Last week, the St. Louis Blues were reeling from injuries and poor play, their fans concerned they might lose out on home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. This week, the Blues have their sights set on three home games to close out the season and the President’s Trophy in focus. What a difference just a few games makes.
While the 7-5 win in Dallas was a messy one, it did come after trailing the Stars 5-3 near the end of the second period. Goaltender Brian Elliott did little to bring confidence in his play as the season came to a close. He saved just 27 of 32 shots.
It continued a rough stretch for Elliott who is currently 2-4-1 in his last seven games allowing 19 goals and delivering am 0.883 save percentage. It is not the type of performance Coach Ken Hitchcock expected from the goaltender he anointed the starter for his team.
After the win in Dallas, the Blues headed to the Windy City to face the Blackhawks where rookie goaltender Jake Allen was given the crease. In a game with tremendous pressure, Allen was spectacular stopping 38 of 39 shots in the 2-1 victory, keeping the game close when Chicago stormed the net in a desperate attempt to register the equalizer. The bruising game left both teams a little more beat up than they would experience in a typical game.
For Allen, the win represented his 4th in 5 decisions (4-0-1) where he has allowed just 6 goals and registering a 0.956 save percentage. In Allen’s last 13 decisions, he is 10-1-2, allowing just 22 goals and a save percentage of 0.932. The rookie will start against Winnipeg Tuesday night, igniting a possible goalie controversy.
After Monday morning’s skate, Hitchcock told reporters other than announcing the starting goalie on day of game, it would be the last he would talk about who is the starter.
As for the skaters, with leading scorers Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen out with injuries, other players have had to step up to provide the offense. In the win at Dallas, somewhat disappointing Patrick Berglund chipped in the first two goals while Jaden Schwartz netted a hat trick, including the empty net goal. Defense chipped in the 5th and 6th goals with Zbynek Michalek and Alex Pietrangelo jumping into the offense.
In Chicago, while the Blues allowed the game’s opening goal late in the first period, David Backes and newcomer Olli Jokinen tallied in the second period before Allen shut down Chicago to secure the victory.
The Blues hold the top spot in the Central division, one point ahead of Nashville and three points ahead of Chicago. All of these teams have three games remaining. St. Louis is guaranteed to finish in one of the top three spots, but would certainly like at least one of the top two spot to assure home ice in the first round.
But the Blues could end up even in better shape. With their last three regular season games at home, the Blues could pad their lead in the Central and even challenge for the top spot and the President’s Trophy. With 105 points, the Blues are two points behind the New York Rangers (four games remaining) and the Anaheim Ducks (two games remaining). They are one point behind Montreal who have just two games remaining.
The final three games are at home against Winnipeg on Tuesday, Chicago on Thursday and Minnesota Saturday, April 11th, all potential first-round playoff opponents.
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