Matthew DeFranks

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks |Jeff Gordon

Blues cap remarkable playoff push, prepare to face Jets Post-Dispatch Blues beat reporter Matthew DeFranks joined columnist Jeff Gordon to discuss the team’s charge into the postseason and its chances against Winnipeg. --------

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

For the first time in his NHL career, Blues forward Jake Neighbours will play all 82 games when he takes the ice Tuesday night against Utah. Neighbours is one of four Blues to reach the milestone this season, joined by Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Ryan Suter. It is Suter’s seventh straight season playing every game, while it is the third straight for Schenn and the second in a row for Kyrou. “I think it’s something subtle but something that means a lot,” Neighbours said.

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

Jordan Binnington will start in goal for the Blues on Tuesday night in the regular-season finale against Utah at Enterprise Center, as St. Louis has a chance to clinch a postseason berth. A reminder of the ways the Blues can clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday. -- A regulation win over Utah. -- An overtime or shootout win and any result but a Flames regulation win (a Calgary overtime or shootout win would still mean the Blues clinch).

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

Blues get an early taste of playoff hockey The Blues have one last chance to control their season. When they host the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night in their regular-season finale, they will have a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a regulation win. Any other outcome will leave their postseason status in the hands of other teams. “The word opportunity, to me, is such a positive word,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “It’s an opportunity to seize the moment, to do something special.

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Matthew DeFranks

Blues get an early taste of playoff hockey Across the last two months, it’s been a popular question around St. Louis. Why did the Blues become the best team in the NHL after the 4 Nations break? They went from being eight points out of a playoff spot in mid-February to potentially clinching a postseason berth as soon as Saturday, when the Blues play their final road game of the regular season in Seattle.