St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are one of two underperforming teams on this list who have done just enough to stick around the playoff conversation. With recent wins over the Boston Bruins and the Los Angeles Kings by a combined score of 8-2, however, the Blues have shown us they can knock off high-caliber playoff teams.
The main issue with the Blues, however, is that they just can’t score, having put up just 36 goals in their previous 15 contests, which averages to just 2.4 per game. And here is where things get interesting: Take out their two most recent wins, and they scored 28 in 13 games, or a meager 2.15 per contest.
It’s good to see an outburst offensively, but so far, it’s short-lived, and St. Louis has been hurting because of their lack of productivity in the offensive zone. Unless they show us they can score at least three per game, and even that may not be enough, St. Louis will miss the playoffs.
However, they do boast a good defensive game, and it has led the Blues allowing just 201 goals so far this season, good for 13th in the league. If they keep up that consistency when they don’t have the puck, St. Louis won’t be forced to score so often to put themselves in position to make the playoffs.
Yet, since they don’t control their own destiny and are six points back, it could be too late at this point in the season.