3 players who have ignited the St. Louis Blues late-season surge
The St. Louis Blues have been surging lately, and there are a few players responsible for keeping this team in serious playoff contention.
Since the day following the trade deadline, the St. Louis Blues have been a team on the rise with a record of 8-3-1, good for 17 points and 1.42 points per game. To put things into further perspective, the Blues are tied for third in points in that stretch and are 10th in points per.
Sure, they had a major slip-up vs. the San Jose Sharks this past weekend in what was a 4-0 shutout loss. But hey, there is no such thing as an easy game this time of year, so they can get the free pass. If the Blues aren’t playing serious contenders, some of which are shoo-ins for a postseason berth, they are facing teams that have nothing to lose, and that makes for a plethora of tough opponents.
Currently, the Blues find themselves in the ‘serious contender’ category, with a 40-31-4 record and they are just three points outside of the second wild card, with 84 points in the year. It hasn’t been a season of smooth sailing, as this team currently has a minus-10 goal differential.
But then again, the Philadelphia Flyers (minus-17) and Washington Capitals (minus-31) sit in the same category, and they are both further ahead of the Blues in their respective conference as far as playoffs go.
Several St. Louis Blues players have stepped up to give this team a surge
One player who has stepped up big lately is Jordan Binnington who, in 53 appearances, is boasting 27 wins, a trio of shutouts, a 0.913 save percentage, a 2.82 GAA, and a 0.608 quality starts percentage. Binnington has allowed just under a goal over his xGA of 112.4 at even strength, but he’s nonetheless been one of the better goaltenders this year, especially recently.
From March 9th onward, Binnington has a 0.919 save percentage, a 2.70 GAA, and five wins in eight appearances. He and Joel Hofer - who has also played some sensational hockey in his four appearances since March 9th - have been a borderline elite goaltending duo, but they are not among the three players most responsible for St. Louis’ late-season surge.