At no point has success come easy for St. Louis this season. The same goes for defenseman Carl Gunnarsson. But the Blues came up big after losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, and it was Gunnarsson who delivered their biggest goal of the season.
At no point has success come easy for St. Louis this season. The same goes for defenseman Carl Gunnarsson. But the Blues came up big after losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, and it was Gunnarsson who delivered their biggest goal of the season.
BOSTON – The irony here is just too darn delicious. The St. Louis Blues were the worst team in the NHL on Jan. 3. Their season was rapidly going down the toilet. So it should come as no surprise that the most crucial moment of the season came, “at the pi—er” in their dressing room at TD Garden. “I can’t deny that,” said overtime hero Carl Gunnarsson. “That’s where it happened. That makes it even more fun, I guess. It’s a good story.”
With the Blues on the verge of either winning their first playoff game ever or going into an 0-2 hole in the Stanley Cup final, Gunnarsson and coach Craig Berube had a chance meeting at the dressing room urinal. Gunnarsson, who drilled one off the crossbar with 1:57 remaining in regulation time, told Berube that he needed another chance. “I just told him I needed one more,” Gunnarson said.
And when Gunnarsson made good with a shot from the point on what was effectively a power play – a delayed penalty was coming to the Bruins and the Blues had an extra attacker – his prophecy came true. And that’s as it should be. The Blues should have gotten their first Stanley Cup final ever off the stick of a defensive defenseman who was either injured or ill five times this season and was a healthy scratch for the first four games of the playoffs. Because this is how the St. Louis Blues do things. When things look most dire, when they are going their worst, this group has an uncanny penchant for picking itself up, dusting itself off and getting back into the action.
That undoubted speaks to the resilience and character of this group, but lots of teams have character and resilience. So do a lot of players. After all, that’s a huge part of the reason why they get to this level, and this far into the playoffs, in the first place. “Everybody obviously has character, especially at this point of the season,” said Blues defenseman Colton Parayko. “I don’t know. We just continue to push. We’re so close. We’re obviously a good team and when things are kind of tough, it brings us closer. It’s cool to be a part of it. When times get tough we don’t deviate from each other. We come closer together and (say), ‘We’re going to get this done.’ ”
None of the Blues were pleased with how Game 1 unfolded, particularly after they were dominated after taking a 2-0 lead. But again with this character thing. The Blues completely turned the tables in Game 2. This time they were the dominant team. Had they not won this game, it might have prompted an NHL investigation. “I knew coming into Game 2 that we were going to be a hard team to play against,” Berube said. “And we were.”
Whether it’s clawing out of last place, recovering from blowing a 2-0 series lead in the first round of the playoffs, getting a goal in double overtime of Game 7, winning three straight games and outscoring its opponent 12-2 after losing in overtime on a goal that resulted from a hand pass that could have derailed their season or coming back after losing the first game of the Stanley Cup final, there is something very special about this Blues team. And that’s regardless of how this series turns out.
“We find ways to challenge ourselves,” said Blues winger Patrick Maroon. “It’s all mental. It’s all between the ears. You just have to find ways to grind through it and stick with it and when you do that, you’re going to get results and find ways. The first game we didn’t do that. We got a lead and let them dictate the play after that.”
Gunnarsson’s first goal of this season came on Jan. 17, a slapshot from the top of the circle in the same building, at the same end of the ice and against the same goalie as it did in overtime in Game 2. Coincidentally, that was right around the time the Blues started on their roll that got them into the playoffs. As was the case with his team, there have been some very low points for Gunnarsson this season. After all, he missed the first three weeks of the season after having off-season surgery on his left knee and his right hip. And as was the case with his team, he was rewarded for his resilience.
“Carl has been great for us,” Parayko said. “If you watch him, he’s so sound. He’s not a flashy player, but he’s perfect out there, almost. He just does the proper play, the right play, every single time. Just watch him. He’s amazing. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
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