Blues fall in regular-season finale, 7-4 to Vegas, with essentially nothing to play for

Blues came in with chance at home ice, needed help, which was squashed 

by Minnesota's win over Colorado, meaning St. Louis opens on road

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- Yes, something was on the line for the Blues Friday night.

No, it wasn't in their hands, and perhaps that's why they basically went through the motions for much of the night in their regular-season finale against the Vegas Golden Knights.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues forward Jordan Kyrou (25), who had a goal and an assist in a 7-4 loss 

Friday against Vegas, is defended by Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy.

The Blues needed a win along with a regulation loss by the Minnesota Wild to get them home ice advantage in their first-round series against the Wild.

Vegas was just playing out the string in a surprisingly and strange season the Golden Knights endured, missing the playoffs for the first time in their five-year history.

The Blues wouldn't say it, publicly anyway, but they had to know that the Wild were winning against the Avalanche, which was sitting many of their star players in a meaningless game for Colorado. The Blues were tied after two periods, but the Wild was ahead 3-1. The end result was a 7-4 finish to the regular season that didn't even matter.

Had the Blues won (49-22-11), it wouldn't have mattered, so why risk getting anyone injured in a game by all intents and purposes deemed meaningless? Unlike the Wild, which may be losing shutdown forward Marcus Foligno to what looked like a knee-on-knee injury, and defenseman Dmitri Kulikov, who was cross-checked from behind in the game.

"Yeah. For sure. That’s a big thing," Blues coach Craig Berube when asked if keeping anyone from getting injured was a focus. "That’s the way they feel, too. The important game is Monday."

Correct answer, coach.

It's understandable that the Wild would go all-out and ensure home ice would be decided in their own hands and not rely on help, but for the Blues, who finish the regular season 49-22-11, needing help made things easier on their mindset going into this one.

"It's kind of a hard one to get stuff going, but it's behind us now," said Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly, who became the ninth Blue to reach 20 or more goals with two goals and an assist Friday to give him 21 for the season. "We had a great regular season and the focus draws to Minny now. It's going to be a heck of a challenge."

Were the Blues playing some loosy-goosy hockey on Friday? Sure. They didn't generate a ton of offense, but the offense they did generate on Vegas goalie Logan Thompson, they were opportunistic on.

At 3-3 after 40 minutes, there had to be a sense that winning would not help them gain home ice against the Wild.

"No, it's we're still trying to play the game, trying to win it and generate something," O'Reilly tried to convince the media. "I wasn't really scoreboard watching to know. We're going out there and trying to find a way to win a game. Unfortunately we didn't, but it wasn't much scoreboard watching, just trying to play our game."

Sure ... (wink-wink!).

Berube shed some light on that notion.

"It’s a tough game. It really is," Berube said. "But it is what it is."

Normally, coaches and players would hone in on the bad points of losing a game in this fashion and giving up seven goals. But Berube would hammer home the point how much they'll dwell on it.

"The page is turned already. It’s over. Minny," Berube said. "That’s all. We’re all on Minny."

They probably thought about it for, oh, maybe 60 seconds after the game ended.

Maybe Ville Husso, who was bombarded with 44 shots, wouldn't agree. He was quick to leave the ice while teammates wanted to come out and pat his pads or offer some solace on the game, but he was having none of it. He stormed off the ice and smacked his stick on the ground as he was leaving. The likely Game 1 starter was not in the mood.

(St. Louis Blues/Scott Rovak)

Blues goalie Ville Husso made 38 saves in a 7-4 loss against the Vegas

Golden Knights on Friday in the regular-season finale.

Perhaps he'll feel better knowing his teammates are entering the series with the Wild pretty unscathed.

"You go out there, you put your best foot forward and obviously we would have liked to have a better game for our club and I think for 'Huus' and for the possibility to get home ice, but yeah, I think it's just time to turn the page tonight and tomorrow start getting ready for the playoffs," said forward David Perron, who had a goal and an assist.

In the end, it was the smart thing to do.