The road to a good start for the Blues is paved by special teams.
So it makes sense that, with less than two weeks remaining until the regular season opener against Minnesota, the Blues began their power play work during practice on Friday. The club first started prepping their penalty kill during Tuesday’s practice.
“If you want to start the year well, you’ve got to start the year with really strong special teams,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I saw it with the last time I was here. Our power play and penalty kill the first 10 games were unbelievable, we’re (8-2-1). It goes hand in hand. So we just want to get a lot of reps at it, and we’re going to rep it a lot more next week, too.”
Last year, when Winnipeg began the season 15-1-0, they did so with the top power play (42.2%) in the NHL. Two years ago, Montgomery’s Bruins raced out to a 14-1-3 start thanks to the best penalty kill (91.0%) in the league. Before that, Montgomery’s record-setting Boston team was 17-2-1 with the third-best power play and second-best penalty kill.
And going back to Montgomery’s time as an assistant coach with the Blues in 2021, St. Louis was 8-2-1 with the No. 2 power play and No. 4 penalty kill.
The good news for the Blues is that many of the same pieces on the power play are back.
One unit was run by Cam Fowler at the point, with Robert Thomas on the left flank, Brayden Schenn in the bumper, Pavel Buchnevich on the right flank and Jimmy Snuggerud at the net-front. The only change from a season ago was Schenn’s inclusion in the spot that was previously held by Zack Bolduc, who was traded to Montreal.
Thomas and Snuggerud, both right-handers, also seemed interchangeable in their spots, potentially giving the Blues multiple looks with the same personnel.
“When you have guys that can play both and they have multi-faceted skillsets, you become more dynamic when they can switch like that,” Montgomery said. “So people don’t know ‘OK, well this guy’s going to be at the net front when you’re scouting them.’ Edmonton has been doing it for years now with McDavid and Draisaitl. You don’t know where they’re going to be, so it’s hard to prescout them.”
It also helps that Thomas is more of a facilitator from that spot, picking out passes for teammates, while Snuggerud is known for his one-timer from that area.
“If Snuggerud’s there and they’re thinking it’s Thommer, they’re not going to be ready for the one-timer, and vice versa,” Montgomery said. “Thommer’s on the goalline, they’re not going to expect someone to attack the goalline that quickly.”
Bolduc became a weapon in the bumper for the Blues, finding just enough space to uncork his one-timer from the middle of the ice. From when he was put there on March 23 until the end of the season, no one in the NHL had more than Bolduc’s five power-play goals.
Part of what made that successful was Bolduc’s left-handed shot to go with Thomas and Snuggerud being righties. So it was imperative that a left-hander fill that role in the middle, and that’s where Schenn comes in.
“Yes, and we have more left-handed forwards than we do righties,” Montgomery said. “So we have options. But Brayden Schenn is someone, especially during his time in Philadelphia, scored a lot of goals from that spot.”
In the other practice session, Justin Faulk ran the unit, with Jordan Kyrou on the left flank, Pius Suter in the bumper, Dylan Holloway on the right flank and Jakub Stancl at the net-front. Stancl’s spot would normally belong to Jake Neighbours, but he practiced in the first group (likely to remain with linemates Schenn and Mathieu Joseph during even-strength drills).
The so-called second unit could feature the three players that led the Blues in goals last season: Kyrou (36), Holloway (26) and Neighbours (22).
Last season, the Blues opted for a balanced look to their two power-play units, shifting to the strategy at the Winter Classic in Chicago and using it to become the No. 5 power play in the league during that time.
“I think it created an inner competition and then that inner competition created guys supporting each other and cheering for each other,” Montgomery said. “I thought it really was a little bit of a great example of our culture growing. I know it didn’t translate right away, but those guys helping each other and talking to each other on the bench, one unit helping the other, I think that helped create communication, foster a better culture for us down the stretch.”
Among returning players, only Kyrou (seven) had more than Holloway’s six power-play goals last season, and he found a home in his one-timer position.
“It’s something that I definitely want to keep trying to do in my game is be that one-T guy,” Holloway said. “It’s a fun spot to play in. Ultimately, you get a lot of shots on goal. Hopefully, I can continue to play there. Obviously, it’s an honor to be in that position, but just got to keep trying to pound those home.”
It also sounds like the Blues will try to continue their two-unit approach this season.
“We have a plethora of talented hockey players,” Montgomery said. “If you can go hard for a minute instead of trying to coast for a minute, 20 (seconds or) a minute, 30 (seconds), it just puts the other team on their heels. We saw it five years ago when we have that great power play season. I give coach Otter credit because he’s like ‘I think we’ve got to go back to two units.’ We went to two units and the power play took off, and I thought our team took off.”
Injury updates
Jimmy Snuggerud returned to practice Friday after he left the ice early Wednesday following a hard fall into the boards behind the net. Milan Lucic (groin) skated before practice, but did not participate in the session.
Montgomery said they expect Lucic to return after the club’s off day on Sunday.
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Matthew DeFranks | Post-Dispatch
Hockey reporter
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