St. Louis Blues Might Be The Most Resilient Team In The NHL

The St. Louis Blues have always prided themselves on resilience, but they have heavily relied on it it so far in the 2015-16 season. They had to rely on it against the Montreal Canadiens as well. St. Louis was outplayed for 90 percent of the game, but managed to come away with two points in a 4-3 overtime win.

Despite scoring the opening goal of the contest, the Blues had to continually comeback. They allowed two goals to Montreal in the second period before tying it up. Then they allowed a late go-ahead goal to Tomas Plekanec before Ty Rattie tied it up and Jori Lehtera scored the game winner in the extra frame. It was one of those wins you’ll take and just move on, but also a bit of justice after outplaying Montreal on the road only to get the loss.

St. Louis had to rely on their goaltender again and Brian Elliott was more than up to the task despite some lax defending in front of him. There weren’t enough shots on goal, not nearly enough quality chances and whether you argue they were bad calls or not, St. Louis spent too much time in the penalty box; but the team won and they never gave up.

Obviously, that’s not always going to be the case. The Blues got badly outplayed by the Carolina Hurricanes earlier in the week and have just not been able to put in the work in other games this season. However, the one thing the Blues have been able to hang their hat on for much of this season is their will to keep going and be resilient.

Despite rumors of coaching changes and trades, they’ve managed to still have the fourth best record in the league just a little over halfway through the season. The Blues also lead the league in comeback wins, with 14.

There is certainly an argument to be made that St. Louis needs to not lean on this kind of comeback ability so much. The Blues do lack the ability to put games away early. However, for a team that has failed so much and for varying reasons in the playoffs, this is an important mental strength that will be valuable come the spring. St. Louis has to perform better when they’re fully healthy and they have to be more imposing from start to finish. But, if you’re going to hang your hat on something, resilience is not a bad attribute to pick.