The St. Louis Blues grasped control of the first-round playoff series with a 6-1 drubbing of the Minnesota Wild in Game 4, evening the series at two games apiece and retaking home-ice advantage.
From there, it fell apart.
The Blues outshot the Wild 37-19 in Game 5 and 31-21 in Game 6, yet lost them both 4-1. St. Louis, winner of the Central Division, was shown the playoff exit in the opening round for the third straight season.
"If I had answers to these questions, I would have fixed it after Game 1," Blues forward David Backes said.