Thomas powers Blues with late-season surge

"You can feel the team chemistry coming along. We're playing for each other, we're playing for the guys next to each other, and those things are really important this time of year."
When Robert Thomas said this, the St. Louis Blues had just won their second straight game, winning both matchups in a home-and-home set with the Vancouver Canucks on March 30. Thomas scored on a beautiful shorthanded breakaway, his fifth point in what was then a three-game point streak.

The Blues had fallen in the standings some during the month of March. The team went 5-6-3 and saw the Minnesota Wild charge to second place in the Central Division. But, as Thomas could sense, the air was starting to shift. Since their last regulation loss on March 26, the Blues have arguably been the best team in hockey, going 9-0-1 in the last 10 games.
And Thomas has been the engine, driving the team to a historic offensive pace.

A 6-2 win in Buffalo on April 14 was the team's seventh straight win, a game that saw Thomas dish out a career-high five assists, becoming just the fifth player in Blues history to do so and the first since Dallas Drake in the 2003-04 season. He also helped set up Vladimir Tarasenko for his own five-point night and his sixth career hat trick (regular season and postseason).
Thomas's point streak reached a career-high 11 games with his big night in Buffalo. He is on the longest point streak by a Blue this season, and as of April 14, the second-longest active streak in the NHL behind Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau. At 22 years old, Thomas also has the second-longest point streak in Blues history for a player his age. The longest - 12 games in the 1978-79 season - belongs to Bernie Federko, whose No. 24 jersey now hangs in the rafters at Enterprise Center.
Perhaps most notably, Thomas also scored his first career overtime game-winner in a crucial game on April 8 to beat the Wild and help the Blues tie them in points for second place in the division.

Thomas is proving to be one of the most gifted passers in the League. His 53 assists this season rank in the Top 20 in the League and are the most among players 22 or younger. He is also the first Blue since Doug Weight in 2003-04 - 33 years old at the time - to reach 50 assists in a season.
Not only has Thomas been dominant in his own regard, he's also elevated his teammates and set the tone for aggressive, successful hockey. Their win in Buffalo was the Blues' 10th straight game with four or more goals, a franchise record that matches up with their unbeaten point streak (9-0-1).
Playing on a high-powered, two-way line with Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich, Thomas has helped their play as he makes his own history. Buchnevich reached a career-high eight-game point streak, and Tarasenko eclipsed 30 goals in a season for the sixth time, his first since the 2018-19 season. The three linemates are also currently the team's Top 3 leading point scorers.
Thomas has been the backbone of the Blues' recent push, and the young forward is poised to help his team drive a strong Playoff run.