The St. Louis Blues January schedule is not kind to them. They play the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild one time this month. These three teams are all ahead of the Blues in the standings, so it's crucial the Blues win these games.
The Blues stand five points behind Dallas in the wild card and the division, six points behind Colorado, and ten points behind Minnesota. If the Blues want any chance at winning the central, which is a very slim chance at this point, they need to beat every opponent listed above.
The Blues have a sink or swim situation in the wild card in January
The Blues have to take the non-divisional games seriously this month as well. As of today, they are three points behind the Calgary Flames and two points behind the Vancouver Canucks. The Blues play Calgary twice this month and Vancouver once.
It truly is a sink or swim month for this team. By the end of the month, fans should have a pretty good idea if this is a playoff team or not. While the division is still possible, the wild card is much more likely. The main reason to watch the divisional games will be to see how the Blues play against the top teams.
Honorable mentions for the month of January
Besides divisional and wild card games, the Blues play Vegas twice, Utah once, Columbus twice, and Anaheim once. Vegas is in first place in the Pacific; Utah is two points behind the Blues, Columbus is two points behind the Blues, and Anaheim is Anaheim.
These games are obviously less important, but the Blues should not take any opponent lightly. Vegas will be a good test to see how the Blues match up against a superior team; Utah could put some pressure on the Blues, only being two points behind, and both Columbus and Anaheim will be competitive games.