This post was originally published at TheHockeyWriters.com.

The St. Louis Blues are not letting game one of their Western Conference Quarterfinal Series bring their spirits down.

After a game that saw the Blues out-shoot the San Jose Sharks 42-34 (14-8 in the first overtime period), Sharks winger Martin Havlat found the back of the net to put the Sharks up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series.  It was Havlat’s second goal of the game and it came at 3:34 of the second overtime period.

"I was just trying to get it on net and I got a shot through and it went it," Havlat said after the game. "It was a great play by Ryane [Clowe] to get me the puck. The puck was rolling a little bit and I saw it went it. It was a great feeling. My first thought was that it was time to get some rest."

One would think that the differences in each locker room would be night-and-day.  This was not the case, as the Blues players were happy with their effort and looked forward to game two of the series.

“I don’t think we came in here frustrated,” defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said.  “I think we came in here happy with the way that we played.  The message is to keep going.”

 “I think we played really good today,” said forward Patrik Berglund, who scored both Blues goals in the 3-2 loss.  “We shot the puck a lot and got some traffic in front of the net.  Overall, I think the third period was our best.  We had a bunch of zone time and [we] created a lot of scoring chances.  We [have] to build from that, regroup and go at it Saturday.

“We believe we can beat these guys.”

This series preview was published by THW St. Louis Blues correspondent Jeff Ponder and THW San Jose Sharks correspondent Walter McLaughlin.  Please read the full article at TheHockeyWriters.com.

Regular Season Series Winner
St. Louis Blues (4-0-0)

Regular Season Series Top Offensive Performer
Alex Pietrangelo (2G-3A—5P)

Regular Season Series Top Goaltender
Jaroslav Halak (.977 save percentage, 0.50 GAA and 1 shutout; stopped 43 of 44 shots).

The Blues’ Take

Looking at the regular season series, it would be easy for one to assume that the Blues stand a good chance of knocking the Sharks out of the playoffs quickly.  Such as it is in any professional sport, there is more than meets the eye.

Not so happily ever after.  The Blues ended the 2011-12 regular season on a disappointing note, despite being the Central Division Champions.  Although they grabbed a victory in their last game of the season against the Dallas Stars, the Blues posted a 1-2-2 record in their last five games.  This included a loss to the Red Wings in a game that they held a 2-0 lead with 10:00 remaining in the 3^rd period, and a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets.  Head Coach Ken Hitchcock tirelessly struggled to find the correct combinations on the forward lines, resulting in former 20-goal scorer Matt D’Agostini sitting out the final game of the season in Dallas.  Hitchcock resurrected a solid 4^th-line filled with muckers and grinders and the Blues pulled out their 1^st victory in 11 calendar days.

First Division Championship in 11 seasons.  After a long rebuild and struggles to open the season (starting the season 6-7-0 before hiring Hitchcock on November 7), Blues management has built a solid roster with depth better than most in the league.  Despite outstanding injuries to key players down the stretch (Andy McDonald missed 57 games with a concussion and a shoulder injury), the Blues got timely scoring from all four lines and received fantastic goaltending from Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott.  The Blues outworked their opponents in many situations and found themselves atop the Western Conference in mid-January.  The Blues continued their play until they finally clinched the Central Division Title on March 31, something they have not done since 1999-2000.  They finished just two points back of the President’s Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks.

This post was originally published by TheHockeyWriters.com.

When the star players start strapping the skates back on after returning from injury, the logical response on the ice is that the team will start racking up the wins.

This is not the case for the St. Louis Blues.

In fact, the wins were coming before the players returned from injury.  On March 25, the Blues received a late-season gift when injured forward Alex Steen suited up for the Blues’ meeting with the Phoenix Coyotes that evening.  After missing 39 games with a concussion, Steen did not record a point but helped the Blues cruise to a 4-0 victory over the Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona.

Steen scored an assist in the next game, another shutout victory over the Nashville Predators.  That would be the last time the Blues would see a victory since Steen’s return.

Steen is not the only one to return from an extended injury in the past couple of weeks.  Matt D’Agostini returned after missing 26 games with a concussion last Saturday, along with veteran forward Andy McDonald who missed six games with a shoulder injury.  The game resulted in one of the worst losses for the Blues this season, dropping one to the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2.

This post was originally published at TheHockeyWriters.com.

If you walked into the St. Louis Blues locker room Saturday night, you would not have guessed that they had clinched the Central Division title just minutes after stepping off the ice.

Sounds of champagne bottles popping and music blaring over the loud speaker were nonexistent.  In fact, chills of deathly silence rang through the players, coaches and media.

The reason for this is because the Blues were not the ones who decided their fate that night.  Heading into their Saturday night matchup with the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets, the Blues held the top-spot in the entire NHL and had the opportunity to clinch the Central Division title if they just recorded one point on the evening.  They could not find a way to beat 10-game veteran goaltender Allen York and fell to the Blue Jackets, 5-2.

Minutes after the Blues lowered their heads and slowly walked into the locker room, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators, who were the Central’s last hope of catching the Blues.  With the loss, Nashville was mathematically unable to gain as many points as the Blues, giving the St. Louis team the top-spot in the Central.

But the loss to the league’s worst team left a sour taste in the mouth of every member of the Blues organization.  There was no celebration in sight for the Blues.

Saturday’s contest saw eight power-plays given to the Columbus Blue Jackets, including a span of .39 seconds in the middle of the third period where the Blues took four penalties in a row.  This included a four-minute double-minor to Pietrangelo for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct.  The Jackets scored just once in this span to extend their lead to 4-2, but it deflated the Blues’ hopes of a comeback.

“It seems in games like that, where we get really involved in the game physically, we seem to take the bad penalties,” forward Andy McDonald said.  “We play out of control and lose our positioning.”