Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishST. LOUIS — From longshots to wild cards.With an emphatic 6-1 victory over Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night, the St. Louis Blues completed a remarkable in-season turnaround and clinched a spot in the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs.The Blues finish the regular season with 96 points, taking the second wild-card slot in the Western Conference. They will face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in the first round.The Minnesota Wild secured the top wild card just before the Blues finished off Utah on Tuesday by forcing overtime against the Anaheim Ducks with a last-minute goal by Joel Eriksson Ek.But at this point, even after a 12-game winning streak, the Blues know they can’t be choosers.St. Louis missed the playoffs in 2022-23 and 2023-24 and has thus avoided a three-year playoff drought, which would have matched the franchise high, set from 2005 to ’08.The scene Tuesday at Enterprise Center would’ve seemed unfathomable when the Blues returned from the 4 Nations Face-Off on Feb. 22. After the break, they went 19-4-3 in their final 26 games — the most points (41) and best points percentage (.788) in the NHL in that span.It didn’t take long Tuesday to see which direction the night was headed.In front of a sellout crowd of 18,096, with the Blues looking for their 12th consecutive win on home ice, they scored four goals in the first period.Captain Brayden Schenn scored just eight minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead. The play began as a breakaway from rookie Jimmy Snuggerud, and he was denied his first goal in the NHL. But Schenn cleaned up the rebound for his 18th goal of the season.
SCHENN FROM SNUGGERUD… HOW’S THAT????!! pic.twitter.com/OiQt4eONVX
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 16, 2025About three minutes later, with the crowd ramping up, Pavel Buchnevich made it 2-0 on a nifty feed from Jake Neighbours. It was Buchnevich’s 20th goal of the season and sixth in the past eight games.The Blues were just getting started.Snuggerud couldn’t celebrate his first goal in the league earlier in the game, but a short time later, the 20-year-old got it. The goal went in off Snuggerud’s skate, which led to a video review, but the league ruled there was no distinct kicking motion and it counted for a 3-0 lead.
Teach me how to Snuggy. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/BYXZpyW8Ce
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 16, 2025Late in the first period, the Blues went on a power play and Zack Bolduc stretched the lead to 4-0. It was his 19th goal of the season and his team-leading seventh on the power play.Jordan Kyrou added his 35th and 36th goals of the season in the third period — the first on a power play to match Bolduc’s seven PP goals.Clayton Keller, a native St. Louisan and noted Blues’ nemesis, did get one of the goals back for Utah.But the Blues never slowed down, as has been the case since the 4 Nations break. They were eight points back of the Vancouver Canucks for the No. 2 wild-card spot (63-55) at the time and had two teams (the Calgary Flames and Utah) in front of them in the wild-card standings.But under new coach Jim Montgomery, they found their rhythm, and now they’ve found their way back into the postseason.The Blues were 9-12-1 under former coach Drew Bannister, who was fired in November. They finished the regular season 35-17-7 under Montgomery. That’s the ninth-most points (77) and eighth-best points percentage (.641) in the league.(Photo: Jeff Le / Imagn Images)
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