The St. Louis Blues have stuck around in the wild card race of the Western Conference as the season is winding down. A big reason for that is their recent four-game winning streak. The streak ended on Tuesday, March 19 as the Colorado Avalanche took them down 4-3. The club is now 36-30-3 and seven points away from matching their point total from last season.
Related: 3 St. Louis Blues Players GM Doug Armstrong Should Have Kept
I don’t view this team as a true contender by any means, but they’re in the mix whether fans like it or not. Let’s look at a few takeaways from the streak and the road ahead to finish the 2023-24 season.
Blues’ Power Play Improvements
The Blues power play was about as bad as it could have been in the first few months of the season. They were under 10 percent for quite some time before figuring some things out. A big shift was the addition of Brad Richards as a consultant. He was a power play stud in his playing career, so his insights are a terrific asset to the team. In the first 39 games of the season, they scored 12 goals in 113 power play opportunities, which is good for 10.6 percent. In their past 30 games, they have 26 power play markers in 97 opportunities. The production has increased greatly, and a lot of that has to due with the playmaking of Robert Thomas and the finishing ability of Jake Neighbours.
The Blues would be nowhere near the playoff line without the contributions of Thomas and Neighbours. Thomas has been great in all phases this season, but the growth of Neighbours has been one of the most important occurrences for the future of the franchise this season. He has eight power-play goals and 22 overall. The club’s power play still ranks outside of the top 25 in the league, but the improvements have been important for the confidence of several veteran players.
Binnington Quietly Having Great Season
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career by the numbers. It also might be his most impressive season given the number of games played and the poor defense in front of him. While the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons were elite, the club had a far better defensive unit to make life easier.
If it weren’t for the other strong candidates and the narrative surrounding Binnington, he might be a legitimate Vezina trophy contender. He has a 24-19-3 record with a save percentage (SV%) of .912 and a goals against average (GAA) of 2.83. In 2021-22 and 2022-23, he had a SV% of .901 or worse and a GAA above 3.00. He has improved tremendously this season and is finally living up to the $6 million salary cap hit. If the Blues get this version of Binnington for the remainder of his contract, that would make it well worth the investment from general manager Doug Armstrong.
Blues Can Make Things Interesting
The Blues’ remaining schedule isn’t overly difficult. They lost to an elite Avalanche team to end their four-game winning streak, but eight of their final 13 games are against opponents out of the playoffs right now. If they can win at least six of those games and a few others, they could find themselves directly up against the playoff line. I don’t think it would be the best thing if they made the playoffs, but it would give them a chance to get playoff experience for their younger players. The best-case scenario for the club would likely be to fall back in the race and secure a solid draft pick, but I don’t see that happening. Don’t be surprised if things get quite interesting down the stretch in St. Louis.
