduc, a first-round pick in 2021, has been scratched at different points this season but has totaled eight goals and 12 assists in 49 games.

“You always try to get better,� Bolduc said. “I think I’ve been doing a good job of this in the last few games, but I still have some stuff to improve.�

Hofer in goal

Joel Hofer started for the Blues on Thursday night in Washington after Jordan Binnington started each of the past two games vs. Colorado and Seattle. Hofer’s start continues the trend of two starts by Binnington, followed by one for Hofer.

Only once under Jim Montgomery has Binnington made three starts in a row, and that was sandwiched around the Winter Classic on New Year’s Even in Chicago. But Montgomery said Thursday’s decision was “not necessarily� just about the 2-1 split.

“We are conscientious of what Binner’s just went through, and we have a really good 1A backup,� Montgomery said. “Just with the schedule, just did three (games) in four (days), three in four coming up again, you’ve got to make sure that you’re balancing out so that our energy levels (are good). Our goaltenders are really important to our success.�

If Binnington would have started Thursday night, it would have been his fourth start in the past eight days, including last week’s game for Team Canada in the 4 Nations championship game.

• The Blues wore their Winter Classic uniforms Thursday for the final time this season, having previously worn them on Dec. 31 at Wrigley Field and Feb. 8 at home vs. Chicago.

St. Louis Blues

Blues captain Brayden Schenn reflects on 1,000 NHL games, calls St. Louis ‘best thing’ for his career

• Matthew DeFranks

St. Louis Blues

‘Hard offensive hockey’ leads to outburst as Blues extend point streak to four games

• Matthew DeFranks

St. Louis Blues

Jake Neighbours looks to bust out of slump as Blues top line heats up

• Matthew DeFranks

Matthew DeFranks @MDeFranks on X (formerly Twitter) MDeFranks@post-dispatch.com