NHL teams at 60: St. Louis Blues

The Blues were the only team to play their 60th game of the season on Thursday. You can read about the other teams here, and here's your look at St. Louis.

St. Louis Blues: 27-24-9, good for 63 points - The Blues just can't get over the hump. They made the playoffs a couple of seasons ago, but haven't been able to build on it. Even adding Jaroslav Halak this offseason isn't going to be enough. The Blues are still barely hanging on in the playoff race, but they might not be in it much longer. Sure, they have a game in hand on the eighth seed, but even if they win that game they'd be down by five points. They are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, and they've lost three in a row, so they aren't exactly playing well right now either. They also have a minus-11 goal differential, which isn't good.

However, this season St. Louis can blame injuries for their struggles. Andy McDonald has played in 36 games, T.J. Oshie in 29, and David Perron in a mere 10. All three players were expected to be big contributors to this team, but injuries cut all of their seasons down significantly. David Backes has managed to stay healthy, and he leads the team in goals with 23 and points with 46. Alex Steen is also having a good season with 17 goals and 45 points. On defense Alex Pietrangelo has been really good, as in 57 games he has eight goals, 34 points, and is a plus-12. In net, Halak has been good, but not what was expected, as his SV% is only .907. Unfortunately, backup Ty Conklin has been terrible, as he has an awful .884 SV%, one of the worst in the league. He's had to appear more often than the Blues would have liked.

Of course, St. Louis has been making noise in the trade department as well. They sent Eric Brewer to Tampa Bay, and then traded former first overall pick Erik Johnson to Colorado for Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk, a huge trade that could shape this team's future. So far, albeit in a four game sample size, Shattenkirk has three assists, and Chris Stewart has four goals and an assist. Maybe those two pieces will help them get over the hump next season. This year, however, may be a lost cause. If not for the injuries, I suspect the Blues would be in the thick of the playoff race. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case.