ST. LOUIS _ The Blues' 2016-17 regular season came to a close Sunday at Scottrade Center and for the sixth consecutive year it will extend beyond.
The club solidified its playoff spot Saturday and that left little drama in Game No. 82 against Colorado, a tilt won 3-2 by the Blues.
But that didn't mean there was a lack of development, as a crowd of 18,971 saw the Blues for the final time before they head to Minnesota for a first-round series against the Wild likely to begin Wednesday.
Vladimir Sobotka put on a Blues' game uniform _ the Winter Classic edition no less _ for the first time in 1,078 days and was one of two Vladimir's to score. On a day when the Blues sat out Alex Pietrangelo and a couple of other veterans, they survived an injury scare with Jaden Schwartz. And the fourth line continued to provide offensive production, regardless of who's on it.
So there was enough to prove that Sunday's game wasn't meaningless, especially considering the Blues picked up their 99th point of the season, which in the obscurest of details did give the club home-ice advantage against the San Jose Sharks if the clubs did somehow meet up again in the Western Conference finals.
But the headliner was the first player in Blues' history to wear No. 71.
A fanbase that was critical of Sobotka throughout his three-year sabbatical to Russia seemed to turn the page Sunday, cheering the moment he stepped onto the ice, seconds later when he touched the puck for the first time and again in the third period when he scored.
Blues general manager Doug Armstong felt that Sobotka might be more of an offensive contributor after playing a larger role in the KHL, and if his first game was any indication, it may be true. On a feed from Jori Lehtera, he tied the score 2-2 just 3:20 into the third period.
The Blues weren't done and their go-ahead goal came from the Vladimir who has been around all year and came into the night two short of making it back-to-back seasons with 40.
Tarasenko, who was robbed of No. 39 earlier in the game, curled around the perimeter of the offensive zone and zipped a shot past Colorado goalie Calvin Pickard, putting him one shy. The Avs pulled Pickard late in the game, but Tarasenko missed an empty-netter from the neutral zone with 42 seconds left in regulation.
That Schwartz was still around for the end of the game was a positive, after he limped to the Blues' bench in pain in the second period. Teammate Jordan Schmaltz took a shot that hit Colorado's J.T. Compher, who then fell on Schwartz. But he didn't miss a shift and appeared OK.
Pietrangelo, who averaged the most shifts per game on the Blues' roster this season, missed them all Sunday. He got dinged up on the road trip and is fine, but the team called up Chris Butler on an emergency basis Sunday to play in his spot. They also rested Kyle Brodziak and Scottie Upshall, but it didn't matter that two-thirds of the fourth line was out, because Zach Sanford stepped in and kept up the scoring on that line with his second goal as a Blue.
