Let there be no question that the St. Louis Blues have character. They have guts. They have fire. Oh, and they have some great young players who will only get better as the years go by.
Trailing 2-0 in the game and 3-0 in the series, the Blues showed zero quit, rallying to tie the score on two second-period goals, and then getting some great goaltending from Chris Mason, who dueled with Roberto Luongo through a scoreless third period. That duel continued deep into overtime, before Alex Burrows scored his second of the game to eliminate St. Louis, 3-2.
Game Three is often a pivotal moment in a best-of-seven series. Of course, in the case of the St. Louis Blues, it's more about keeping hope alive at this point.
Yes, teams have come back after losing the first three games of a series. However, there's a reason why it hasn't happened in the NHL in over 30 years. Betting on it as the likely outcome of your team's series is just not a smart way to go about things. The Blues and their fans are about to find out why.
Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.
The Western Conference is home to the league's best team (San Jose), the defending champion (Detroit), and the two most intriguing Cinderella stories in the league (St. Louis and Columbus). Can Cinderella put off the stroke of midnight, or will an established power advance their way to the Finals?
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Rangers 4, Flyers 3: With a win on Sunday -- or a loss in overtime -- the Philadelphia Flyers could have secured the No. 4 seed and home ice advantage in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Instead, the Flyers watched a 3-2 lead after two periods turn into a 4-3 loss, at home, against a New York Rangers team that had absolutely nothing to play for in terms of playoff positioning. As a result, the Flyers are going to begin their opening round series in Pittsburgh against a Penguins team that is extremely difficult to beat on home ice.
The St. Louis Blues are in the middle of a series of must-win games in their quest for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The run continued Thursday in Detroit, where St. Louis tried to rebound from a rather listless effort Wednesday night in Chicago. They got plenty of help from one of their young guns. David Backes is in his second full season with the Blues and was on the cusp of a 30-goal season heading into Thursday's game. He's not "on the cusp" anymore.
The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.
There's also a new team taking over the basement, thanks to a pair of blowout losses on home ice in the past week.
Entering the 2008-09 season, not much was expected from the St. Louis Blues. Most people recognized their talented young core, but few, if any, were predicting a trip to the playoffs. With just 13 games remaining on their schedule, the Blues enter Tuesday's game in Edmonton just two points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and have an opportunity to move into a tie for the No. 8 spot with a win (and a Dallas loss). So, how did they get here?
Blues 2, Rangers 1: A day after getting crushed on their home ice, the New York Rangers dropped a 2-1 decision in St. Louis, losing for the eighth time in their past nine games.
At this point, it's anybody's guess as to how long Tom Renney remains behind the bench, as the Rangers continue to slide down the Eastern Conference standings.
Capitals 5, Devils 2: The Washington Capitals took advantage of their three power play chances on Tuesday night, converting on all of them on their way to a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mike Green and Brooks Laich scored a pair of goals with the man advantage just three minutes apart in the first period, while Michael Nylander picked up his second goal of the game at the 10:59 mark of the third period.
Jose Theodore stopped 32-of-34 shots in net for Washington, including 16-of-17 in the third period. The loss for New Jersey snaps its eight game winning streak, despite receiving another goal another Jamie Langenbrunner, who has now picked up seven goals in his past four games.
Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.
Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3: For a while, it appeared as if Toronto had a chance to knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference, jumping out to a 3-1 lead over Boston. The Bruins, however, proved why there's a 30-point difference between the two teams in the standings and scored a pair of power play goals in the third period, forcing overtime. Michael Ryder scored the game-winner in a shootout, leading the Bruins to a 4-3 win.
Let there be no question that the St. Louis Blues have character. They have guts. They have fire. Oh, and they have some great young players who will only get better as the years go by.
Game Three is often a pivotal moment in a best-of-seven series. Of course, in the case of the St. Louis Blues, it's more about keeping hope alive at this point.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
The St. Louis Blues are in the middle of a series of must-win games in their quest for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The run continued Thursday in Detroit, where St. Louis tried to rebound from a rather listless effort Wednesday night in Chicago. They got plenty of help from one of their young guns. 
The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.
Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.
