The St. Louis Blues punched their ticket to the Western Conference Semifinals with a convincing 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Things didn’t look good for the Blues after three games, as St. Louis dropped Games 2 and 3 to the Wild by a combined 11-3 score, which put them in a series deficit heading into Game 4. Nevertheless, a goaltending change precipitated three straight victories, setting the Blues on a collision course with the Colorado Avalanche in the second round.
Analytically, this is a bad matchup for the Blues. Yet, time and time again, we’ve seen a hot goaltender carry a team further in the playoffs than their overall talent would otherwise indicate.