The well dam would break at some point for the St. Louis Blues. Goal scoring has been at a premium for them as of late, scoring only one goal in four of the past five games. But the tone in the room was that they're building in the right direction even though the results haven't been there. Blues skated well, checked, forced turnovers; defensemen were active; Montgomery may have found something with Texier They were rewarded on Monday against the struggling Detroit Red Wings when Dylan Holloway scored his first NHL hat trick [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/players/st-louis-blues-player-of-the-game-vs-detroit-red-wings-dylan-holloway], and Jordan Binnington made 19 saves to move past Glenn Hall into sole possession of fourth on the franchise list for shutouts with his 17th in a 4-0 win against the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Alexandre Texier, moved up to a line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich after a pair of strong games on the trip, also scored, and Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko each had two assists as the Blues (16-16-4) head into the Christmas break having split their points on the road trip, going 1-1-1. They dominated the struggling Red Wings (13-17-4) from the opening face-off and rewarded themselves for a couple tough results despite playing solid overall but simply not being able to score. Let's look at tonight's Three Takeaways: * Blues skated = checked = created turnovers -- The Blues were obviously on their front feet from the drop of the puck. They were skating well, they checked and forced turnovers. Each of the first three goals scored in this game came as a result of either skating, checking and/or creating turnovers. When Holloway made it 1-0 at 16:14 of the first period, Cam Fowler, who was exceptional along with Colton Parayko, made a solid read with an abbreviated pinch that forced former Blue Vladimir Tarasenko into a turnover in the zone before ultimately finding Holloway in the high slot for a one-timer: By being able to skate, the Blues moved the puck up ice cleanly, and by skating hard and strong that gave Texier an option, for a backdoor pass, Texier scored a beauty from the left circle just 18 seconds into the third for a 2-0 lead: And on the third goal, another keep at the blue line by Fowler to his partner, and Parayko wisely throws the puck behind the net knowing Brayden Schenn is skating hard on the forecheck to win it and not only did he win it, he found Holloway all alone in the slot for the snipe at 7:45 of the second to make it 3-0: Coach Jim Montgomery has spoken of being in the right spots, and the Blues were throughout this game. Even on Holloway's hat trick goal, Parayko knew the forward would be in the right spot, banked a puck down the ice off the wall for Holloway to finish the empty net at 15:54 of the third period: * Defensemen active all game, with Parayko, Fowler leading the way -- Blues defensemen haven't been scoring much of late, but they're never shy about making good, solid pinches in the offensive zone, and in this game in particular, their pinches were causing turnovers and sustained zone time. Fowler and Parayko, each a plus-4 in the game, were making good, solid reads throughout this game, and as mentioned above, Fowler's direct read on Tarasenko forced a turnover that led to the Blues' first goal. Tyler Tucker, playing in his second game, forced a turnover with a blue line pinch that kept a puck alive in the zone and created a scoring chance and Philip Broberg as usual darted through on a read and early had himself a goal in the third period. * Texier finding his footing -- The Blues felt like they had a read on what they were getting when they traded for, the signed Texier to a two-year contract. And after a strong camp and opener against the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 8, he's been lost in the shuffle and been buried down the depth chart. But Montgomery saw something there, gave him a bone on this trip and Texier has taken it and run with it. He was elevated on the top line tonight and was visibly noticeable, skating hard, beautiful shot on his goal and finished the game a plus-1 in 15:31 with a team-high five shots on six attempts. It's hard to find any wrinkles in Texier's game as of late, but if Montgomery has finally untapped something here, it could prove to be another depth piece that can contribute. That line had a Corsi-for of 13-3, and Fenwick-for of 12-3. [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20242025&game=20548&view=limited] * Hear what Montgomery and players had to say following the game:
