Jordan Kyrou’s silky backhand in the sixth round of the shootout didn’t just end a game—it detonated Tampa Bay’s 11-game win streak, woke up a dormant Blues roster, and instantly tightened both conference playoff races.
What just happened on the ice
The St. Louis Blues snapped the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s franchise-record-tying 11-game win streak with a 3-2 shootout victory at Enterprise Center. After 65 minutes couldn’t separate the clubs, Jordan Kyrou went bar-down on a backhand in round six and Joel Hofer slammed the door on Nikita Kucherov to seal it.
St. Louis struck twice in 30 seconds late in the first—Jake Neighbors at 17:03 and Nick Bjugstad at 17:33—only to see Tampa erase the deficit on a pair of five-on-three power-play goals 62 seconds apart in the second. Kucherov ripped his 29th of the season and Oliver Bjorkstrand finished a gorgeous cross-ice feed from the same spot.
From there, Hofer (34 saves) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (19 saves) traded highlight reels until Kyrou provided the only goal the shootout would need.
Why this win rewrites the Blues’ season
Before Friday, the Blues were a ghastly 0-8 in overtime and shootouts, the worst mark in the NHL. That single point in the gimmick keeps them inside the wild-card bubble instead of staring at another February fire-sale. With 51 points through 44 games, they leapfrog idle Calgary and pull within two of Vegas for the final Western spot per the NHL standings page.
More importantly, the victory validates the internal belief that this roster can close tight games—something coach Jim Montgomery has hammered since training camp. Expect Kyrou to see increased shootout usage (he’s now 3-for-5 lifetime) and Hofer to get the net on the upcoming three-game Canada swing that features Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.
How the streak snapped changes Tampa Bay’s trajectory
The Lightning hadn’t lost since Dec. 18 vs. Los Angeles and were flirting with the Presidents’ Trophy pace. An 12th straight win would have set a new franchise benchmark and kept them within striking distance of the Rangers for the East’s top seed. Instead, they stay four back with two extra games played according to AP’s NHL ledger.
Cooper’s club still owns the league’s best power play (30.4%), but the five-on-five dominance that fueled the streak dipped in St. Louis: 39 shot attempts to the Blues’ 54 after the opening frame, and a season-low 0.89 expected goals in the third period plus OT. The loss also exposes a thin blue line—Victor Hedman logged 29:49 and looked gassed by the shootout, a workload that will be tested Sunday night in Dallas on the second half of a back-to-back.
Key stats that tell the story
- 11 – Tampa Bay’s win streak equals the 2019-20 Cup club for longest in franchise history.
- 0-8 → 1-8 – St. Louis’ shootout record flips from horror show to hopeful in one Kyrou move.
- 34 – Hofer’s career-high save total; he entered with an .897 SV% and leaves with a .906 mark.
- 30 seconds – Shortest span between two Blues goals this season; previous best was 49 seconds in October vs. Utah.
- 2-man advantage – Tampa scored twice in 62 seconds with a two-skater edge, reminding the league why discipline vs. the Bolts is suicide.
What’s next for both clubs
Tampa Bay lands in Dallas on Sunday for a measuring-stick Central clash. If the Stars exploit the same tired legs St. Louis exposed, the Lightning could drop consecutive games for the first time since early December. Look for Brian Elliott to potentially spell Vasilevskiy and for Cooper to tinker with forward balance—perhaps reuniting Point-Kucherov-Stamkos at 5v5 to rekindle offense.
St. Louis buses north to Edmonton, where the McDavid-Draisaitl juggernaut is 9-1-1 in its last 11. A second straight upset would legitimize the Blues as buyers ahead of the March 7 trade deadline, putting names like Pavel Buchnevich and Colton Parayko off the market while potentially rekindling rumors for a middle-six center upgrade.
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