The Western playoff race is a tight one and it’s the sort of thing that injuries of any kind can cause a team to miss out on the postseason party. That’s why the news of St. Louis putting goalie Jaroslav Halak on injured reserve with a hand injury comes as a tough blow for the team.
While the team will go with Ty Conklin to start in the meantime, call-up Ben Bishop is likely to figure into the action as the Blues have three games in four days coming up starting in Buffalo on Friday. St. Louis is currently 13th in the tight West race with 59 points, nine points behind the five teams tied for fourth place.
While the NHL has shown that any brand of streak can wildly change the landscape of the playoff race, it’s not unreasonable to say that losing Halak for any stretch of time right now puts a virtual bullet in the Blues playoff hopes. Ty Conklin is a good and serviceable backup goalie in the NHL and can help them navigate the tough times, but the race out west is getting to the point where relying on your best is absolutely necessary, especially when you’re already behind.
The Blues aren’t playing bad, they’re just playing very inconsistently and while Halak has been part of that issue of late, he’s their huckleberry and they’ve got to count on him. With Halak out of the mix for even the slightest amount of time it’s tough to see how the Blues can hang in there and climb their way back to the top eight.