Blues doomed by injuries, second-half skid

It went down to their final game of the regular season, but the St. Louis Blues (44-32-6, 94 points) were eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention after a 5-2 loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
The Blues were among the best teams in the Western Conference out of the gate this season; they were 21-8-2 on Dec. 10, but went 23-24-4 the rest of the way to miss the postseason for the first time since 2010-11.

Here is a look at what happened in 2017-18 for the Blues and why things could be better in 2018-19.

The Skinny

Potential UFAs: Kyle Brodziak, C; Scottie Upshall, LW; Wade Megan, C; Carter Hutton, G
Potential RFAs: Dmitrij Jaskin, RW; Nikita Soshnikov, RW; Oskar Sundqvist, C; Robby Fabbri, C; Mackenzie MacEachern, LW; Beau Bennett, RW; Joel Edmundson, D; Jordan Schmaltz, D; Thomas Vannelli, D; Justin Selman, C; Jordan Binnington, G; Petteri Lindbohm, D.
Potential 2018 Draft picks: 8

What Went Wrong

Injuries: The Blues endured them all season, running up 315 man games lost. Despite that, they managed to find others to step up through the first half, but the losses then took their toll; In the final month of the season they lost defensemen Jay Bouwmeester (hip), Carl Gunnarsson (anterior cruciate ligament, left knee) and forward Scottie Upshall (kidney laceration), joining Fabbri, who had surgery to repair a knee injury during training camp and was out the entire season.

Trying slumps: St. Louis lost seven straight games (0-7-0) from Feb. 11-27. By the time the Blues ended that skid with a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 28, they were out of a playoff position in the West. They also faded late, going 1-4-1 in their final six games.
Power play: The Blues didn't find much success there this season; they scored 15.4 percent of the time with the man advantage, 30th in the NHL, including a 2-for-22 stretch from Dec. 17-29, when St. Louis went 1-5-0.

Reasons for Optimism

Alex Pietrangelo: The defenseman set NHL personal highs in goals (15) and points (54), and matched his best season in assists (39). He was a steady presence, leading the Blues in average ice time at 25:44 per game.
Brayden Schenn: The center's first season with the Blues was a good one, with NHL personal highs in goals (28), assists (42) and points (70). He led St. Louis with eight game-winning goals to help them through their injuries up front.
Future Talent: The Blues have some promising prospects who could challenge for roster spots, including forwards Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Tage Thompson and Klim Kostin.