Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishST. LOUIS — Even when the St. Louis Blues lose one of their best players and blow a two-goal lead in the third period, they still find a way to win.Dylan Holloway left Thursday’s 5-4 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first period with a lower-body injury, and Blues coach Jim Montgomery had no update on the forward.“I don’t have anything else,” Montgomery said. “We’ll have more, I’m sure, tomorrow.”Without Holloway, who has 26 goals and 63 points this season, the Blues managed to grab a 4-2 lead on Pittsburgh. But the Penguins scored a power-play goal and a six-on-five goal with 25 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.But these are the Blues, and for the past month, whatever happens ends up working out for them in the long run.This time, Robert Thomas scored the overtime winner for the Blues’ 11th straight win. It matched the franchise record set by the 2018-19 team, even if a member of that club doesn’t recall much about it.“It was so long ago, I forgot,” Thomas said.It’s all been a blur for the Blues, who are now two points up on the Minnesota Wild (91-89) for the No. 1 wild card in the Western Conference. The Blues have five games left in the regular season, while the Wild have six.
JUST MATCHED OUR A11-TIME FRANCHISE RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS pic.twitter.com/vhSBMO0OBd
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 4, 2025The last time the Blues lost was March 13 in Pittsburgh, when they outshot the Penguins 35-22 and fell 5-3.If you would’ve told the team it would go 10-0 before meeting the Pens again April 3, Thomas said, “I probably wouldn’t have believed it. It’s been a fun ride.”It looked the ride might finally come to an end when Pittsburgh picked up an early goal and took a 2-1 lead in the second period.“We just didn’t seem to have juice, and it’s going to happen, but it’s a sign of a good team when you don’t have the expression hockey players always use — we don’t have our legs — and we’re still pulling out wins,” Montgomery said. “This is a hard league to win in, as we found out earlier in the year. When you take wins and you’re not at the top of your game, it’s a good sign that you’re managing the game as well as you can to stay in it.”The Blues got back in the game with a few high-end plays.First, a breakaway goal from Pavel Buchnevich for a 2-2 score. Then a flip pass from Cam Fowler out of the defensive zone onto the stick of Jordan Kyrou at the offensive blue line, and he converted on the breakaway for a 3-2 lead.Fowler’s assist, which gave him 31 points in 46 games with the Blues since coming over in the trade from Anaheim, was a thing of beauty.“It had the perfect spin on it, too, so (Kyrou) could skate right in on it,” Montgomery said.
is this pass from Cam Fowler good or what? pic.twitter.com/fh0aFmXIOv
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 4, 2025Then in the third period, Jake Neighbours netted his second goal of the game, and the Blues had a 4-2 lead.For Neighbours, they were Nos. 20 and 21 on the season. After he broke out for 27 goals in 2023-24, fans were curious whether the 23-year-old winger could repeat that success. Though he likely won’t reach that total again with just five games left, it’s been a solid encore.“I’m all about team success,” Neighbours said. “The way I play the game, there’s a lot of other things that I try to pride myself on before goal scoring. Obviously with how last year went, it’s kind of expected, so I’ve got to do my best to be close to that number or somewhere around it. But I’m not reading into too much. I’m just trying to help my team win.”Thomas, who assisted on Neighbours’ first goal, has played most of the season on the same line.“You can see him developing every year,” Thomas said. “He scored a lot of goals in front of the net (last season). He still scores a lot of goals in front of the net, but his puck possession and his playmaking has taken another step this year. He’s a really important part of our team and continues to get better every year.”Neighbours’ second goal of the game was assisted by newcomer Jimmy Snuggerud for his first NHL point in his second game in the league. And what a play it was by the 20-year-old.Snuggerud broke up a play in the Blues’ defensive zone, then got up ice and threaded a pass to Neighbours on the backdoor for a tap-in.“That’s just him having great vision, great hockey IQ and it was a great play by him,” Neighbours said.“That’s hockey in itself,” Snuggerud said of the sequence. “You’ve got to get back in order to create chances. I feel like the coaching staff has emphasized a lot to me on getting back and making plays off the rush.”Dave Snuggerud, who played 265 games in the NHL with Buffalo, San Jose and Philadelphia, was in attendance again Thursday and got to take in the moment.“I bet it’s really cool for him,” Jimmy Snuggerud said. “He experienced all of this himself. I’m a really fortunate person to have him as a mentor.”
Jimmy Snuggerud’s first @NHL point was great, but his dad being there to see it made it even better 🥹 #stlblues pic.twitter.com/QQ0OWVEOTe
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 4, 2025Oskar Sundqvist grabbed the puck out of the back of the Pittsburgh net as a keepsake for Snuggerud.“He deserved that (point) tonight,” Sundqvist said. “I was trying to get that puck before someone started shooting it away.”It’s been a whirlwind week for Snuggerud, which included hanging out with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on Wednesday night. Snuggerud is staying with Blues captain Brayden Schenn, who is friends with Crosby, and all three were at Schenn’s house.“It’s crazy,” Snuggerud said. “I grew up watching him and he’s my favorite player. I had a Fathead of him in my room growing up.”But despite admitting to be in a little awe of the Detroit Red Wings’ Patrick Kane on Tuesday and Crosby on Thursday, Snuggerud continued to play with poise in 16:22 of ice time.“Really impressive,” Montgomery said. “He’s been making a lot of plays. I think once he gets used to the speed, strength and less time and space in the NHL, he’s going to be a real good player for us. He’s already playing well.”The Blues may have gotten a fat head leading 4-2 with less than nine minutes left in the game. The Penguins got goals from Rickard Rakell and Rutger McGroarty to tie it up.But two nights after Fowler finished off a 2-1 OT win over Detroit, Thomas sent the sellout crowd of 18,096 home happy with his 20th goal of the season.“We have won all kinds of different games, but I am not happy that we’re up 4-2 in the third and we went to overtime,” Montgomery said. “We have to close out games. We have to get better. It’s attention to detail. Knowing your responsibilities.”Whereas some may think the Blues might get caught up in the success they’ve had and not learn from the mistakes they’re making, Montgomery said players are more receptive to learning when they’re winning, and Neighbours agreed.“It can be easy on a high note like this to brush off mistakes or not focus on the little details,” Neighbours said. “But the coaching staff and the leaders in our dressing room, they’re harping on things that you have to stay focused on to continue to win.”It will be harder, however, if the Blues are without Holloway, who left the game after being hit into the boards by McGroarty. He played one more shift but went to the bench and was hunched over. He did not return.
Here’s the play in which Holloway was apparently injured.
In case you missed it, he is out of the game with a lower-body injury. #stlblues
(courtesy @FanDuelSN_MW) pic.twitter.com/5KCWtMxZVp
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) April 4, 2025Holloway was seen walking out of the Blues’ dressing room in a suit after the game and didn’t appear to be wearing any wrap or brace.“That’s an elite player for us, someone who plays in all situations and a really important piece to our team,” Neighbours said. “I just hope he’s OK and we get him back.”“He’s been a great player all year, a big part of our team and drives a lot of our offense,” Thomas added. “I’m not sure how long it is, but same thing as (Colton) Parayko. When he goes down, he’s a huge part of our team as well, and that next man up is so important. Snuggy stepped up huge, getting his first point, and he played awesome all night. Guys like that are going to need to continue to step up.”The Blues have continued to do that, and on Thursday it led to an 11th straight win.Sundqvist was asked if he recalled the 11-game streak in 2019.“I felt a lot younger in 2019,” Sundqvist, 31, said, laughing. “I feel like we’re really starting to build something here that can become something very special. We’re enjoying it every day, and we’re just going to keep going and see how far this can take us.”(Photo of Jake Neighbours, left, and Jimmy Snuggerud: Jeff Curry / Imagn Images)
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