
Wayne Babych supplies the offense as the ’80-’81 Blues head to their first Ultimate NHL Playoff. (via B Bennett/Getty Images)
Here is the 2016 St. Louis Blues Qualifying Tournament in its entirety.
The Blues franchise now has had its third representative in three years as the 2nd-seeded ’80-’81 St. Louis Blues are their newest rep. Wayne Babych began his stellar series with a two-goal performance in a 5-3 win in Game 1. Meanwhile, defenseman Rick Lapointe registered three assists from the blueline. The 8th-seeded ’14-’15 St. Louis Blues notted the series up with a 3-2 win in Game 2. David Backes scored the lone goal in the third period to seal the win. Then, two unanswered goals in a span of two and a half minutes in the third period led the ’80-’81 Blues to a 3-2 win in Game 3. Brian Sutter accounted for two of the three goals in the win. The ’80-’81 Blues then opened up a 3-1 series lead with a 7-4 win in Game 4 as Babych scored a goal and added three assists while his linemate Jorgen Pettersson scored four times.
With their backs up against the wall down 3-1, the ’14-’15 Blues took Game’s 5 and 6, both by one goal. It was a balanced effort in their 5-4 Game 5 win as only Jori Lehtera and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk posted more than one point. Shattenkirk then scored the eventual game-winner in their 2-1 win in Game 6 to force a Game 7. The ’80-’81 Blues blew the doors off the ’14-’15 Blues in the second period of Game 7 with six unanswered goals, including two from Babych. They led 7-1 after two periods, but the ’14-’15 Blues scored three times in the first nine and a half minutes of the third to make it a 7-4 game. However, they would only be able to add one more in the final minute to make it a 7-5 final. Babych finished with four points as he added two assists to his two goals while six of his teammates also posted multi-point games.
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’14-’15 Blues | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 |
’80-’81 Blues | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 5 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’80-’81 STL – 5 ’14-’15 STL – 3 (1-0 ’80-’81 STL)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: D – Rick Lapointe (’80-’81 STL) – 0 G 3 A 3 P +4 1 S
2nd Star: RW – Wayne Babych (’80-’81 STL) – 2 G 0 A 2 P Even 8 S
3rd Star: C – Blake Dunlop (’80-’81 STL) – 1 G 1 A 2 P +3 5 S
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’14-’15 Blues | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 |
’80-’81 Blues | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’14-’15 STL – 3 ’80-’81 STL – 2 (1-1)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: G – Brian Elliott (’14-’15 STL) – W 2.00 .964 SV% (53 SV’s)
2nd Star: D – Alex Pietrangelo (’14-’15 STL) – 1 G 2 A 3 P +2 4 S
3rd Star: LW – Jaden Schwartz (’14-’15 STL) – 1 G 1 A 2 P +2 3 S
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’80-’81 Blues | 1 | 0 | 2 | — | 3 |
’14-’15 Blues | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’80-’81 STL – 3 ’14-’15 STL – 2 (2-1 ’80’81 STL)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: LW – Brian Sutter (’80-’81 STL) – 2 G 0 A 2 P +2 9 S
2nd Star: G – Mike Liut (’80-’81 STL) – W 2.00 GAA .949 SV% (37 SV’s)
3rd Star: D – Rick Lapointe (’80-’81 STL) – 0 G 2 A 2 P +3 1 S 2 PIM
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’80-’81 Blues | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | 7 |
’14-’15 Blues | 1 | 0 | 3 | — | 4 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’80-’81 STL – 7 ’14-’15 STL – 4 (3-1 ’80’81 STL)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: LW – Jorgen Pettersson (’80-’81 STL) – 4 G 0 A 4 P +2 7 S
2nd Star: C – David Backes (’14-’15 STL) – 3 G 0 A 3 P +2 3 S 2 PIM
3rd Star: RW – Wayne Babych (’80-’81 STL) – 1 G 3 A 4 P +2 3 S
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’14-’15 Blues | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 |
’80-’81 Blues | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 4 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’14-’15 STL – 5 ’80-’81 STL – 4 (3-2 ’80-’81 STL)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: D – Kevin Shattenkirk (’14-’15 STL) – 1 G 1 A 2 P +2 4 S
2nd Star: RW – Wayne Babych (’80-’81 STL) – 2 G 0 A 2 P -1 7 S 12 PIM
3rd Star: C – Bernie Federko (’80-’81 STL) – 1 G 1 A 2 P Even 1 S
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’80-’81 Blues | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | 1 |
’14-’15 Blues | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’14-’15 STL – 2 ’80-’81 STL – 1 (3-3)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: G – Brian Elliott (’14-’15 STL) – W 1.00 GAA .964 SV% (27 SV’s)
2nd Star: G – Mike Liut (’80-’81 STL) – L 2.00 GAA .960 SV% (48 SV’s)
3rd Star: C – Blake Dunlop (’80-’81 STL) – 1 G 0 A 1 P +1 4 S
1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
’14-’15 Blues | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | 5 |
’80-’81 Blues | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 7 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’80-’81 STL – 7 ’14-’15 STL – 5 (4-3 ’80-’81 STL)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: RW – Wayne Babych (’80-’81 STL) – 2 G 2 A 4 P +2 9 S
2nd Star: C – Blake Dunlop (’80-’81 STL) – 1 G 2 A 3 P Even 8 S
3rd Star: C – Paul Stastny (’14-’15 STL) – 0 G 3 A 3 P Even 2 S
Up next is the 2016 Carolina Hurricanes Qualifying Tournament!