ST. LOUIS -- It takes a lot to beat a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But to be able to beat them handily on the scoreboard like the St. Louis Blues did on Tuesday, 5-0, takes a number of aspects to go right.
The Blues, who improved to 8-5-1 on the season with their season-high third straight win and fifth in six games, continue to buy into the structure they've put into place and their play is ascending because of it.
They're getting great goaltending with Jordan Binnington earning his 13th NHL shutout with a 30-save effort to improve his home record to 4-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average and .951 save percentage; the defensive structure is setting in now after some tumultuous challenges early and the forwards are doing it at both ends of the ice.
It's all culminated to solid 200-foot play, and to be able to throttle the Lightning (6-6-4) like the Blues did takes a lot of work from everyone in the lineup.
So without further ado, let's take a look at the three keys to another impressive win:
1. Complete buy-in on full display -- Nobody said it would be easy.
And it sure didn't look easy, or fun, in the early part of the season, but the Blues are reaping the rewards for their structural changes this season and it's paying off big time right now.
From goaltender on out, it was exceptional. Jordan Binnington was swallowing up nearly everything that came towards him, or pucks were sticking to him like Velcro. Defensemen are closing plays out in the d-zone or limiting the ice between the dots, and forwards are committed to the 200-foot game.
"It's great. We're building some confidence," said defenseman Torey Krug, who had two assists giving him a four-game point streak (one goal, six assists). "I think we're trusting our d-zone and a lot of times when you take care of things in the d-zone, it leads to offense, and that's what you're seeing. Guys are committed to playing a full 200 feet."
When you see guys like Marco Scandella laying out his body to block a shot in the waning seconds to protect a shutout in a game that was already in the bag, that's a buy-in mentality.
"It's just showing heart and sacrifice and setting guys up," Binnington said. "You can see the excitement when anyone scores. Everyone's going to have the opportunity to step up and we're going to need everybody. It's good team camaraderie.
"Just playing for each other and playing the system. We were very disciplined tonight. We had probably five or six massive blocked shots in that game when it's a 5-0 game. It's good to be a part of."
2. Generating chances off good play away from puck -- The Lightning had the better of the play early and had a 8-3 lead on the shot clock in the first period, but Binnington kept the talented Tampa Bay group at bay, and the Blues generated offense from good defense.
Colton Parayko's goal for a 1-0 lead was a prime example, as were opportunities the Blues generated with good puck play that Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson made good saves on, or else the scoreline could have been much worse.
"I think from a defensive standpoint, checking standpoint, I think we were pretty solid, disciplined, staying out of the box," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "And then did a good job of finishing on some plays and scoring and then staying with it.
"... The buy-in matters on the ice and what you do on the ice. That’s when the buy-in matters."
3. Forwards back-checking, helping D close gaps -- Against the Lightning, it's probably not a good idea to A) get into a track meet; B) turn pucks over feeding Tampa Bay's transition; C) allow odd-man rushes.
It's inevitable that those things will happen at times, but I thought the Blues forwards were exceptional committing to back-checking and helping the defense close gaps and not giving the Lightning much open ice.
"I think that can create for the team a lot," said forward Jakub Vrana, whose goal in the second period at 16:36 made it 3-0. "I think those things, they have to be there, you have to back-check, man. If you back-check, you’re going to do stuff that puts you in position to create some offense and just being strong defensively mostly creates offense for you and for your team. There is things you have to do every single night and one of them is back-checking."
You could see when Tampa tried to push the tempo, Blues forwards were on their respective horses trying to close ice down and enable defensemen to step up and not give away the blue line or they were using their sticks to break plays up feeding their offensive transition game.
"It’s good, man," Vrana said. "We’re winning games right now. The atmosphere on the team is great. It’s good for the team to get a couple wins in a row now, but we have a schedule coming up. We have a long road trip and we’re looking to have a good trip. Whatever happened today, it’s behind us already. It’s a lot of fun around, but when the business side comes to it, we’ve got to be ready."
