St. Louis still longshot to make it as a Western Conference wild card, experience of playing in high-intensity, high-pressured games down stretch will carry plenty of weight in future

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- No matter what happens between now and Wednesday when the regular season comes to a close for the St. Louis Blues, the fact that the organization has been able to implement a number of their younger players and prospects into meaningful games down the stretch here will carry a long torch for the future.

Even if the Blues (42-32-5) miss the playoffs, which still seems likely despite jumping into the rear view mirrors of both the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings (three points and four points, respectively) with three games remaining, the fact that the coaching staff has been able to implement these players into impactful games, giving them some great knowledge at such a young a age just what playoff-intense type games are, will be so beneficial as these players gain experience.

"I think it's great experience for these players. It really is," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said Thursday. "Not only to be here and be a part of it and be a big part of playing meaningful minutes. You saw that over the last three games with [Zack] Bolduc and with [Zach] Dean and with 'Kess' [Matthew Kessel], [Tyler] Tucker, [Scott] Perunovich have all played meaningful minutes. They've played good hockey for us and they've done some good things to help us win hockey games. I think any time that you can give your younger players, whether it's in the American (Hockey) League at this time of year and into the playoffs that they can play these, it only makes them better players and it just makes them more ready to play in these types of games. These are important and this is what playoff hockey is about. Right now, we're playing in playoff hockey games against teams that are getting ready to make runs for a Stanley Cup. This is good hockey for these guys to be a part of."

Bolduc is learning. Dean is learning. Kessel is learning. Perunovich, who played playoff games two seasons ago, is learning. Tucker is learning. Nikita Alexandrov is learning. Joel Hofer is learning. Jake Neighbours is learning. Heck, even veteran Nathan Walker, who has just five games of playoff experience, is learning.

These are games than when the Blues are actually better than they are right now, they'll have the know-how to push the franchise over the top in situations like these when the pressure mounts and the intensity ramps through the roof.

"These are important games; we're not done yet," Bolduc said. "For myself, I try to get better every day trying to learn from the veterans and listen to the coaches. ... Since I've been here, it's been kind of a playoff race. The tempo is pretty high and the guys are dialed in. It's pretty fun to be a part of this and for me, it's just to get better every day and try and learn from these guys.

"It's valuable for everyone here. We have a lot of young guys that are in the lineup. I think it's good for us. It gives us some experience and it's coming with wins too. It feels good to get some 'W's here."

It helps that most of, if not all, these guys come from winning backgrounds and winning cultures and has made this an easier transition to perform in pressure games at the NHL level.

Bolduc just came off winning a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Memorial Cup with Quebec; Dean was part of a winning club with Gatineau, a junior club that lost to Bolduc and the Remparts last season; Kessel won a NCAA title with the University of Massachussetts, and Perunovich also won a NCAA title with the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

"It says a lot about those players, where they've come from and been in good organizations and have been a part of winning hockey clubs," Bannister said. "Having that pedigree coming to pro hockey only sets you up for success and builds you and gets you ready to have success moving forward with a National Hockey League team and playing pro games and playing meaningful games. I think that's a big part of probably why they go into the games and they look very comfortable. They don't look nervous right now. They're going out and they're playing their game."

It sure beats coming to the rink these days not just playing out the string. Many of these guys could be in the shoes of some high-end prospects that are going through tough times in the early going. They faced one with Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks last night.

"From both sides, they're still going out there and they're still trying to compete," Dean said. "I know it's tougher for some of those teams. We're in this push right now, this race. It just makes it so much more fun when you get into those kind of games, those meaningful kind of games, it's just like a different game almost. It's kind of hard to describe the feeling when you get in. Obviously getting into the playoffs and playing against 'Boldy'. When you're getting into those, you're not even thinking about anything else. It's just the game. It's a pretty crazy feeling honestly."

Bolduc, who has four goals and three assists in 22 games including his first multipoint game in the NHL on Wednesday, is getting minutes with Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn; Dean, who has played in just six games, centered a third line Wednesday; Perunovich is getting top-pair minutes with Colton Parayko; Hofer is tag-teaming with Jordan Binnington to give the Blues a top-five save percentage goalie duo; Tucker is making his presence felt with Nick Leddy, and Kessel has been garnering top-four minutes since his recall Dec. 30.

"They've been making that push here, so just to see how the guys all handle this in these situations, and even now, we're not done yet," Dean said. "These games are important, the last ones that we've got left. It's pretty cool being here and experiencing that. ... Any experience you can get, especially it being the NHL and being the regular season and you're around the guys this time of year, it's just going to benefit you in so many ways, especially moving forward into next year. You get that feel of regular season and how everything works, and also now, getting towards the end and what it's like."