We’ve seen the best of the St. Louis Blues in their current series with the San Jose Sharks and we’ve seen the worst. Nevertheless, through four games, they have the series all tied up. Now Game 5 presents them with another opportunity to show their fans and the world that this team is different.
The St. Louis Blues have been unstoppable when they are on top of their game. For whatever reason, be it poor play on their part or, in the Sharks’ case, great play by the opponent, the Blues have not been on top of their game in key moments of the 2016 playoffs.
They’ve had opportunities in the past to essentially put a foot on their opponent’s throat and failed to do so. Now, Game 5 of the Sharks series gives them that same chance again.
The Blues must take advantage this time, because eventually the well could run dry. The Blues always seem to answer when their backs are against the wall, but they need to show they can summon the will to win when they need to but don’t necessarily have to.
It’s great that this team has so much determination when it counts. That’s the mark of a solid team. A great team doesn’t always rely on that. A great team goes out and wins for the sake of winning, not always because they absolutely must in a particular scenario.
Game 5 is important for the Blues for a few reasons. Firstly, they need to prove they can win at home. The Blues are currently 4-5 on home ice in this playoff year.
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That’s simply not good enough. For a team that overcame so much during the regular season and fought so hard to obtain home-ice advantage, they are not utilizing it.
It’s great that the Blues play so well on the road and continue to prove that. Now they must prove they can perform in front of their home fans.
At this point, it doesn’t matter what the cause is. It can be too much line matching by the head coach, too many distractions at home for the players, not enough focus or putting too much pressure on themselves to perform for the home crowd. The Blues just have to find a way to get it done.
They have two opportunities to win a home game and must win at least one. Game 5 is the a great way to build home confidence and keep the overall confidence going from Game 4.
Secondly, they need to win Game 5 because they haven’t strung together wins yet since the Chicago series. If you want to play devil’s advocate, you could say they won Game 7 against Dallas and then Game 1 against San Jose, but in terms of within a series, the Blues have not won back to back games in quite awhile.
You can’t keep counting on your ability to bounce back. You have to start things off on the right foot.
Thirdly, the Blues need to take Game 5 to prove to themselves they can actually win a game when the chips aren’t down. There isn’t the pressure to win or go home in this game. The Blues have somewhat of a cushion, knowing there will be a Game 6 whether they win or not.
That can’t be the mentality any longer. This team cannot think there is anything to fall back on. The Chicago series went longer than it needed to and the Blues failed to put away the Stars when they could have as well.
It’s fine if you win in the end, but the Blues need to prove to everyone, including themselves, that they can simply win because they’re the better team on that given night.
They shouldn’t have to be spurred on by messages being sent or lineup changes or playing for a goaltender any more. They need to step up and just win because that’s what’s expected.
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Game 5 is another opportunity to prove they really are a different team. We keep saying they are and then, even if briefly, we get a glimpse of those old Blues habits.
If this team really wants to win a Stanley Cup, they have to win on home ice. They have to put their foot on people’s throats. They have to win because they can, not always because they have to. Game 5 will give us a good idea whether they can do that or whether they will always need that extra motivation.