The St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup run is similar to the 2015-16 Penguins
The 2018-19 St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup run is very similar to the path taken by the 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup.
The 2019 Stanley Cup Final is set. The Boston Bruins will play host to the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden on Monday, May 27th. Both of these teams have played at an elite level since the calendar turned to 2019.
This is the Bruins’ third trip to the final since 2011. St. Louis returns for the first time in 49 years. Over the last eight years, the Blues have been an elite regular season team and it is cool to see them finally get rewarded for it.
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The Blues journey throughout the 2018-19 campaign is very reminiscent of the Pittsburgh Penguins path to winning the Stanley Cup back in the 2015-16 season. Here is a look at some of the similarities.
1. Summer splashes
On July 1, 2015, the Penguins acquired Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs. As you already know, Kessel has been a terrific fit in Pittsburgh and he played an instrumental role in the Penguins most recent championships.
Three years later, the Blues acquired Ryan O’Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres. O’Reilly had 77 points and is a Selke Trophy finalist in his first season in St. Louis. He has served as an additional elite offensive threat alongside Vladimir Tarasenko and has filled the void down the middle of the ice that the Blues have lacked over the years.
Neither the Penguins or Blues would have made it to the final without acquiring these star players. Kessel was robbed of the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2016 and O’Reilly is at least in the discussion for playoff MVP if the Blues win this series.
2. New bench bosses
After the Penguins hired Mike Sullivan on December 12, 2015, everything turned around. Pittsburgh went 33-16-5 in the final 54 games of that season. After Sullivan took over, Pittsburgh became an elite puck possession team and formed a roster that had the proper scoring depth and skating ability that gave opponents fits.
On November 20, 2018, Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong had seen enough of Mike Yeo behind the Blues bench. The Blues named Craig Berube as their interim head coach. St. Louis went 38-19-6 in the final 63 games of the regular season.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Blues controlled 53% of the even-strength shot share, had a 52% expected goals for rate, and generated 55% of the scoring chances in the final 25 games of the regular season.
The Blues possession numbers have continued to be above average this postseason. Berube has made a huge impact in St. Louis, and his system has had the team playing at a high level at the right time. The common theme here is that both Pittsburgh and St. Louis saw a massive turnaround in the standings after making the mid-season coaching changes.
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3. Rookie netminders
After dominating the AHL, the Penguins called Matt Murray up to the NHL roster for a cup of tea in December of 2016. Murray would return to Pittsburgh after the trade deadline and finished the regular season with a .935 even strength save percentage. Murray’s success continued into the spring, as he went 15-6, and stole multiple games in a crucial second-round series against the Washington Capitals. Murray’s emergence as a starting netminder gave the Penguins two viable options between the pipes. Murray would go onto to win two Stanley Cups as a rookie and is the Penguins long-term solution in net.
While it was a much smaller sample size, Jordan Binnington AHL numbers over the last couple of seasons were very good. The Blues called Binnington up to the NHL roster in December of 2018. There was no looking back.
Similar to Murray, Binnington has proven to be a calming influence that just does not get rattled. Binnington’s postseason numbers are above average as well, but Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has been playing on another level. If both goaltenders maintain their current level of play, this will likely be a low-scoring series.
Former Penguins forwards David Perron and Oskar Sundqvist will have an opportunity at winning the Stanley Cup. Both players have thrived in St. Louis and have provided secondary scoring. Here is to hoping that the Blues team dog, Barclay the yellow lab, can relieve some of the stress of Blues players and fans, and contribute to the franchise’s first championship in a couple of weeks.
dark. Next. 2019 NHL Mock Draft
I reckon that the large majority of North American sports fans are tired of seeing the city of Boston win championships. The Bruins are a great team, but the Blues are more fun and have some really unique storylines surrounding the team. For St.Louis, all that is left to complete the final step in this Penguins/Blues comparison is to win four more games. Thanks for reading!