ST. LOUIS — Momentum is a fickle thing.
In hockey it can jump from one bench to the next without anyone realizing it. Once it's arrived there is no denying its presence, and in the world of bouncing, frozen rubber disks there is no rhyme or reason to sustaining it. Hard work is no guarantee you'll own momentum - otherwise everyone would have it. One play in a frenetic series of events, seemingly lost in a blizzard of back-and-forth action, can tilt a game and even a series.
The Blues have completed a quarter of the journey to a possible Stanley Cup. We in St. Louis are foolish to think any further about cups and parades and such until all 16 postseason wins are absolutely, positively accounted for. The pursuit, as the old cliche goes, is game to game, period to period, minute to minute.
But back to momentum, which you don't see in the moment - it only becomes visible after it builds. To me, the series with the Jets had three tipping points: 1. Tyler Bozak's goal to win Game One - the Blues got confidence and built off of it to collect those two early road wins; 2. Connor Hellebuyck's redemptive save on Pat Maroon in Game Three - if The Big Rig cashes in the goalie's gift behind the net we might have been looking at a series sweep - instead, the Jets took that shot of adrenalin and evened the series; and 3. Jaden Schwartz's flick of a magic wand in the final frantic seconds of Game Five - ultimately, that was what swung the series pendulum back the Blues' way as they came out flying back at home and never really let Winnipeg breathe until it was too late.
So now what?
While the Blues wait to see just when the second round begins against the Dallas Stars, ol' Uncle Mo gets bored. It yawns, gets up, and moves on to find a hiding place. That is, until it resurfaces when the drama gets going again.
With as long as a week to wait, do you believe the rest does the Blues good, or will the layoff take the edge off the intensity and resolve they played with on Saturday?
They came out of the Jets' series relatively healthy, but there's no arguing that a respite from the Game on - Game off - Game on pace is good to let the bruises heal. My concern is in the Blues finding their game again. The deeper into the playoffs you get, the more crucial it is to get to your game first - and then maintain it. The great teams throughout history seem to have developed an art for the restart.
Just a few days ago the Blues were fading with two straight losses and already behind twelve seconds into Game Five in a raucous road building. Time only made things worse: they were two goals down with twenty minutes to go. Uncle Mo was wearing a Jets sweater.
Then it happened.
This Blues team that found its resiliency in climbing the standings from the very bottom, found an additional gear - a restart. A rejuvenation.
Or, more to the point, a reBluevenation.
Schwartz had the ultimate reBluevenation. Picked by some to be the key to a series win, he added on to a frustrating regular season with a silent first four games against Winnipeg. But in one shining burst that began with a deft, desperation deflection and completed with a natural hat trick two nights later, he was the difference in the series.
So now, back to momentum again. Science tells us that a body in motion stays in motion. How do you fire back up after a layoff, because a body at rest stays at rest, right?
This team, the one that silenced the doubters, proved their point to everyone else and maybe proved something to themselves in the process, knows the key word in this race to sixteen wins - and they've proven they know how to do it.
Rejuvenate.
Make that ReBluevenate.
