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The improbable dream continues.
The Blues are heading to the NHL Final Four for the fourth time only since 1970. They needed four grueling hours to win their ticket on Tuesday night, but they finally survived the Dallas Stars 2-2 in double overtime of the seventh. match.
"Many people have doubted us," said Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo. "I'll tell you what, and I really mean it, I'm becoming more and more proud of this group every day. . . Many people say that we have a closed room and we do it. It is a resilient effort from our December level to reach our current level. You have looked back and be proud of this effort. "
Enterprise Center was shaken by Pat Maroon who bounced in front of goalkeeper Ben Bishop, Robert Thomas's rebound, to finally win the match. Long-suffering Blues fans relaxed their anxiety with a collective roar as players celebrated in the center of the ice.
"We deserved this game tonight," said Maroon. "It did not really hit me. . . which roller coaster. It's moving for sure. Probably the biggest goal of my career. "
Continuing an improbable run that began in January – when they found themselves out of breath throughout the league – the Blues have their best shot since 1986 to win their first Stanley Cup.
This may seem like a crazy talk to a fatalistic base of fans, who have come to accept the disappointment of the playoffs as their lot in life. They have developed the same heartbreaking tendencies as fans of the NFL Buffalo Bills.
They believe that their team is cursed. Their fears grew stronger during the first half of match 7 when referee Marc Joannette accidentally scored the tying goal of the Stars in the first period.
Joannette suffered a pass from David Perron along the boards and threw the puck to Dallas striker Mats Zuccarello, who scored in the empty net to clear the lead 1-0 early. .
Undeterred, the Blues tipped the ice against the Stars and led them 18-1 in the second period and 13-3 in the third. In one way or another, they have failed to convert luck after luck to equal strength. And their power play did not give anything in two tries.
"We played pretty well most of the match," Pietrangelo said. "At one point, the shots were like 40-15 or something."
But they kept coming and, as Maroon said, they deserved this game. The Blues now face the winner of the Colorado-San Jose series, which ends with the seventh game Wednesday night.
These are the NHL's most open playoffs in memory. Evils are the norm. Most pre-post season favorites are long gone.
The Tampa Bay Lightning (128 points, President's Trophy), the Washington Capitals (defending champions), the Pittsburgh Penguins (two-time champion recently), the Calgary Flames (best Western Conference lead), the Predators Nashville (Central Division champions) and Vegas Golden Knights (reigning West Conference champions) all came out in the first round.
So, yes, we say there is a chance. The Cup is just sitting there, waiting to be won by one of those teams that was frankly not supposed to be in the running.
If it's not now for the Blues, when?
As St. Louisans can quote chapter and verse, this franchise has a sad history in the playoffs. These trips to the finals of the Cup in their first three seasons, from 1968 to 1970, were preceded by an asterisk the size of a billboard because the NHL had placed the six expansion teams on the same side of the charity.
The Blues emerged as the best beginners in their first three rounds. . . then went 0-12 in the finals of the cup against Montreal (1968, 1969) and Boston (1970). Since then, the Blues have only gone through the second round four times in almost five decades.
There was the "Monday Night Miracle" team from 1986, which had almost knocked the mighty Calgary Flames to qualify for the Cup final against Montreal. This team, coached by the charismatic Jacques Demers, had the "it" factor that few blues teams captured.
Led by Bernie Federko and Brian Sutter, this team was lucky enough to win everything. His superhuman comeback in the sixth game of this series was the most beautiful evening in franchise history.
Then there was the 2001 team, coached by Joel Quenneville and consisting of Hall of Fame supporters Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger. Alas, the most talented Colorado Avalanche crushed the Blues in five games before winning the Cup.
More recently, his coach, Ken Hitchcock, led the Blues veteran to the conference final against San Jose in 2016. The Sharks won this series in six games, then fell to the Penguins led by Sidney Crosby.
The Blues are now back in the Final Four for the second time in four years, which suggests that the organization is finally gaining ground.
This time, the Blues enter the third round with a goalkeeper on fire, the unshakable Jordan Binnington. This time, they have progressed with the mental strength that can only be gained by passing through the trials each month.
"The road has been long, but we keep moving forward," Pietrangelo said. "It's taking everyone right now, but we find a way."
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