The St. Louis Blues and the playoffs? Who saw this one coming?
A few weeks ago when you asked a Blues fan about the playoffs the response you got was more akin to Jim Mora than to optimism. Yet here we sit, the week of the deadline, three points out of a spot.
How did we get here you ask? Well an 8-2-4 record in February will definitely help. As would the return of setup man Andy McDonald, who has tallied three goals and five assists since his return on Feb. 10th.
This week the Blues posted a perfect 3-0 record against teams they needed to beat to keep climbing the standings.
Tuesday Feb. 24 vs. Phoenix:
After a crushing defeat the previous Saturday to Nashville, the Blues needed to come out and take it to a struggling Phoenix team. Unfortunately that isn't what happened and it looked like the Blues would not even get a point in this one.
Shane Doan took a centering pass from Joakim Lindstrom to put Phoenix up 1-0 with 6:14 to go in the first period. The play started with Chris Mason flubbing the puck behind the net giving it right to the Coyotes.
The period finished up with Phoenix outshooting the Blues eight shots to four but also out hustling them to every puck.
The second period was more of the same until 6:58 when David Perron threw a harmless dump in on Illya Bryzgalov. The puck bounced off the ice and somehow slipped in past the Coyote netminder tying the game at one. Perron was on the bench and had no idea it went in until he heard the horn going off.
Two minutes later, with Phoenix on the power play, T.J. Oshie blocked a shot and brought the puck out with Jay McClement on a 2-on-1. McClement buried the shot giving St. Louis the lead for the first time in 5 periods of hockey.
The shorthanded goal was McClement's third shortie of the year, which is two more than last year's penalty kill specialist had all year.
St. Louis survived a barrage of chances in the third en route to the 2-1 victory.
Thursday Feb. 26 @ Dallas:
The last time the Blues played Dallas Marty Turco was abysmal and the Stars were off to the worst start in franchise history. The Stars have remarkably turned it around and are now fighting with the Blues for a playoff spot.
In this game the Blues saw why the Stars were back as they got peppered with 42 shots, while the Blues only managed 22. But luck was on their side yet again as five posts were hit throughout the game.
Jere Lehtinen tipped in a shot from Mike Ribeiro to give Dallas the lead early in the first period and almost gave them a two-goal lead five minutes after the first. But Mason stood tall and denied Lehtinen on a breakaway as well as denying the rest of the attempts that came his way.
Jay McClement scored for the second game in a row to tie the game up in the first. The period ended with the Stars outshooting the Blues 15-8.
In the second period the Blues started to take control of the game. The forecheck ramped up and, though they did not score, the Blues had multiple opportunities to take the lead.
After not playing together for more than two weeks, Andy Murray reunited the Kid Line in the third period and it immediately paid dividends.
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