Where The St. Louis Blues Stand After Vladimir Tarasenko’s Injury
With the playoffs just around the corner, the strong second half performance from the St. Louis Blues has pushed them to third place in the Central Division. How can the injury to their star player Vladimir Tarasenko affect that?
The St. Louis Blues are one of the biggest turnaround success stories of this season. As the calendar turned toward 2019, it looked like St. Louis was going to be going a second straight spring without playoff hockey. A mid-season turn around after November coaching change, an eleven game winning streak, and a new goaltender, pushed the Blues back in the playoff picture.
For a while, it looked like nobody could stop the St. Louis Blues, but as the season is beginning to wrap up, they were dealt a blow when Vladimir Tarasenko was injured in a game on March 7th. Tarasenko will be sidelined with an upper body for at least ten days before being re-evaluated. In that day ten period, Tarasenko will miss at least four games.
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With their leading goal scorer out, where do the Blues stand? The first question is who will replace Tarsenko on the Blues top line? The Sporting News reports Jaden Schwartz has been slotted into the first line to replace Tarasenko, but Schwartz hasn’t registered a point since February 21st.
Over that same span, Tarsenko had 5 points in 8 games, including a two point (one goal and one asset) performance in the game against the Los Angeles Kings where he was injured. In the one game so far without Tarasenko, an overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, Schwartz once again was rendered pointless while the only player on the Blues top line to find the score sheet was Brayden Schenn on an unassisted goal.
One game may be a small sample size for Schwartz, and no one can expect him to match Tarasenko’s production, but he was the Blue’s best option to fill that right-wing whole. Maybe if the Blues get unhappy with Schwartz performance in his new role, they’ll give Robert Thomas a chance, but filling Tarsenko’s shoes is an even more daunting task for the 19-year-old.
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With their star player out, more attention will be turned to the Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. The main force behind the Blues 11 game winning streak, the breakout goalie currently boasts a sterling 1.80 goals against record and a .929 save percentage.
When Tarasenko was in the lineup, Binnington’s goaltending was the make or break scenario for most of the Blues wins over their winning streak. While the Blues still have plenty of offensive talent that it shouldn’t all fall on their goaltending to bail them out. Tarasenko’s absence makes games just a little bit tighter.
It will be interesting to watch Binnington on how he reacts to this pressure. Yes, he got a lot of attention when the Blues won 11 straight, but Tarsenko also had 17 points in that stretch, only going pointless in the last game of the winning streak. With the Russian superstar sidelined, more critical eyes will be on the young netminder.
As it sits right now, the Blues are in a pretty good place. They sit comfortably in the Central Division’s third place, four points ahead of the Dallas Stars and five points ahead of the Minnesota Wild in the two Wild Card spots. With teams like the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche still within striking distance of the Wild Card race, the Blues sure wish they had more of a cushion, but barring an extended losing streak they should be fine. Their first test will be their Tuesday night game against the Coyotes as they fight to join the Blues in the playoffs.
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The Blues haven’t expressed any excessive concern over Tarasenko, but they sure do hope they get him back soon. No other specifics than an “upper body injury” were given, but then again, that’s what the New Jersey Devils have been saying about Taylor Hall and his unofficial and secretive season ending injury. If the Blues go into the playoffs without Tarasenko, a first round playoff exit looks almost definite.