Blues' power-play struggles lead to another postseason exit
The St. Louis Blues were bounced from the Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 6 on Sunday, losing the contest 3-1 and the series 4-2 to the Nashville Predators.
Sure, the Predators deserve their cred for an excellent series in which they held the Blues to only five goals over the final four games, but the Blues struggled to execute on offense, especially on the man advantage.
St. Louis managed only one goal on 16 power-play chances versus Nashville, and despite throwing out guys like Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, and Alex Steen on every power play, the Blues were unable to beat Pekka Rinne more than once while up a man.
Futility on the power play was a theme plaguing the Blues in their previous series against the Minnesota Wild as well, where the club managed only one goal on 15 opportunities.
The Blues' struggles were amplified by the fact that Nashville's blue line played at an insane level.
Ryan Ellis continues to impress, while Matthias Ekholm and P.K. Subban have been rock solid. And let's not forget about Roman Josi - the 26-year-old has arguably been the Predators' best D-man while also registering six points thus far.
The Predators have allowed 11 goals TOTAL in the playoffs. Their defensemen have SCORED 9 goals.
— David Amber (@DavidAmber) May 7, 2017
It's another successful regular-season showing followed up by a disappointing playoff exit for St. Louis, as Sunday's loss marks the sixth straight season in which the Blues have qualified for the postseason but failed to reach the Stanley Cup final.
As for Nashville, it awaits the winner of the Ducks-Oilers series - Game 6 goes Sunday night from Edmonton; Anaheim leads 3-2.