Blues set franchise record with 12th straight win

The St. Louis Blues defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 Saturday night to establish a new franchise record with 12 consecutive wins.

The Blues' previous mark of 11 was set in 2018-19 when they rallied midseason before capturing the Stanley Cup that spring. Their current run is the longest streak by any team this season.

Head coach Jim Montgomery, who the Blues hired in November after the Boston Bruins let him go, credited his squad's resilience.

"I am proud of that group in there to be able to overcome all of the adversity that we've had this year," Montgomery said, per The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford. "Whether that was self-inflicted by us, it doesn't matter, we've overcome it. I'm proud of that group for what they've achieved."

He added, "And we've lost some really good, important players to our lineup. It means we're good. We're a good hockey team."

The Blues are without forward Dylan Holloway and Colton Parayko because of long-term injuries.

The victory extended St. Louis' lead to four points over the Minnesota Wild for the Western Conference's top wild-card spot, though the Wild have a game in hand. The higher wild-card team is likely to play the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the playoffs, while the lower seed is on track to face the West-leading Winnipeg Jets.

The Blues jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the second period on the strength of two goals from Zack Bolduc and three assists from Robert Thomas. Colorado clawed back to make it 4-3 late in the third period, but Thomas added an empty-netter to seal the victory.

St. Louis' run began March 15. Over that span, they rank first in the NHL in goals for (46) and against (18). The club owns the sixth-best record in the NHL (33-16-6) since Montgomery became coach.

The Blues will look to make it 13 wins in a row Monday against the Jets.