St. Louis Blues Top 10 Moments Of 2018-19 NHL Playoffs

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MAY 13: Robert Bortuzzo #41 of the St. Louis Blues celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks with Robert Thomas #18 in Game Two of the Western Conference Final during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 13, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

9. Robert Bortuzzo’s backhand goal in Game 2 vs San Jose

The history of the NHL playoffs is crowded with names that you would never have expected to be a hero. When stat geeks like to throw numbers around, my fallback example was always Claude Lemieux.

Based on his regular season performances, the New Jersey Devils or Colorado Avalanche would have had no business making him one of their top-nine forwards. He always came through in the playoffs though. That was true for several guys on the Blues this time around too.

When you think of scoring a game-winning goal, there are probably guys that were on the scratch list you would think of before Robert Bortuzzo. He is not known for his offense at all.

Bortuzzo had two goals and 10 points in 2018-19. In his eight years in the NHL, he has 14 goals, which puts him just under two goals per year.

That’s what the playoffs are made for, though. They make heroes out of guys that might barely have seen the ice during the season.

Bortuzzo became one of those stories in Game 2 against the San Jose Sharks.

After the Blues got embarrassed in Game 1, they scored the first two goals of the game. Unfortunately, they surrendered the lead in the second period with two goals in two minutes by the Sharks.

With time winding down on the second period, Bortuzzo got his time to shine. The play seemed to be going nowhere when Bortuzzo found Tyler Bozak in the high slot.

Bozak bailed a pass to Joel Edmundson who quickly found Bortz streaking toward the net. From there, Bortuzzo took care of business like he was born to be a goal scorer.

The backhanded goal would prove to be the game winner for that contest. The Blues would keep the Sharks silent in the third period and even up the series before coming home.

Making matters even more interesting, the Blues defender had a friend that predicted it. Bortuzzo had been a healthy scratch for much of the Winnipeg series, but his friend told him he was going to get in and score and he did.

Just another tale in the epic story that led the Blues to where they got.

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