The St. Louis Blues staved off elimination with a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night. They now trail in the series 3-2. If they're going to come back and advance to the Western Conference Final, the following three factors are going to need to come to fruition:
Play tight to the points
The Predators generate so much offense from their blue line. Here is a look at their scoring leaders so far in this series through five games:
| Player | Position | G | A | P | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Ellis | D | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| P.K. Subban | D | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| James Neal | RW | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Roman Josi | D | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Colton Sissons | C | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
As you can see, Ellis, Subban, and Josi have shouldered the load offensively. The Blues need to do a better job at taking away time and space from these three defensemen when Nashville is in the offensive zone.
The Predators' top line of Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, and Viktor Arvidsson is dangerous, but they lack scoring depth on their bottom three lines. If the Blues' wingers play tight to the points and force Ellis, Subban, and Josi to simply throw pucks deep rather than firing off point shots, St. Louis' sturdy D-core should manhandle Nashville's forwards down low.
Many NHL coaches, including Blues bench boss Mike Yeo, have their forwards collapse in the defensive zone in order to block shots, but the Preds have done a tremendous job getting pucks through traffic so far in the playoffs. This strategy clearly isn't working against Nashville's mobile defense unit.
Jake Allen has to stand on his head
In St. Louis' six wins so far in the postseason, Allen has allowed a total of nine goals. If the Blues are going to complete the comeback, their netminder has to be their best player.
The Blues don't have enough offensive firepower to win games 5-4. With the way Pekka Rinne has played in the opposite crease, St. Louis realistically has to win the next two games by scores of 1-0, 2-1, or 3-2 if it plans on advancing. This is going to require Allen to be at his best.
Vladimir Tarasenko has to step up
Tarasenko had two goals in St. Louis' Game 2 victory, but has been held off the score sheet in every other game this series. If the Blues are to mount a comeback, they're going to need more from their leading scorer.
In his two-goal performance, Tarasenko fired six shots on goal. He has averaged only three shots on goal in the series' other four games. He needs to frequently utilize his heavy shot if he hopes to beat Rinne.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)
Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.