ST. LOUIS -- As far as exasperated general manager postseason comments go, it was one of the best. It was 2013 and St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong’s team had just been eliminated by the Los Angeles Kings, scratching out just 10 goals in six playoff games.
Armstrong was chatting with the local media, one that wanted answers for how the Blues were going to address their playoff goal-scoring issues when he sent out a plea to his colleagues across the league.
"This is a public cry for any GMs that have any 50-goal scorers that want to just send them to St. Louis, give me a call," Armstrong said that spring.
Sadly for Armstrong, none of his fellow GMs took him up on the offer.
It was a memorable moment in frustration but what’s been lost is the second portion of that quote, when Armstrong followed it up by saying he’d examined the top scorers from the last several seasons and most were drafted and developed by their own teams.
If the Blues were ever going to become a legit Stanley Cup contender, with the kind of game-breaking goal scorer needed during the long grind toward a championship, they needed to grow their own.
About the moment hats came spinning out of the stands, gently landing on the ice following Vladimir Tarasenko's third goal of St. Louis' 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 2 to even the series 1-1, it became clear that the player Armstrong so desperately wanted a couple years ago was here.
Tarasenko is coming off a big regular season in which he scored 37 goals, but he put it best following the game. It doesn’t matter what happens in the regular season -- the Blues especially know this -- it’s the postseason that matters.
And Tarasenko’s big season has now extended into the playoffs.
“Last year was my first playoffs, it was kind of more emotions. This was my first long season,” Tarasenko said after the win. “This is why we play all season hard. This is main part of the year. Whatever you score, whatever you have in points in the season, you forget it to work hard to go as deep as you can.”
His first goal came on a great pass from linemate Alexander Steen, a pass that Tarasenko re-directed past Devan Dubnyk to give the Blues an early lead. The third was an empty-netter, one of the easiest Tarasenko will get.
It’s the second goal that reveals what makes Tarasenko, and because of him the Blues, just so dangerous.
On the power play, he took a pass across the ice from Steen and was skating toward the goal line to Dubnyk’s right. It was an awful angle and with Dmitrij Jaskin creeping toward the front of the crease, Dubnyk appeared to anticipate a pass to Jaskin. It left just enough of an opening for Tarasenko to squeeze a goal through with an incredible shot.
“I was kind of lucky to score,” Tarasenko said. “It was important goal for us. When you’re up 2-0 at home, you feel more confident.”
It was a huge goal and, if the Blues advance past Minnesota, it may be looked at as a series shifter. Had the Wild found a way to win this game, the already increasing pressure would have mounted on the shoulders of the Blues players haunted by past playoff disappointments.
Instead, they earn a big win, even up the series and head to Minnesota confident they can build off the win moving forward, in large part because of their sniper who shifted Game 2.
“One shot. One inch of ice and he turns it into a great scoring chance,” said Blues captain David Backes. “He’s dynamic. He creates it all by himself. He and Steener seemed to have instant chemistry and find each other. He was pretty awesome tonight and you love to see it.”
Tarasenko spent most of the season on a line with Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz but the chemistry between him and Steen in this game suggests that Ken Hitchcock may be on to something special in this postseason.
Steen assisted on both of Tarasenko’s first two goals and they found each other often throughout the course of the game.
“We constantly talk. Mostly in English,” Steen said. “He’s going to draw a lot of coverage, but for the most part he finds nice holes and it seems like we read each other pretty well. If I see a hole he kind of waits for the right time to jump into the hole as well. He’s not too anxious, he’s got great patience and obviously his release is the best in the NHL.”
The Blues have had forward depth for the last several seasons but it’s not easy to constantly grind out goals while battling through the Western Conference in the postseason. Ideally, you have a goal-scoring game-breaker.
The Kings knew that, which is why they took a chance on Marian Gaborik last season in a move that helped win a Stanley Cup.
The Blackhawks have that player in Patrick Kane, who now has 94 points in 95 playoff games.
It’s a weapon the great teams need.
It’s one the Blues now have in Tarasenko.
“There’s no time to celebrate. We have a tough couple games coming,” said Tarasenko. “Our city waiting for a Cup for a long time and I think we can do this.”