Following a two-year hiatus, the St. Louis Blues are returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Coming away with a 6-1 victory over the Central Division rival Utah Hockey Club on Thursday, the Blues closed out the regular season with a 44-30-8 showing and 96 points to secure the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference and set up a first-round matchup against the Presidents’ Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets. The two sides faced off four times in the regular season, with Winnipeg taking three victories.
The Blues head to the postseason following a slow start to the year that was later recovered in part by November’s appointment of head coach Jim Montgomery, who in the following 60 games guided the club to a 35-18-7 record and 77 points.
This season, the Blues were headlined by 25-year-old center Robert Thomas who through 70 appearances put up 21 goals and 60 assists for 81 points, marking the second-straight season in which he has reached the 80-point plateau. Originally chosen 20th overall by St. Louis in the 2017 NHL Draft, Thomas has since skated in seven seasons and 466 career contests with the Blues in which he has tallied 107 goals and 289 assists for 396 points.
In all, Thomas one was one five forwards on the Blues to score 20 goals or better this season, a group that also includes Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, and veteran forward Jordan Kyrou who led the way with 36 tallies.
The NHL’s hottest team since the conclusion of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the season’s latter half witnessed the Blues piece together a 19-4-3 record backed by a franchise-record 12-game winning streak. Among the top performers during that stretch was Blues netminder Jordan Binnington, who following his heroic performance with Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off returned to St. Louis to win 13 of his final 17 games.
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