Last night, the Blues came within three seconds of knocking off the Presidents’ Trophy winners, which would’ve extended the curse another season. Part of me thought we’d see a blowout win, given the way the Blues spent at least half of this series haunting Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
The Jets should seriously think about moving on from him if he plays the same way against Dallas - yeah, you can (most likely) win the Vezina, but racking up regular season awards won’t win you championships. I was so confident that the Blues were taking this one that I wrote the original headline that included the word ‘win’ after Mathieu Joseph scored to make it 2-0.
But once again, the Blues didn’t play a high-octane game in Winnipeg, logging just 20 shots on goal in regulation. In doing so, in narrowly losing to the Presidents’ Trophy winners, they still put the Western Conference on notice. No, not a moral victory, but a fact.
Blues never were a ‘happy to be there’ team and Round 1 proved it
No, the Blues didn’t fare well against the Dallas Stars this year, but if I were Jason Robertson and Company, I’d be grateful to be playing a struggling netminder as opposed to the Blues. It wasn’t like the Blues played the Jets particularly well, either in the regular season, yet here they are, ultimate losers in this series; but still, a team that’s way more confident in what they’re capable of.
This is a team that outplayed the Jets for all but three seconds of regulation last night. They kept giving themselves puck possession in Game 7, racking up a 56.9 faceoff win percentage through regulation, and that needs to be recognized.
The Blues also never backed down to the Jets continued onslaught of body checks. They knew Winnipeg was going to come out swinging, and it never once fazed them. They just couldn’t finish the game.
Nope, they skated out of the tunnel and played their brand of hockey just enough to build a two-goal lead heading into the game’s final few minutes. At that point, and after Hellebuyck’s first-period sputters, it was finished, so long as the Blues didn’t let Winnipeg score those two goals.
It showed that the West’s bottom seed was never a ‘happy to be there’ squad, even if nobody saw them earning a playoff berth, let alone lasting long enough to put the Presidents’ Trophy winners to the brink.
Another reason the West needs to look long and hard at the Blues
You can argue the Blues were the hottest team in hockey. Not even two months ago, they embarked on a 12-game winning streak, and it built momentum heading into and through that pivotal down-the-stretch phase.
While they cooled off after the streak ended, they still shocked the league in Round 1, given their overall effort against Winnipeg. They came as close as one could come to knocking off the Presidents’ Trophy winners, something the Florida Panthers did in back-to-back seasons.
And that same Panthers team ended up playing in the Stanley Cup Final on both occasions. We don’t need to assume anything, but recent history’s shining a bright light on the Blues if they can play the best team in hockey that well when the stakes rise, especially if they can come back next season and finish the job.
And when you account that the Blues were the hottest team in hockey during that final month of the year and perhaps beyond, finding a way to slow this team’s momentum down could prove to be a nightmare. Why? Because come October, you’re going to see a St. Louis Blues team ready to rev up the intensity.