ST. LOUIS -- In their quest to go deep in the postseason, the St. Louis Blues have become just that: Deep.
They rested five of their regulars Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, yet cooled off one of the NHL's hottest goaltenders on one of the NHL's hottest teams to win 4-2 in their final game of the regular season.
Give an assist -- or actually, two -- to Alexander Steen's passing. In the forward's first game since March 28, he delivered the puck twice to teammates joining him on the rush. The first pass was beautifully threaded to Vladimir Tarasenko, also playing in his first game back from injury, to make it 2-0 Blues, and the second helped Jori Lehtera score his first goal of the night just over 90 seconds later.
That line's chemistry on Saturday, however, doesn't mean those players will be slotted together when the playoffs start next week.
"This was not a normal hockey game," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "This was fun. It's not fun in a normal game for those guys. They're gonna see a whole other level. It was nice to see the goals -- the pass by Steen in the second period was exceptional."
Steen also played a surprising role in the game's climax -- a six-on-three penalty kill with two minutes left in the third period. The Blues, ahead 4-1, had defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Robert Bortuzzo take overlapping penalties, while the Wild pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. Steen joined defensemen Barret Jackman and Zbynek Michalek to help out Blues netminder Brian Elliott, while the thought flashed through their coach's mind: Don't get hurt.
"Probably looking back on it, I had the wrong players on the ice," Hitchcock said. "But we were still trying to keep the puck out of our net. They were good enough not to shoot the puck. They wanted to make the play, which is good."
The Wild scored, but only after Bouwmeester left the box and the advantage dropped to six on four.
"I was disappointed, especially for Jackman and Michalek and Steen," Hitchcock said. "They did such a great job, and we screwed up coming out of the box and gave them a pretty easy opportunity. I was disappointed, 'cause those two defensemen especially, they did an unbelievable job in keeping the puck out of the net."
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Even when they've dressed a full lineup, it's been difficult for the Blues to find success against the Wild this season. They were 1-2 against them before this week, and that one win predated the Wild's acquisition of goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who carried a .930 save percentage against the Blues into Saturday's game. In fact, it took over 10 minutes into the first period for the Blues to register a shot on goal. As the clock ticked down to 7:11, there were only five shots on goal combined for both teams.
The first goal came deep into the second from Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin, who also jump-started his team's scoring Thursday in a key divisional game against the Blackhawks. Goals from Tarasenko and Lehtera followed. Dubnyk was pulled going into the third, but according to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Michael Russo, that was a strategy the Wild had considered before the game started, presumably not to overwork their starting goaltender before the playoffs. The Wild also rested top defenseman Ryan Suter.
So take the Blues' win Saturday with a grain of salt, but also as a reminder of how deep this team is.
HAT TRICK
• Goaltending. Allowing only two goals Saturday gave Elliott his strongest performance of the year against the Wild. He entered Saturday with only an .800 save percentage against them. Elliott and Jake Allen finished the season as the second Blues goaltending tandem to have over 20 wins apiece; Elliott was also part of the first, a feat he accomplished in the 2011-12 season with Jaroslav Halak.
Who starts in net for the Blues this postseason might depend on the first-round opponent, according to Hitchcock.
"Elliott's played well against Minny, Jake's played well against Winnipeg. We'll see," he said. "We'll base it on what we think is best, but if we've got to change, we'll change."
• Who the Blues sat. The Blues sat five of their regulars who, according to Hitchcock, were a little banged up. Scratched were Steve Ott, Kevin Shattenkirk, Alex Pietrangelo, David Backes and T.J. Oshie. Pietrangelo has the most ice time of any Blues player this year with more than 2,000 minutes played; perhaps more relevant, he led the team in blocked shots with 161.
• State of suspense. The Blues, winners of the Central Division, won't find out if they've clinched a Western Conference title until they know how many points Anaheim takes out of its game tonight against the Arizona Coyotes. Going into Saturday, the teams were tied in points at 107; clinching the conference would assure the winner home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
You can follow Elisabeth Meinecke on Twitter at @lismeinecke or email her at ecmeinecke@gmail.com
