The St. Louis Blues pulled off a miraculous achievement over the past week – they strung together three consecutive wins. Those wins pushed the Blues back into the playoff conversation for the first time since the 2018-19 season started.
Seriously.
Believe it or not, the Blues are three points out of the final Wildcard spot in the Western Conference prior to any games on January 15. That seems crazy considering the Blues were at the bottom of the league’s standings just last month.
How does head coach Craig Berube explain the recent success? He believes it’s all about the team working for one another, as seen on stlblues.com.
“They’re gaining confidence game-to-game here. They feel good about each other, they’re working for each other. That’s the key – playing for each other, doing the right things and putting the team first.”
Berube makes a good point. For the first time all season the Blues are finally sticking up for one another and starting to play like an actual team. They’ve also received some impressive goaltending from Jordan Binnington. Add in an 11-game point streak for David Perron (and counting) as well as Vladimir Tarasenko finding his scoring touch and you have a team that’s finally moving in the right direction.
The Blues are capable of playing strong hockey. They’re capable of playing as a cohesive unit that stands up for one another. They’ve arguably been capable of doing all of those things all season long. That’s why this season has been so frustrating.
Ultimately, the Blues have to find consistency to claim a playoff spot. They have to string together more winning streaks in order to finish among the 16 teams who will compete for the Stanley Cup. They also need to form good habits along the way so that they aren’t completely embarrassed in the playoffs.
Playoffs!
It’s crazy to even be writing that word with how things have gone this season.
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