BOSTON — This 2018-2019 St. Louis Blues team has felt just about every possible emotion this season.
From high expectations after an exciting offseason, to the disappointment of a miserable start that saw a coach get fired and owning the worst record in the league, to an astounding revival thanks to a tough new coach and unknown rookie goalie, to the drama that is every second of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Through it all, the Blues have persisted.
Now, they face another test in their last challenge of the season.
By losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Bruins, the Blues joined some unwanted company.
Since 1939, the team that has won Game 1 has gone on to win the Stanley Cup 77% of the time (61 of 79 series).
For the Blues, the outside noise and stats don't matter. Like they have been since the calendar flipped to 2019, the only thing the Blues are concerned with is the immediate task at hand.
"I think that's why you guys do the stats and we just play on the ice," Vladimir Tarasenko said. "We don't track those things. It doesn't really matter this time of the year. You never know what's going to happen."
The Blues have used the cliche about only looking at what's in front of them a lot this year, and well, the shoe fits.
After a loss in the playoffs this season, the Blues are 5-2.
Their resiliency defines this team, and they know it.
"I think it's just what we've gone through as a group," Tyler Bozak said. "I think we've gone through a lot of adversity as a group and I think a lot of people have counted us out at a lot of different times and I think that's when we come back and play our best hockey."