MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Consistency. There are a number of ways to define the word, but in the case of the St. Louis Blues, this one best has suited them:

The quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, or of always happening in a similar way.

It's been so elusive in a positive way for the 2024-25 squad that one wondered if they would ever find the kind of consistency they've been looking for.

But what the Blues had been is consistently inconsistent for much of the season, from one coach [Drew Bannister] to the current bench boss [Jim Montgomery].

Until now.

It's taken three-quarters of the schedule, but they've finally found the kind of consistency needed to be a good team, be a competitive team and be playing meaningful games down the stretch.

Too often, it was always, "We need to find that consistency," among players and coaches. How it's more they're finding it or they've found it.

Finally.

"We're finding a little consistency in our game," said defenseman Cam Fowler, who became a father for the second time on Saturday when his son was born. "We understand what we're capable of when we're doing things the right way. The depth that we have and the goaltending that we have, we feel like we can compete with anybody.

"I think we're just finding a little bit more consistency throughout the lineup and guys are playing hard and working hard for one another."

The Blues (31-27-7), who just finished a stretch of nine games in 15 days (6-1-2) and shaved seven of eight points off their deficit to put themselves in the conversation for the Western Conference wild card, are working for one another in cohesion. There are no go-to guys that have to be the ones carrying the squad. It's all 18 skaters and one goalie on that particular night that have taken the onus upon themselves to get the job done.

"I think (it took) preparation by everybody involved, when they come to practice, when they come to morning skates, when they come to the rink for games," Montgomery said. "I think we've just been focusing on the moment. We haven't talked about standings, we haven't talked about who's playing where and the last thing is the unselfishness. We're playing selfless hockey right now."

Since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Blues are tied with the Dallas Stars for most points (14), they're sixth in goals for (32, 3.56 per game), eighth in goals against (22, 2.44 per game) and fourth in shots against per game (24.3).

So what did it take?

"The boys get out of the country, I guess," forward Jake Neighbours joked. "I really don't know what it was. You could feel it building, and even though we weren't getting the results before the break, I felt that were games where it was like, 'It's there. We're right there. We're one play away. A couple plays away every game.' We were right there but weren't getting the results. Since we've come back, our work ethic's been fantastic, our attitude, the way we're committed to each other. I think those things, bringing them consistently every day brings a consistent performance. I think our attitudes, our energy, that stuff's really helped us be consistent."

On a serious side, perhaps the time running out mantra finally struck a nerve. With 17 games left, the Blues are one point back of the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks for the final wild card and know the run they're currently on will all but need to be duplicated, or better.

"Maybe a little desperation," defenseman Nick Leddy said. "Backs are against the wall a little bit on making playoffs. We've got to kind of press to get to there. There are some good teams ahead of us and they're winning games. We've just got to focus on what we can do to get better and keep playing the way we've been playing. We've seen success from that.

"You can see it. Guys are excited for each other. guys are hard on each other when they need to be or need a reminder of what makes us successful."

The Blues resume their six-game road trip Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. After that, it will be nine of the final 15 games on home ice. The last stretch of games impressed Montgomery so much that he'll need to see more of the details of late.

"I guess how consistent we were with our habits, the fundamentals that we believe give us success within our process that leads to results," Montgomery said. "We're seeing the results from believing in it and achieving it."

And a little tough love too from an attitude adjustment.

"First it's on yourself to bring that energy and bring a positive attitude to the rink every day and then it's on you as a teammate to kind of spread that love and that energy around the room and then pick guys up when they're not feeling good that day or whatever it may be," Neighbours said. "That's how teams get successful. Everybody becomes close and you start helping each other out, both on and off the ice and you just start to get into a flow of things. It just feels like we're in that flow right now. Just seems like every day we're working hard, being positive, smiles on our face. We're having fun and it just makes it that much easier to go out there and compete every night."