The St. Louis Blues are, for the first time since the early days of the season, above hockey .500. They have a 31-30-11 record for 73 points in the standings, and are four points out of the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference. This coming week, they have two crucial matchups against teams hanging around ahead of them in the standings, must-win games that will represent a four-point swing in the standings if the Blues get the job done in regulation.
The good news is, the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings aren't all that good. The bad news is that the Blues' remaining schedule, according to Tankathon, is the ninth most difficult in the league--and the Kings and Sharks both reside in the "easiest opponents" group. The road to a playoff spot will not be so easy.
Thankfully, the Utah Mammoth, Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets--all of whom the Blues play once a piece down the stretch--are also in that easy category. If the Blues manage to sweep those five games against ostensibly lesser opponents, that's 10 points in the standings. Depending on the play of teams in front of them, that could be enough to squeak into the postseason.
The problem, then, is the other five games the Blues have to play: the President's Trophy-favorite Colorado Avalanche twice, the top-of-the-Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks once, the superpowered Minnesota Wild, and the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins. In terms of jockeying for standings positioning, none of those games matter: the Avs and Wild have been locked into first and third in the Central Division for what feels like ages, the Ducks are poised to win their division, and the Penguins are in a different conference. It'll come down to whether the Blues can get at least one win, and maybe a couple loser points, to supplant the Nashville Predators for the second wildcard.
Of course, if the Blues lose in regulation to both the Kings and Sharks, that should be the final nail in the coffin for their season. Those two games this week should be some of their easiest, and it's critical they win them, because the schedule gets much less friendly for the final seven games of the season.