The St. Louis Blues came into their final regular season game against the Colorado Avalanche needing a repeat of their performance in Colorado from a couple nights before. Instead, we got something more reminiscent of the early part of the season.
St. Louis didn't really play that poorly to start the game, but they weren't running on even three-fourths of their cylinders either. It was a lot of nothing to start the game.
The offense was basically nonexistent. The Blues only mustered two shots on goal.
Meanwhile, the Avs got a total of 17 shots on goal in the first period alone. It was an odd offensive output for the league's best team. Even though they nearly hit 20 shots, it came in waves instead of just a total domination of the period.
Still, Joel Hofer was holding the fort until late in the period. Colorado took the lead at 16:11 on a deflection from Valeri Nichushkin that ramped over Hofer's shoulder and off the back bar for a 1-0 lead.
The Blues were playing with fire, but it seemed like they'd get out of the period only down by a goal. No such luck as the Avs got one from Martin Necas in the final minute when the Blues couldn't clear the puck and quick passes found Necas on the back door.
The Blues earned a power play with two seconds left in the first, which would've given them a great chance to cut into the lead to open the second period. That didn't happen at all.
The Blues couldn't even get set up and then a long pass from Hofer to center led to a bad turnover by Pavel Buchnevich. The Avs tapped it through the Blues zone, found Nichushkin and he sneakily tucked it around Hofer for the shorthanded goal and a 3-0 lead.
Even though the period was not even two minutes old, that felt like the nail in the coffin. The Blues needed to go into intermission only down a goal and were down two. They needed to score on that power play and gave up a shorty.
Thankfully, they didn't completely give up. The top line was one of the few bright spots and they connected again.
With 4:22 to go in the period, Robert Thomas picked up his 22nd of the season and fourth in two games against the Avs. Thomas outmuscled two defenders at the blue line, filtered the puck to the right and then after a return pass, he actually fanned on his initial shot but buried the goal when the goaltender was down on his side.
The goal gave the fans hope, but it was a fool's hope. There just wasn't enough offense in the team on this night.
St. Louis had a decent push in the third, with 10 shots on goal. However, they didn't threaten enough or for long enough.
The Blues had a power play midway through the period and got a few shots on, with some decent possession too. It was just too little, too late.
Even with the goalie pulled, they just didn't have enough to break down the Avs defense. Much like the season, it was too slow a start and not enough down the stretch.
Pro: Top line
The Blues have needed guys to step up as true offensive threats all season. They've needed a top duo or trio for years, really.
They finally have it at the tail end of a potentially lost season. At least it's been one of the bright spots, both in this game and down the stretch.
The combination of Thomas, Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud has been fantastic. That trio has combined for eight of the team's last 11 goals, including their one goal in this game.
Holloway didn't end up with a point in this game, since Theo Lindstein got the assist with Snuggerud, but he was still a big part of what little offense there was. His ability to shift on a dime and reverse back the other way is going to give defenses fits once the Blues have a roster that will open up more space for him.
Con: Everyone else
Outside of the top line, there just wasn't anything else to talk about. Jordan Kyrou had a handful of good chances, but he kept putting them wide.
He's not the only one to blame in that respect, but his name tends to get brought up first in these instances. However, it's unfair to look only at him when there is three other lines outside the top line and nobody is chipping in offensively.
The Blues had 19 total shots, six of which came from defenders and the other nine forwards not on the top line had eight and the top line had five. No forwards, regardless of line, had more than two shots on goal.
That's just not good enough. The Avs played very well, but the Blues didn't counteract nearly enough.
Pro: Hofer
If not for the Blues goalie, this game would have been out of hand long before it was even somewhat over. Hofer kept the Blues in this game.
His ability to stop deflected pucks and see shots through traffic was a game changer. He made several stops look easy because he was able to read the play before it could become dangerous.
Overview:
I'm more of an optimist than your average Blues fan, but I'm also a realist. While they're still alive in the playoff race, the reality was losing this game almost makes it so the Blues have to win out.
Clearly there are scenarios where other teams lose multiple games, but as far as controlling their own destiny, the Blues have to win their remaining five games. If they do that, and it's a big if, they'd have 88 points.
That gives them the tiebreaker against almost everyone they're competing with. It would come down to whether anyone around them got to 89 points.
Again, the reality is that this will be almost impossible. St. Louis has struggled to string wins together all season, with the team not getting a three-game win streak until a couple months into 2026 and not hitting four games until this month.
Can we expect them to have their longest win streak of the season right before the playoffs? It's possible, but not likely.
The scoring has reversed at the worst time. At a time in the season when everyone will be gunning for your top line, they're the only three that can score. Everyone else has disappeared.
St. Louis has had a good push here at the end and gained valuable experience for the young players, but it will be difficult to pull of. Just as the team found their footing too late in this game against the Avalanche, they found their footing far too late in the season to get things accomplished.
Maybe they'll make me look silly and go on this run. That would be fun, but I don't see them making the same push against the Avs in the playoffs as they did against the Winnipeg Jets last season.