The St. Louis Blues are, by some miracle, a mere three points out of the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Their 33-31-12 record is far from sterling, and their 78 points would have them tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference for third from the bottom, but a weak West has left the Blues a little wiggle room to make a late season playoff push. They've got an important week ahead, with three matchups against teams in the Central Division--one of them chasing the Blues in the playoff race. Let's get into it.
vs. the Colorado Avalanche, 4/7
That was a heck of a road game the Blues played over the weekend, wasn't it? Robert Thomas registered his first career hat trick as the Blues won 3-2 against an Avs team that's been merely "good" and not "the best team in history" since January. They'll need a bit of that magic again to knock off the Avalanche, which would earn them their third win in a row.
vs. the Winnipeg Jets, 4/9
This is the big one of the week. The Jets and the Blues have identical records, though the Blues have the edge in a tiebreaker with 29 regulation wins to the Jets' 26, should the playoff race be a photo finish. Winnipeg has been quite a disappointment this season after last year's President's Trophy win, but you can never count out a team that has Connor Hellebuyck in net, even if this has been a down year by his lofty standards. Every game feels like a must-win, but this match really could make-or-break the Blues' season.
@ the Chicago Blackhawks, 4/11
The Blackhawks had a fun run early on, where it looked like they were threatening to stay in the playoff mix for the season. As young teams often do, however, they fell off hard, and are now the second worst team in the NHL behind the Vancouver Canucks. The Blues ought to be favorites in this matchup, and they'll have to take care of business against a weaker team on paper.