Blues’ Zach Sanford the unlikeliest playoff hero

It could end with the forward playing a pivotal role in knocking out the team he grew up rooting for. His promotion into the Blues’ top-six forward corps has correlated with back-to-back wins that has St. Louis on the cusp of a Stanley Cup.

Thursday’s Game 5 was his first NHL game on Boston’s TD Garden ice, and less than a minute into the second period, Sanford retrieved a puck behind the Boston net, drawing both Bruins defencemen with him. He backhanded it through his legs to centre Ryan O’Reilly for the game’s first goal and Sanford’s third assist in as many games.

“It’s been a hell of a year, that’s for sure,” Sanford said with a chuckle.

His season has been about as dramatic as the Blues’ journey to this point — the league’s last-place team in early January is now one win away from a franchise-first championship. His father died suddenly of a heart attack during training camp, when Sanford was fighting to make the NHL roster. Then in December, Sanford got into a fight with teammate Robert Bortuzzo during practice. Though the team downplayed the incident, Sanford was sent down to the Blues’ AHL affiliate within the week.

After Sanford was a healthy scratch for most of the Blues’ post-season run, an injury to forward Robert Thomas and Oskar Sundqvist’s one-game suspension cleared a path into the lineup. His chemistry with O’Reilly and David Perron on the second line — the trio has scored three goals in the past two games — has helped tilt the series in the Blues’ favour.

“Since he’s been in, he’s made an impact — not only on the score sheet with making big plays and getting points but just overall wearing teams down,” O’Reilly said Thursday night. “He’s being physical at the right time or making plays and having that puck possession. He’s been a huge piece in us finding a way to create against this team.”

This time a year ago, Sanford watched from afar as the Washington Capitals, the team that drafted him, celebrated a Stanley Cup victory, and he acknowledged that “maybe a little” part of him had wondered what might have been were it not for a 2017 trade to St. Louis.

The 24-year-old played in 60 games this season, scoring eight goals with 12 assists, but consistency still largely eluded him.

“There’s still a lot of stuff I need to work on obviously, but a lot of guys want to tell themselves they’re a top-six guy obviously,” the six-foot-four Sanford said. “Those are the guys who get all the points and play the power play and this and that. But I don’t really try to think about that too much. I’ve just been trying to work on the things I need to get better at, and everyone says to stay good at the things that you’re good at. I think recently, I’ve been doing a pretty good job at the things I’m usually pretty good at.”

Said Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo: “Even if he didn’t get a point, if you just watch what he did on the forecheck — a second effort every single time he’s on the puck — he’s relentless. He’d be a pain to play against if I was a defenceman … It’s a testament to his work ethic.”

Sanford might get that from his father, who was a cook in several restaurants before opening a furniture repair business. Mike Sanford helped coach Zach, from street hockey sessions to his youth hockey team. The dream of one day hoisting a Stanley Cup was one they shared.

“I know he’s watching,” Sanford said. “He’s definitely pretty psyched.”