Blues finish season with 5-3 win over Mammoth

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Apr 16, 2026

Published in Hockey

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And so ends one of the most disappointing seasons for the Blues.

A season that began with playoff expectations finished with a four-game win streak, concluded with Thursday night's 5-3 win over the host Utah Mammoth in the season finale. The Blues ended the season at 37-33-12, good for 86 points.

Robert Thomas had his second career hat trick, and Logan Mailloux scored the game-winning goal with 2:57 left in the third period to lead the Blues. Pavel Buchnevich also scored for the Blues, while Joel Hofer made 20 saves.

The Blues, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday, went 17-5-3 in the 25 games after the Olympic break, a run that led the club back into playoff contention before fading in early April.

Finishing strong

Thomas concluded his 2025-26 campaign with his fifth multi-goal game of the season, striking twice in the second period to turn a 2-1 Blues deficit into a 3-2 lead, then sealing the game with an empty-netter with 37.2 seconds left in the third.

Thomas scored at 8:14 of the second period, taking advantage of Dylan Holloway's blind backhand pass into the middle of the ice that gifted Thomas a wide-open net to hit. The play was jumpstarted by Hofer's outlet pass to Thomas, and continued by Jimmy Snuggerud's move in the neutral zone that lost Mikhail Sergachev.

Thomas added another 2:53 later to give the Blues a one-goal lead. Holloway again was a key part in the goal, as his interception of an attempted Utah exit kept the puck in the Mammoth end, allowing Cam Fowler to find Thomas for a redirection at the side of the net.

His empty-netter in the final minute of the game secured his second hat trick in the last seven games.

Thomas finished the season as the Blues' leading goal-scorer with 25 in just 64 games played. Had Thomas played an entire 82-game season, that would have put him on pace for 32 goals.

Since returning in March from a leg procedure just before the Olympic break, Thomas was one of the best players in the NHL. He closed his season with 31 points (14 goals and 17 assists) in his last 22 games.

Despite missing 18 games due to injuries, Thomas still led the Blues in goals (25), assists (39) and points (61).

Another one hits 20

When Buchnevich scored early in the first period, it was his 20th goal of the season, and he became the fourth Blues player to hit the 20-goal plateau this season.

Buchnevich was fortunate to be the beneficiary of an inadvertent bounce off Jordan Kyrou behind the net, as the puck skipped to Buchnevich at the side of the net while Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka was looking the other way.

It was Buchnevich's sixth straight season (and seventh in his career) with at least 20 goals. In every season since he was acquired by the Blues from the Rangers, Buchnevich has scored at least 20 goals.

Still, Buchnevich capped a disappointing season with 20 goals and 28 assists. His 0.593 points per game were the lowest in his career since he had 0.581 back in 2017-18 during his second season in the NHL.

Kyrou was the next-closest Blue to notching 20 goals, as he finished with 18 goals.

One more challenge

The Blues were successful during a second-period goaltender interference challenge, removing Liam O'Brien's would-be goal at 1:26. After a video review, it was determined that Brandon Tanev interfered with Hofer by pushing his pad towards the net before the puck crossed the goal line.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery went three for four on goalie interference challenges this season.