ST. LOUIS – Tides have turned since the St. Louis Blues snapped out of an early-season eight-game losing streak last week.
The Blues have rattled off five straight wins to move back to .500 on the season, and the captain has helped sail the ship.
“Guys are being positive, guys are trying to work their way out, and it’s great resiliency,” said third-year captain Ryan O’Reilly via Bally Sports Midwest. “We’re bending, [but] not breaking. Little mistakes happen, we kind of stick with it.”
O’Reilly has picked up three goals and three assists during the winning streak, a stretch in which the Blues have outscored opponents 21-13 and have not trailed at the end of any period.
It’s a nice bounceback after an unusually slow start for O’Reilly, which generated two points in his first 11 games. The scoring stride gets O’Reilly one step closer to his 0.87 points-per-game rate he averaged in his first four Blues seasons.
“It’s definitely nice to contribute,” said O’Reilly. “For awhile there, I felt like I wasn’t doing a whole lot. I feel like I’m winning more battles. I have to do that if I want more success and building momentum for my teammates.”
After bouncing around with various linemates this year, O’Reilly has found some chemistry with newcomer Josh Leivo and veteran Brandon Saad, who recently returned from injury.
“They’re unbelievable players,” said O’Reilly. “Leivs coming up and doing what he’s doing, and Saader, too. Just making plays, and we’re connected. It’s a lot more fun.”
“That line’s doing a good job,” said head coach Craig Berube after Wednesday’s win over the Chicago Blackhawks. “They have really good offensive zone time, they control their play in the offensive zone, making some real good plays.”
O’Reilly’s five goals now rank second-best on the Blues. And his two tallies in back-to-back games were ones you might not see every day. The 31-year-old center scored short-handed off of a rebound in Chicago on Wednesday, then buried a backhand past former teammate Charlie Lindgren in Thursday’s win over the Washington Capitals.
The captain would be the first to say, there’s still some room for improvement. The Capitals tied up Thursday’s contest on two quick goals after O’Reilly took a late penalty.
“We found a way to win, and that’s important, but we definitely have to make some adjustments and be a lot better,” said O’Reilly.
“We got to keep improving for sure,” said Berube. “We got to get mentally tougher and make sure we’re checking better than we are right now.”
Amid the winning streak, O’Reilly and the Blues have climbed from the Western Conference cellar to just one point out of a playoff position in a matter of nearly one week. The Blues continue a three-game homestand Saturday with a tilt against the Anaheim Ducks.