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We spend so much time talking about aspects of the game that can be controlled, while completely ignoring the obvious independent variable on the ice: luck.
The difference between the Stanley Cup champions and the teams left behind in their wake is so often haphazard, like the way the puck finds a post or the critical moment when the brains were taken in the third round by a goalkeeper who had absolute control. .
Do everything right and luck is supposed to stay by your side.
And she has a way to tease – no, torture – a team that smelled a chance to steal a win she did not really deserve.
Luck tempted the Blues in the third period of the fifth game of the semifinals of the Western Conference. She freezed Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop, who had been a human force all night, for a second. Bishop left an unprotected and vulnerable puck at the top of the crease, and by the time he escaped, Jaden Schwartz had jumped on the ball, reducing the star's lead to one with over 11 minutes to play . A silent Enterprise Center came back to life, and that was before Dallas captain Jamie Benn came in at a very dangerous time to inflict a penalty for hanging that offered the Blues a numerical advantage. More likely. But luck can only do a lot, and for now, she's more likely to win your Powerball ticket than the Blues power game.
The Blues quickly wasted their fourth and final power play of the night, adding it to the long list of unclaimed opportunities.
Four breathtaking successes, then a breathtaking stunner, followed by a rally that looked like foolish gold, and now your bounced Blues are plunged into the heart of this best-of-seven series.
They hang out for the first time in the playoffs, but few people thought to reach them a few months ago.
In order to write another chapter of their impressive story, they will have to come out of the relapse that has caused bad memories of this miserable team that they were several months ago.
Too severe? Tell the fans who booed the Blues in the second intermission.
A few hours before the 2-1 defeat, before his face took a red hue that matched the center line, Blues coach Craig Berube stressed the importance of a quick start.
"We have to be aggressive right now tonight," he said.
The aggression was not a problem. In fact, he seemed to become one. The Blues touch anything that moves, as if enough lowered shoulders made up for everything they did not do.
Oskar Sunqvist crushed Miro Heiskanen about as soon as Charles Glenn finished "brave". Brayden Schenn left his skates to completely demolish Roope Hintz. Ivan Barbashev shook Jason Spezza. Then Schenn also drilled Spezza.
The crowd loved it. The Stars have simply ignored it. It may have been an omen when Spezza shot the first goal of the match.
The Blues hit and touched, totaling 30 shots on the Stars 14, and yet the Blues were upset.
Their disadvantage on local ice now shows a record of 2-4 in the playoffs here.
Dallas blocked 19 shots on the eight Blues.
The Blues totaled 15 gifts to six stars.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington is playing well, and that's certainly not the reason the Blues are going back to Dallas on the brink of elimination. But he does not fit Bishop either. Whatever the ghost froze for a moment, Bishop disappeared after his turn. Bishop was excellent before and especially after. Bad news: Of the 38 stops that he made, the best came in late. It improves as the series gets older.
The Blues are struggling to take possession of the puck. They can not get the kind of production from their top six strikers that the Stars get from Spezza, fourth straight, 35-year-old. They were physical Friday, but basically unhealthy. The stars were not unstoppable. They were just opportunistic and the Blues gave them more chances than success.
"I do not think we are entering the zone as well as possible," said Schenn. "It makes things harder for each other, we put each other in the wrong way."
Some moans about arbitration are right at this point. Whistles are often swallowed and / or blown too early in this series. Do you remember when Tyler Bozak was called for interference in the fourth game when he had barely passed his rump? Where was this call Friday when Bozak was de-patinated by the right leg / hip / all that Blake Comeau had? And when did the trip become allowed? We missed so much that the Blues had too many men on the ice at one point in the first period, and nothing was called. Nothing has been marked either. The latter says a lot more about Friday's loss. In addition to the (short) advantage that the officials have completely missed, the Blues have only managed five power play shots on four occasions. It will not win. Not now. Not against these guys.
"They are doing a good job of pressure but we have to perform better," said Bérubé after the loss. "That's what we have to summarize.
Take the third period in a positive way, if you want. Of course, we could say the same thing after the defeat of the fourth match. The Blues are a team of third period. This was noted a strength. Now, this sounds more like a problem.
That's the problem with the hope that luck hits late.
She can only do a lot, and she too often takes part of the team that gains her presence by running.
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