Montgomery: Blues have something 'special' going after 9th straight win

The St. Louis Blues are red-hot, and head coach Jim Montgomery is happy to be along for the ride.

"There's something going on special right now, and it's great to be a part of it," Montgomery said Saturday following the Blues' 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. "I'm very grateful to be here."

After earning their ninth straight victory, the Blues hold a comfortable six-point cushion on the Vancouver Canucks for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot entering the Saturday evening slate.

Montgomery praised the team for stringing together wins during a busy part of the schedule.

"It's very impressive. It's the end of 10 in 17 (days). We went 9-1. We lost the first one," Montgomery said. "It's very impressive what we're doing right now."

This year has been a whirlwind for Montgomery, who began the season as the head coach of the Boston Bruins but was fired after an 8-9-3 start. The Blues pounced on his availability, hiring him as head coach in favor of Drew Bannister five days after his dismissal from the Bruins. St. Louis is 31-16-6 under Montgomery after starting 9-12-1 with Bannister.

Zack Bolduc and Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Blues, while Robert Thomas notched a pair of assists. Jordan Binnington was stellar between the pipes, stopping 28 of 29 shots.

St. Louis will aim to make it 10 in a row Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings.