After a disastrous opening game against the Minnesota Wild, the St. Louis Blues have since gotten their act together. The problem? So has the rest of the Central Division, and there is a good chance six teams could be battling for a top-three spot.
The Blues are one of them, and if they can't win the division, take second, or third place, they can always be a wild card team. But the issue there is, they'll have stiff competition from the two "have-nots" in the division, or those slated to finish outside the top three.
Conventional wisdom says the Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche will take the top three spots in the Central, while the Wild, Blues, and resurgent Nashville Predators will fight it out for the wild card. That also doesn't count potential wild card contenders in the Pacific Division, so the Blues will have their work cut out for them.
How can the Blues navigate what's becoming a chaotic Central Division?
They can't control how many points their Central Division rivals accrue against other teams. But the Blues can at least control their destiny to an extent if they play each Central Division rival well. Right now, they're 0 for 1, following that 5-0 loss to the Wild. But they got their act together with two convincing wins against the Pacific Division.
And while they'll take any win they can get, given the state of the Central, there needs to be playoff-level urgency immediately with this Blues team. That means playing weaker opponents like the Chicago Blackhawks and Utah Mammoth with such an edge that they can gain and maintain early leads.
Realistically, that won't always be the case against the Stars, Avalanche, Jets, Wild, and even the Predators. So, making quick work out of Chicago and Utah must be picture-perfect every time they face off against the two squads.
As for Dallas, Colorado, Winnipeg, Minnesota, and Nashville? That's where you up the ante and bring that 'playoff hockey' mindset, regardless of the time of year. Dallas, Colorado, and Winnipeg are still more complete teams, so bringing more physical, intimidating play will force them to play a different game.
Overall, if the Blues can start some chaos and play a more proactive game, that will send shockwaves through the Central.
The only major concern for bringing an early playoff mindset
Wear and tear could hurt the Blues with this mindset. And it's not like they haven't already seen their fair share of injuries, with players like Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist going down early.
If the injury bug haunts the Blues, that could compromise their chances at a postseason berth. But in a situation like this, the team that's willing to take risks early and throughout the season could see it pay dividends in April. So, if you're a Blues fan, you should be pushing this team to exert more of a sense of urgency, since the potential benefits outweigh the costs.