St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou set an NHL outdoor game record with four points. Kyrou was named the first star of the week last week. He had an assist on the game-tying goal with 46.3 seconds left in regulation Sunday afternoon against the Dallas Stars. He scored the game-winning goal just 18.2 seconds later, leading the Blues from almost losing 1-0 to winning 2-1 in regulation. With that goal, he set a new career high in points. And that’s just what he’s done so far this month.
There are still 46 regular season games plus the playoffs. The Blues have a long list of talented veteran forwards including Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron and Brayden Schenn. But there’s an argument to be made that Kyrou is the MVP of this Blues team. At only 23 years old, he has a long future ahead of him.
The Impact Jordan Kyrou Has Had on the 2021-22 Season
The Blues have had 17 players on the COVID list this season and many injuries. The Blues were forced to play shorthanded on multiple occasions. They had an entire line made up of players from their AHL affiliate Springfield, Mass. at one point. They had both their starter and backup goaltenders out at the same time, one on the COVID list and one injured. Still, they are in second place in the Western Conference and Central Division, just one point behind the Nashville Predators, as of Monday morning.
Jordan Kyrou tallied 1-1—2 in the final 47 seconds of regulation to extend his point streak to five games (5-6—11) and boost his season totals to 14-22—36 (32 GP) to lead all @StLouisBlues skaters in 2021-22.#NHLStats: https://t.co/0TpRXYlM1W https://t.co/qn6VRRhZBE
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 9, 2022
Despite missing four games in December with an upper-body injury, Kyrou leads the team in points with 36. He is also tied for the team-lead in goals with 14. Two of those are game-winning goals. With two points Sunday, he beat his previous career high of 35 points in 55 points last season. Kyrou is a big reason the Blues have been able to find wins with a depleted roster. He stepped up when the Blues needed him to. He has even continued to do so even when star players return.
Jordan Kyrou’s Future
While the Blues are in a playoff position now, there are still a lot of regular season games left. And although Kyrou is already having the best season of his career, the Blues will look to him to continue to put up points to help them maintain a playoff spot no matter how many more injuries there are to other players, how many other players get put on the COVID list and if anything major happens at the trade deadline.
And while he has proven that he has no problem dominating on a big stage like the Winter Classic, the playoffs are an entirely different beast. He only scored one goal in four games last season when the Blues were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
If he can keep it up in the regular season and carry that over into the playoffs, Kyrou could very well be the future of the organization. With the chemistry he has on the ice with Robert Thomas now, it’s easy to imagine hearing, “Thomas to Kyrou!” on the broadcast for the next 10 or 15 years.
