The St. Louis Blues rested Ryan Miller, but they didn’t fall back from their frantic pace, as a 3-2 shootout win against the Minnesota Wild leaves them atop the Central Division, Western Conference and overall NHL standings as of Sunday night.
Miller, Brian Elliott, the Blues are rattling off some impressive streaks in the process, as NHL.com’s Lou Korac and others note:
- Ken Hitchcock is now alone at seventh place all-time in coaching wins with 649, breaking a tie with Ron Wilson.
- Elliott is now 6-0-0 against the Wild while the Blues have beaten Minnesota eight times in a row.
- This one you might already know: St. Louis is an incredible 18-0-1 against very good Central Division opponents.
Beyond Elliott, T.J. Oshie had a nice night. He scored this goal:
... And also helped the Blues end Ilya Bryzgalov’s Wild debut in defeat via (you guessed it) the shootout.
(Yup, “Mr. Shootout” seems pretty fair.)
Here’s an updated look at the Western Conference playoff picture after wins for the Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings:
In case you’re wondering, the Boston Bruins’ Sunday win leaves them atop the East side with 89 points.