Blues failed by injury to Binnington, struggles at home

The St. Louis Blues were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round on Friday.

The Blues (49-22-11), who were the No. 3 seed from the Central Division, defeated the Minnesota Wild in six games in the first round, their first playoff series win since they won the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins in 2019. The Blues have been eliminated by the Avalanche in each of the past two seasons, including a sweep in the first round last season.
Since winning the first championship in their history in 2019, the Blues are 8-17 in 25 postseason games (outscored 89-69).

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Tyler Bozak, F; Ville Husso, G; Nick Leddy, D; Charlie Lindgren, G; David Perron, F; Calle Rosen, D
Potential restricted free agents: Niko Mikkola, D; Scott Perunovich, D
Potential 2022 Draft picks: 5
Here are five reasons the Blues were eliminated:

1. Binnington's injury

Jordan Binnington had found his game and, along the way, had given the Blues confidence. But that went away when he was injured in the first period of Game 3 after Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri crashed into him while chasing down a loose puck. Binnington started the postseason as the backup but replaced Ville Husso in Game 4 of the first round and won three straight games to help St. Louis advance. His confidence and ability to play the puck changed the Blues' mindset. He was 4-1 with a .949 save percentage and 1.72 goals-against average before sustaining the lower-body injury. Husso was not effective against the Avalanche, allowing 16 goals on 132 shots (.879 save percentage) in the final four games of the series.

2. Beat-up blue line

The Blues sustained a number of injuries to their defensemen during the first round. Leddy, Robert Bortuzzo, Torey Krug and Marco Scandella were each injured against the Wild. Leddy and Bortuzzo returned for the start of the second round, but Scandella did not return until Game 5, and Krug never returned after sustaining a lower-body injury in Game 3 against Minnesota. Krug was one of the offensive cogs for the Blues in the regular season with 43 points (nine goals, 34 assists) and ran one of their power-play units. The depth issues on defense were so dire that St. Louis played seven defensemen for six straight games to try to cover the gaps before returning to a traditional 12-forward, six-defensemen alignment for Game 5 against the Avalanche.
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Blues series coverage]

3. Lack of depth scoring

The Blues had nine forwards score at least 20 goals in the regular season, but they did not have the same depth scoring in the playoffs. Eight forwards scored a goal in the postseason, but only four, Perron (nine goals), Ryan O'Reilly (seven), Jordan Kyrou (seven) and Vladimir Tarasenko (six), had more than two in the postseason. Pavel Buchnevich (30 goals in regular season) scored just once, andBrayden Schenn (24) and Ivan Barbashev (26) did not score. Tarasenko scored one goal in the series against the Avalanche. Robert Thomas (20) scored his two playoff goals in Game 5.

4. Bad draw

The Blues have had all sorts of problems against the Avalanche in the postseason. Since the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blues are 3-13 against the Avalanche (outscored 61-37). The Blues won two games in this series, doubling the one win they earned in the first 10 games during that stretch. It was better, but not good enough against the best team in the Western Conference.
"Yeah, I think we had a better chance to beat them this year," O'Reilly said. "Look at the way the series went. But they were the better team. They won and it stings; it's tough. Yeah, it doesn't feel good by any means."

5. Home not so sweet home

The Blues lost each of the three games played at Enterprise Center in this series. They were outscored by the Avalanche 14-7 in those three games and blew four one-goal leads. St. Louis even scored first in each of its home games. None of it mattered.
"We didn't play the way we needed to here, which made it difficult to win," O'Reilly said. "Lost every game at home here … just very disappointing."