St. Louis Blues: Win over Nashville Is Biggest of the Season by Far

About a month ago I wrote an article about the Blues needing to be road warriors down the final stretch of the NHL season if they wanted to make a strong Stanley Cup run.

Well that final stretch began Thursday night as the Blues defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 in a shootout.

While the Blues are tied for the NHL lead in most home wins, the team has definitely struggled on the road this season. With the win last night the Blues improved their road record to 11-13-3, but that still puts them at two games under .500 on the road.

Last night's victory was the most important for the Blues all season for one main reason, confidence. The Blues obviously can not do anything about their past struggles on the road, but if they can become a strong road team down the stretch they will have a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup.

Over the next month the Blues play 12 of their next 15 games on the road. The stretch of games will test the Blues physically as well as mentally.

The victory over Nashville last night is so important, because it was essential that the Blues start this road trip on the proverbial right note. Nashville has the fourth most wins at home in the NHL this season, and provided an extremely difficult test for St. Louis. By winning last night the Blues start their incredibly difficult season ending stretch off with a 1-0 record, and it keeps them close to the top teams in the NHL.

Although winning on the road has been one of the biggest Achille's Heels of St. Louis all season, this road stretch also gives them the opportunity to turn that weakness into a strength. If the Blues can become as strong of a team on the road as they are at home, there may be no team in the playoffs that can stop them.

This stretch of road games is also important because of the seeding in the NHL playoffs. Although the Blues have not clinched a playoff spot yet, as one of the elite teams in the NHL, the Blues need more than a playoff spot; they also need a high seed.

By winning games on the road down the stretch, the Blues will be able to narrow the gap on Detroit and Vancouver in the standings, and ultimately improve their playoff seed.

These games on the road are must win games for the Blues if they want to be a strong Stanley Cup contender this year. By winning at Nashville on Thursday night the Blues were able to start off this difficult strange in a great way, and that makes Thursday night's win the biggest win of the season.