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St. Louis Blues Trending Right Way In Top-Heavy Division

By Jason Martin

ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 23: Ryan O'Reilly #90 and the St. Louis Blues celebrate a goal in the first period of the game against the Anaheim Ducks on January 23, 2019 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 23: Ryan O'Reilly #90 and the St. Louis Blues celebrate a goal in the first period of the game against the Anaheim Ducks on January 23, 2019 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The St. Louis Blues are somehow still in the race not only in the Western Conference but also in the Central Division thanks to some underperforming teams.

If you told me three months ago that the St. Louis Blues would only be six points out of third place in the Central Divison, I probably would have called you crazy and would have never taken you seriously ever again.

Yet, here we are. On January 30 the St. Louis Blues have a record of 22-22-5 and are six points behind the Minnesota Wild for third place in the division. St. Louis is currently on their bye week and could slip further down in the standings if other teams in the Central keep winning.

However, the fact that the Blues are this close before the trade deadline is something worth evaluating.

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The Central is incredibly top heavy. The Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators are two of the best teams in the West and are likely not going to drop down from the top two spots in the division.

The remaining five teams in the Central can be placed into a hat and chosen at random as far as their positioning in the Central goes.

The Wild are on a rollercoaster season. After a great start to the season, Minnesota has taken a step back from the pace they set in the first month of the season.

Minnesota, Dallas, and Colorado are all separated by three points, and all three teams currently occupy playoff spots.

Dallas has been unable to win big games on the road this season. Their home/road splits are astonishing. At home, the Stars are 15-8-2 however away from Dallas, they have struggled mightily at 9-13-2.

The Avalanche have taken a massive step back, and it may be due to the lack of depth scoring. Colorado has relied on their top line for the majority of their scoring this season, but teams are starting to shut the line down, and as a result, it has shut down the entire team.

This leaves the Blues, who sit three points behind both Colorado and Dallas for a wild card berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. St. Louis went into the break earning points in seven of their last ten games.

The home record for St. Louis is unacceptable at 12-13-2. If the Blues are not able to take care of home ice, then it will be incredibly difficult to make up any ground in the West. The good news is, the Blues have already played more than half of their home games this season and have a flurry of road games upcoming on their schedule.

Next. Return Of Injured Players Is Good For Blues' Playoff Chances. dark

The Blues are figuring out how to play hockey at the right time of the year. The rest of the Western Conference is on a decline and St. Louis needs to take advantage of a mediocre division.

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