Blues on the verge of qualifying for playoffs after beating Vegas | St. Louis Blues

As the Blues get closer to this time of year when only the best teams are playing, they have reinforced the claim that they can beat anyone. The Blues beat Vegas 3-1 Monday at the Enterprise Center to finish a 4-0 family match and get on the brink of securing a playoff spot after a one-year absence. . The Blues could be in play as early as Tuesday night if Arizona loses their match against Chicago. If that does not happen, the Blues will have to wait until Friday.

The Blues have scored in their last six games and have won five, including victories over Tampa Bay, which has won seven in a row before moving to St. Louis and has already achieved the best record of the season. league, Pittsburgh and Vegas who entered Monday with a 10-1-1 record in his last 12 games. All the Blues would like to see from their team at a pivotal time of the season, it must be close.

"I think we have a four-game sequence like this at home," said defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. "We are still trying to push and get ready for the playoffs The last two games you knew that there were really good teams coming in. I think we played very well, you will never play a perfect match and they're going to have chances, they are what they are, but I thought we handled it very well. "

"We've found a way to win games and get there by the end of the year, that's what we want," said center Ryan O'Reilly. "We must continue to build. We have not finished yet. Get a good day and get back to work. "

As one would expect, the Blues have won with two goals in fourth row, one of Ivan Barbashev, who plays like a house on fire since his parents came to him. visiting Russia (although he denies that's one factor) and the other from Zach Sanford, who could not help laughing after scoring falling and leaving the puck bouncing off his neck . Or maybe it's not what you expected. The other, more predictable goal came from O'Reilly, who broke the 1-1 draw at the end of the second with a shot on a breakaway after a long pass from Bouwmeester.

The Blues will now have three days without a match, and they will score two points on Central's second place (with one more game than Nashville) and four points on the first. They also remain six points higher on fourth place in Dallas. Once they have started playing again, the Blues will close the season with six games in nine days.

The Blues are at their best against the best. The Blues had won 2-0 against Tampa Bay this season, and Monday's win saw the Golden Knights qualify for a three-game round. They are currently on the list of teams you would not want to face in the playoffs. The Blues should also probably be on this list: since the break of the game of stars, they have a score of 19-5-3 and have the third highest number of points in the league. Against the top five teams in the West, they are 11-5-2 this season.

"I think now they are fighting and finding ways to win," said coach Craig Berube. "It's not always beautiful or easy. You have to learn to win in different ways in this league and I think we do it. "

While the defense was solid and the goaltenders were excellent – Jordan Binnington stopped 24 of the 25 shots while he improved to 21-4-1 – the goal has changed. Formerly the exclusive province of O'Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and David Perron, he moved, more recently, in fourth line. Barbashev had a hat trick Thursday, and this time Barbashev and Sanford scored.

"My brand line," said Barbashev. "It's really very fun right now."

Barbashev scored the first goal of the game by scoring a shot he did not expect to make between goalkeeper Malcolm Subban and the post after Subban graciously gave the puck to Sanford behind the goal. Even more surprising, Sanford's goal at 6:27 of the third period was 3-1. Robert Bortuzzo shot a shot from the Subban tablets in Sanford. Sanford was knocked down by Colin Miller of Vegas, and with Sanford on his lap, the puck rebounded, hit him in the neck and bounced into the goal. Sanford played 15 scoreless games.

"It was funny," Sanford said. "I did not have one for a while, so for this one to come in, it was fine. It was funny, though. "

"Any way to score a goal suits me," said Bérubé.

It was appropriate for a match that could have been the best of Sanford this season.

"I think he's taken advantage of it for the last few games," said Bérubé. "This fourth line is what they brought and they still produced tonight for us. I just played a difficult game, go to the net, check before, a simple game but difficult, physical, on pucks. They did a great job again. "

"I think my teammates have been great to me, helping out in this area and getting my confidence there," Sanford said. "Our line has played very well. Having confidence in them on the ice has helped me improve my game recently. "

At the moment, he is not alone in this area.