Their matchup vs. the Hurricanes on April 12th could decide the season
If St. Louis can’t beat Nashville for the first time this season, this April 12th matchup vs. the Carolina Hurricanes may not matter. Further, the Blues will need the Vegas Golden Knights to stumble at some point between the Nashville and Carolina games, regardless of what they do against the Predators.
They also need to win the three games following their matchup against Nashville or at least finish 2-0-1 in those matchups against San Jose, Anaheim, and Chicago to keep their postseason hopes alive. Mind you, the Blues must win the two contests discussed on the previous slides, barring a major slip-up from Vegas, so there is a lot that must happen for this April 12th game to matter.
But let’s speculate and assume all the above occurs in the Blues favor, and to make those final two contests vs. the Seattle Kraken and against Dallas important, they must win this second game against the Hurricanes.
Carolina is one of the best overall teams in hockey, so like the Edmonton and Nashville games, this matchup won’t be easy, and it could, by the time April 12th rolls around, be the hardest of the trio.
Although the Hurricanes are a stronger bunch this time around, St. Louis beat them once already in a shootout back on January 6th. If it happens again, St. Louis’ late-season run could be well worth it. If they make it this far and fail, well, all the recent winning could hurt this team in terms of draft position. But if you feel you can make a playoff run in this league, you take that chance.
(Statistics and data provided by ESPN.com)