EP Rinkside Mailbag: Answering your Stanley Cup Playoff questions

The playoffs are less than two weeks away, so people have some understandable questions about those kinds of things. And also Andrew Hammond’s McDonald’s consumption.

Let’s get to it:

Marc asks: “I was looking at the (St. Louis) Blues numbers recently & was surprised to find they had a sub-50 xGF% at 5v5. After seeing that, what was not so surprising was finding out they had the best shooting percentage in the league and number two PP. Should we doubt the Blues come playoff time?”

I don’t know if “doubt” is the right word, because they have a lot of talent, but I think the underlying numbers definitely highlight some of the weaknesses at the bottom of it, as well. They only have five regulars whose 5-on-5 percentages are above 50, and obviously, that presents opportunities for their likely first-round opponent, the Minnesota Wild.