GDT 81: 4/4/19 | 7:00 PM CT | vs Flyers | FSMW+/NHL-App

[theohall]

The St. Louis Blues missed a key opportunity to better their position within the Central Division in their most recent contest, but they won't have to wait long for the chance to bounce back.

Trying to avoid a second straight defeat, the Blues will look to hand the visiting Philadelphia Flyers a fourth consecutive loss on Thursday night.

Third-place St. Louis (43-28-9, 95 points) failed in the attempt to move into a three-way tie for first place in the Central Division -- and better its position for home-ice advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs -- but did manage to earn a point with its 4-3 shootout loss at Chicago on Wednesday night.

The Blues showed their mettle by rallying from 3-1 down in the third period to level the score.

David Perron got St. Louis within a goal at 12:23 into in the third, and the Blues tied the contest with 38.9 seconds remaining on Tyler Bozak's goal. However, the Blues missed all three attempts in the shootout and now sit one point back of the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators in the division with two games left for each club.

St. Louis is 7-1-2 since March 16.

"We found a way to get one point, and that's what matters," Perron, who has three points in four games, told the Blues' official Twitter account. "If we get four points in (the two remaining games), who knows where that will take us."

Vladimir Tarasenko recorded his 32nd goal of the season and added an assist for St. Louis. He has four goals and two assists over his past six games.

After Jake Allen made 35 saves against Chicago, rookie Jordan Binnington could be in goal for the Blues on Thursday. Binnington, 22-5-1 with a 1.85 goals-against average during a stellar rookie campaign, has a 1.97 GAA during a five-game home winning streak.

In his first career start on Jan. 7, Binnington stopped 25 shots during a 3-0 victory at Philadelphia. Brayden Schenn, Tarasenko and Perron scored in that contest for the Blues, who dropped both meetings with the Flyers in 2017-18.

The Flyers (37-35-8, 82 points) were eliminated from playoff contention last weekend and are limping to the finish while mired in a 1-5-0 rut. After Philadelphia fell behind 2-0 in the first period at Dallas on Tuesday, goals by Oskar Lindblom and Shayne Gostisbehere tied the game before the Stars scored the next four to clinch a playoff spot by handing the Flyers a 6-2 loss.

Philadelphia has yielded 25 goals in the past six games, and two in the first period in each of the past four.

"When you're chasing, it's tough," Gostisbehere told NHL.com. "You're going to get more tired, so I think, for us, it's bearing down a little bit and getting better starts."

Cam Talbot made 24 saves on Tuesday in his second consecutive loss, but Carter Hart could get the start as his often-impressive rookie season nears an end. Hart, though, has a 3.61 goals-against average while losing two of his past three starts.

Hart made 34 saves in the Flyers' home loss to the Blues this season.

Philadelphia star Claude Giroux has 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) over a 19-game stretch.

[glen a richter]

Barring an injury or a colossal playoff meltdown by Binnington, we should assume there's a decent chance this was Jake Allen's last game as a Blue, depending on the plan moving forward. Binnington, at worst, has earned himself a nice bump in pay as an RFA this year, and has to be considered the de facto starting goalie going into camp unless he has an absolute meltdown during the playoffs. So what do the Blues do with Allen? Elliott, Lehner and Talbot are all FA's and could serve as a nice veteran presence while trading Allen for a pick and a depth player or something along those lines. The Blues have 4 picks in this years draft and that's unacceptable for a team that has a lot of organizational holes, from my vantage point. We need prospects on both sides of the blueline and as we saw when Tarasenko was injured, this team needs more depth--way more depth. You can't take one or two guys off the ice and just suddenly fall apart at the seams.

I know that was more or less off topic as it pertains to this game, but not really since Binnington must be starting tonight and also against Vancouver and into the playoffs, so it seemed an appropriate time to bring up the question of what happens next for ol' Jake.

[gaijin]

The Blues better not pull this "can't play well against non-playoff teams" crap over the next two games. Unbelievably, 2 wins in these last two games could earn the Blues first in the Division (with a little help from both Winnipeg and Nashville), whereas two losses could drop them into a Wild Card spot (if Dallas wins its last 2 games- they would have the ROW tiebreaker). Crazy, crazy season. I can't remember one quite like this before.

As for Allen, my position is pretty much the same as it was before- his ship of being Blues' starting goaltender has sailed. They need to move him. Unfortunately that leaves the Blues with the decision of whether Binnington (rookie goalie with half a season on the books) is your new starter for next year. That will likely be determined by these playoffs. If management can't get anything for Allen, I could see them bringing him back as a 1B. You can't "designate" him a backup with the contract he has, but you can play him as if he is one based on performance.

[gaijin]

Watching from Section 309.

Parayko not in the lineup.

[Robb_K]

Wow! Barbashev scores, and The Blues get a power play after. Then, Blues score INSTANTLY as O'Reilly tips in a great pass from Perron!!! Blues lead 2-0!!!

And now The Blues score shorthanded!!! Sundqvist feeding Steen!!!!

[glen a richter]

Whoa, I go to do something for work real quick and when I look up it's 4-1 already? Looks like someone came to play after that mess yesterday. Let's score 10!

[Robb_K]

And now The Blues score shorthanded!!! Sundqvist feeding Steen!!!! Blues lead 3-0!!!

And now Maroon tips one in!!!! Blues lead4-1!!!! This is getting ridiculous!!!

[glen a richter]

When I said 10, I meant 10 for the Blues, not 10 combined between both teams in the 1st period. Let's try keeping the puck in front of Binnington instead of behind him, eh?

[Portland Blues]

Whoa, I go to do something for work real quick and when I look up it's 4-1 already? Looks like someone came to play after that mess yesterday. Let's score 10!

Holy smokes - 1/2 way through the first it's 5-2. Are both teams playing without a goalie?

[Robb_K]

Perron wrists one by Carter Hart!!! Blues lead 5-2!!! Let's get 10!!!!

[Robb_K]

Super save by Binnington to keep the 2-goal lead. I wasn't happy with how loose The Blues' team defence was in Period 1. They seem to be playing a little better in that regard. But still much too loose for my taste.

[Robb_K]

Schenn knocks in the rebound!!! Blues lead 6-3!!!!

[Robb_K]

Super save by Binnington to keep the 3-goal lead!

[Robb_K]

Good Kill by The Blues!

[Robb_K]

Steen dekes the goalie and scores a goal scorer's goal for his 10th!!! Blues lead 7-3!!! They now have 13 players in double figures in goals!

[crazyhorse]

Great game, but DP57 takes some of the worst penalties!

[glen a richter]

I was at work all night so I was keeping up with the box but not watching or listening. Was the 1st period more lousy defense or more on Binnington?

[gaijin]

I was at work all night so I was keeping up with the box but not watching or listening. Was the 1st period more lousy defense or more on Binnington?

A little of both. I think once the Blues got a few of those quick goals (against Brian Elliott btw) the defense started to become more lax, which resulted in better chances for the Flyers. I am willing to bet Binnington would like another chance at a couple of those, though.

[gaijin]

Shaping up to be a very interesting day on Saturday. The #1, 2, and 3 positions in the Central are all up for grabs. Nashville is at home vs. Chicago, Winnipeg plays in Arizona, and the Blues of course are at home vs. Vancouver. If the Blues want to finish first, not only will they need two points against the Canucks, they will need some help from the Hawks and Coyotes as well.

Nashville, standing at 98 points currently, has the best chance to finish first and could end up with 100 points, which neither Winnipeg nor St. Louis can match at this point. IF Nashville were to lose in OT or shootout AND both Winnipeg and St. Louis win, all three teams would finish with 99 points. In that case, Winnipeg wins the division based on ROW, St. Louis would be 2nd because they would have one more ROW than Nashville (or if the Blues win in the shootout they would have the same ROW but hold the other tiebreakers of head-to-head and GF).

Essentially, the Blues are playing for home ice on Saturday. But if both the Preds and Jets win Saturday, the Blues finish 3rd regardless.

What a crazy season.

[WaukeeBlues]

Shaping up to be a very interesting day on Saturday. The #1, 2, and 3 positions in the Central are all up for grabs. Nashville is at home vs. Chicago, Winnipeg plays in Arizona, and the Blues of course are at home vs. Vancouver. If the Blues want to finish first, not only will they need two points against the Canucks, they will need some help from the Hawks and Coyotes as well.

Nashville, standing at 98 points currently, has the best chance to finish first and could end up with 100 points, which neither Winnipeg nor St. Louis can match at this point. IF Nashville were to lose in OT or shootout AND both Winnipeg and St. Louis win, all three teams would finish with 99 points. In that case, Winnipeg wins the division based on ROW, St. Louis would be 2nd because they would have one more ROW than Nashville (or if the Blues win in the shootout they would have the same ROW but hold the other tiebreakers of head-to-head and GF).

Essentially, the Blues are playing for home ice on Saturday. But if both the Preds and Jets win Saturday, the Blues finish 3rd regardless.

What a crazy season.

Crazy but ultimately awesome! I could see the Coyotes being a bit deflated but they've also announced it's "fan appreciation night" on Saturday so they should come out with a head of steam. The Blackhawks, as we saw in person the other night, are still playing hard down the stretch so hopefully they continue playing hard. Canucks haven't been pushovers though, they've been playing really well lately. Blues are going to have to bring their best game to get the win.

Either way, I'm still in awe of what this team has done this year. There's no other season I can pluck out of my living memory that was so "lost" then turned around into... this. So cool. Pumped for Binnington moving forward and for the rest of his career. He should at least be nominated for the Calder.