It should not have been this close. The Blues should have been preparing for the playoffs Saturday night instead of fighting for their season against the Colorado Avalanche.
Yet, they were sweating it out until the season finale at Pepsi Center because goaltender Jake Allen failed more often than is acceptable for a starting goaltender this season.
Although it may be unfair to place all the blame or credit on one player, Allen could and should have made life much easier for his teammates. He must accept responsibility for the Blues' failure to reach the playoffs this year.
Allen had a decent performance in the season finale. Fittingly, though, it wasn't enough to beat the Avs, who beat the Blues to earn the Western Conference's second wild card.
When you lose more than 30 games in a season, there are many instances to regret in a season. That must be stated. How about if general manager Doug Armstrong had hung on to center Paul Stastny at the trade deadline?
What if defenseman Jay Bouwmeester hadn't missed half of the season or been hampered when he was deemed "healthy" enough to play? There's no denying that the Blues were hurt all season by a roster that was missing at least one but most likely two legitimate Top 6 forwards.
How many points did the Blues' miserable power play cost them?
With a decent power play instead of an impotent one coach Mike Yeo would have had the luxury of resting some of his veterans Saturday to prepare for playoffs.
The anemic power play cost the Blues at least four victories, so an argument could be made that they could have easily cruised into the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season if they had executed better with an extra man.
Truth be told, though, the Blues have been a team in transition since they got within two victories of the Stanley Cup Final two years ago.
A team in transition can be forgiven for stumbling with the power play. What cannot be forgiven, however, is Allen's overall performance this season.
The Blues essentially packed Allen in Bubble Wrap on Friday evening when they sent him to Denver ahead of the team so he could get a good night's sleep before the season finale.
Once the Blues knew they didn't necessarily need to win Friday night against the Blackhawks at the United Center, Armstrong decided that it made sense to send Allen to Denver early while his teammates faced their heated rivals.
If backup goaltender Carter Hutton hadn't suffered a neck injury March 8, a stronger argument could have been made to start Hutton again in the season finale. It's unclear how well Hutton could have handled that workload one night after making 19 saves on 20 shots in the victory over the Blackhawks.
Hutton has clearly been the better Blues goaltender this year. He helped keep the Blues' hopes alive after Allen lost his way for the second consecutive season with a dreadful January swoon.
A year after costing legendary head coach Ken Hitchcock and goaltending coach Jim Corsi their jobs, Allen almost sank the Blues once again with another inexplicable loss of form and confidence.
Allen entered the season finale with a 27-24-3 record, a 2.74 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and one shutout over 58 starts.
Allen's save percentage was the 42nd best in the National Hockey League entering Saturday's games. His goals against average was the 39th best.
By comparison, Hutton had the best save percentage (.931) and the ninth best goals against average in the league (2.09) in the NHL.
Since the Blues announced that they signed Hutton to a two-year, $2.25 million free agent contract and Allen to a four-year, $17.4 million one on July 1, 2016, one guy has been a bargain and another has been a major disappointment.
Hutton helped save the Blues' season last year and kept them afloat this year as Allen stumbled.
Allen atoned last season when Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur came down from the front office's suite to serve as interim goalie coach. Brodeur returned to his role as an assistant general manager this season, and David Alexander was hired as the new goalie coach in June. Allen, 27, was 14 when he first met Alexander. The familiarity between the two New Brunswick products didn't help Allen avoid another devastating tailspin, though.
Allen has proved that he can be special when he's at his best. That was clear last postseason when he helped the Blues steal the first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild.
He showcased that elite form during the Blues' recent six-game winning streak, especially when he gave up only three goals on 76 shots to help the Blues go 3-0-0 in the penultimate week of March to earn the NHL's Second Star of the Week ending March 25.
He had a brilliant .961 save percentage during that impressive 3-0-0 stretch. Then he completely flopped while giving up three extremely soft goals Wednesday at home against the Blackhawks.
If he had not imploded last Wednesday, the Blues would have reached the playoffs. Fans won't soon forget or forgive that performance.
Unfortunately for the Blues, they never know which Jake Allen will show up. He's earning $3,850,000 this season, $4,350,000 next, $5.2 million in 2019-2020 and $4 million in 2020-2021.
That's a big investment in a guy who has been prone to have a crisis of confidence the last two seasons.
