The St. Louis Blues came into Thursday with an interesting set of opportunities. With a win and a couple other teams’ losses, they could have been the first team to a) hit the 100-point mark and b) clinch a playoff spot this season.
While the Carolina Hurricanes have been stumbling again recently, they’re still a semi-credible threat as a spoiler - at least when Cam Ward is on his game. That was absolutely the case tonight as he stopped all 40 Blues shots to win 2-0 (and earn the 200th win of his NHL career).
The New York Rangers (95 points) also lost in regulation on Thursday, so the Blues still seem like the odds-on team to hit the century mark first anyway. More importantly, clinching a playoff berth is likely just a formality for St. Louis.
They’ll have to wait for both thanks to Carolina, though.