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3 Reasons the St. Louis Blues Were Eliminated From the 2021 Playoffs

Heading into the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, everyone knew the St. Louis Blues had an extremely tough task on their hands as they were matched up against one of the best teams in the league in the Colorado Avalanche. This Blues team was one who struggled with consistency all season long and finished with a record of just 27-20-9. On top of that questionable record, they were one of only two teams with a negative goal differential to make the playoffs this season.

It was clear headed in that the Avalanche were the heavy favorites, though some fans gained confidence after Ryan O’Reilly told media they were going to going to win the series. Unfortunately, his prediction fell way short, as he and his Blues teammates were unable to pick up a single win, getting swept 4-0. Here are the three main reasons their run was as short lived as it was.

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3. Outdueled in Net

While Jordan Binnington certainly wasn’t the main reason the Blues lost this series, he didn’t help either. The 27-year-old, who has been rather average since his brilliant run during the 2018-19 season, was average at best in this series. In his four games played he allowed 14 goals against, which gave him a 3.59 goals against average (GAA) along with a .899 save percentage (SV%). Those numbers were far worse than Philipp Grubauer of the Avalanche, who had a sparkling 1.75 GAA and a .936 SV% in those same four games.

For Binnington, he was able to make some big saves, but did allow some goals throughout the series that he would probably like back. He was also involved in the theatrics as it seems he so often is, as he stormed down the ice after losing Game 1 and tried to go after Grubauer. This clearly sparked the Avs, who made it clear after the series that they are not a fan of the Blues netminder.

2. Top Players Missing in Action

You’d be hard pressed to find forwards on this Blues team who played like they were capable of versus the Avalanche this series. O’Reilly, for example, who was their best all around player this season, went goalless and had just three assists in their four games, while also having an ugly plus/minus rating of minus7. Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed a good chunk of the regular season due to injury, was able to score twice in the four contests but went minus8.

Ryan O’Reilly St. Louis Blues

After those two it got even worse, as Brayden Schenn and Mike Hoffman combined for just two goals, while Jaden Schwartz went pointless. Their only forward who it can be said met expectations was Robert Thomas, who had three assists in their four games after posting just 12 points in 33 regular season games. The Blues big guns shied away in this series and it played a big role in this series ending as quickly as it did.

1. No David Perron

As mentioned, the Blues offence struggled in this series, and although having many players underperform played a big role in that, what made it even worse was that they were missing David Perron. The 32-year-old, who had one of the best seasons of his career, led the Blues with 58 points in 56 games this season.

Unfortunately, Perron was put on the NHL’s Covid Protocol List shortly before the series began and was not cleared to play at any point. From the sounds of it, he may have been good to go for Game 5 had there been one, which only makes the entire situation that much more frustrating. It was a devastating loss for the Blues, and you have to wonder if the outcome of this series may have changed if he was able to suit up.

Next Up for Colorado

With the series sweep, the Avalanche now await a winner between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild to determine who they will play next. The Golden Knights currently lead the series 3-2, though the games have all been tight and it’s clear the Wild are not going down without a fight. Assuming Vegas is able to pull through, a series between them and the Avalanche, who many view as the top two teams in the entire league, would be must watch TV.

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