“We’re not doing anything special (defensively). I think we’re playing the system well. Guys are blocking shots, playing hard, and it’s just playing the right way.”

And in the end, Hitchcock is not all enamored, technically speaking, with how his team is playing defense. But the Blues have been getting outstanding goaltending of late. In Jaden Schwartz, Oshie, Vladimir Sobotka, Vladimir Tarasenko, Backes and others, they have some of the most tenacious puck hounds in the league.

They are engaged in the hunt as much as they slamming the defensive door.

“We play really good defense,” Hitchcock allowed, “but we’re not great in our own zone. We’ve got to get better. But we play really good defensively because we create forecheck and create turnovers. That’s how we play defense, we spend as much time as we can in the offensive zone.”

Jaroslav Halak had a season-high 33 saves in Thursday’s 5-0 victory at Calgary. He earned his third shutout of the season and added to his franchise-best total of 19 shutouts with the Blues. Before Friday, the Blues had allowed two or fewer goals in six straight games.

The Blues join New Jersey and Los Angeles as the only teams to feature a pair of goaltenders with at least three shutouts.

Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk collected his 32nd point against Calgary, which ranked fifth among league defensemen. It was Shattenkirk’s 17th point on the power play, which trailed only Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson (19) for the league lead among defensemen.

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