The 2008–09 St. Louis Blues season, the 42nd season for the NHL franchise in St. Louis, Missouri, resulted in the team returning to the NHL Playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Pre-season Schedule and results 2008 Pre-season Game Log: 4–2–1 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 1–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap 1 September 22 St Louis 1–2 Los Angeles Mason 11,603 0–1–0 2 September 23 Dallas 2–3 St Louis Legace 10,796 1–1–0 3 September 26 Atlanta 4–9 St Louis Legace 12,526 2–1–0 4 September 27 St Louis 3–4 Dallas Mason 17,191 2–2–0 5 September 29 St Louis 3–4 Toronto SO Legace 18,581 2–2–1 6 October 1 Toronto 3–7 St Louis Mason 12,636 3–2–1 7 October 4 St Louis 4–1 Atlanta Legace 7,648 4–2–1

Regular season Summary Before the regular season, started the Blues were hit hard with an injury to defenseman Erik Johnson. Johnson suffered a leg injury in a golfing accident that put him out for the season. Despite this the Blues had a good start to the regular season, winning their first opening day game in years, and going 5–3–0, before injuries to Manny Legace and Andy McDonald, coupled with poor defensive play, placed the team in last place in their division at 5–8–1. The Blues would win three games in a row to make their record 9–8–1. On November 24, 2008, Blues President John Davidson announced the Blues had traded Lee Stempniak to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo and center Alexander Steen.StlBlues.com On November 30, Keith Tkachuk became the sixth American-born hockey player, and 72nd overall, to score 1,000 points in a career. The point came on a goal scored in his 1,077th game. He now has 511 goals and 489 assists. The goal helped the Blues to a 4–2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. It was his 362nd point in a Blues' uniform, ranking him eighth all-time.Tkachuk Reaches Another New Milestone , St. Louis Blues, November 30, 2008 The Blues would lose their next three games before winning 4–3 over the Phoenix Coyotes. St. Louis would then lose three straight games against teams on the West Coast. The Blues would follow up by losing their next two games to extend their losing streak to five. In that period, defenseman Jay McKee would become another victim of unfortunate injuries for the Blues. The Blues ended the month of December with a poor 4–10–1 record. Just before the All-Star Game break (January 22 to 28), the team gained seven points in their last four games. On February 6, two days after his 36th birthday, goaltender Manny Legace was placed on waivers, and the Blues recalled Chris Holt.

Andy McDonald returned to active status on February 10 after almost three months out with a broken left leg (since November 16) and promptly made his presence felt with an assist on the Blues' first goal, and then later added a goal of his own, against the Vancouver Canucks, although they ultimately lost the game.

A 6–2–4 surge in February pushed the Blues (60 points on Feb. 24) to an even 26–26 (eight overtime loses) record, and to within five points of the eighth and final playoff spot.

In a dramatic and wild 3–1 win, with the final two goals from the youngsters T. J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund late in the wide-open third period, plus 41 saves from Chris Mason, against the Dallas Stars on February 26, pushed the Blues into 12th place in the Western Conference, only three points from a playoff spot and over .500 for the first time since December 8.

A crucial 6–1 run from March 20 to April 2 pushed the Blues into eighth place, capped off by a stunning 5–4 win on April 2 over the Detroit Red Wings, their first victory over Detroit all season. The game was highlighted by David Backes' career-high four-goal night. It was the first four-goal night by any Blues' player since Scott Mellanby did it on March 6, 2003.

A key player in the team's late-season surge was the play of fan favorite T. J. Oshie, who was named NHL Rookie of the Month for March (April 2) after earning 13 points (four goals and nine assists) in 14 games, with the Blues going 9–4–1 in the month.Oshie Named NHL Rookie of the Month: Blues' rookie helped spark Playoff surge with 13 points in 14 games (Apr. 2) From January 1 through the game on March 29, Oshie scored 11 goals and recorded 20 assists for 31 points in 37 games, leading all rookies, save for Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks, in that span. His play garnered praise from several Blues veterans, including goaltender Chris Mason: "T. J. is such a tenacious player. In every game he seems to create scoring chances out of nothing." Oshie was also listed #8 on "Hockey's Future Top 50 prospects."Hockey's Future Top 50 prospects, Spring 2009 1-10, (Apr. 9, 2009)

The Blues clinched a playoff spot in their second-to-last game of the season (#81), and their last home game, on April 10, in front of a raucous, standing-room-only crowd of 19,250, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 3–1 in their 40th win of the season. The defense was superb, giving up only 17 shots, their lowest of the season. This is the first season since 2003–04 the Blues have made the playoffs. In the 2005–06 season, the Blues were in last place overall, and in 2007–08, they were tied for the fourth-worst record in the NHL. The Blues completed one of the greatest late-season playoff surges in NHL history.Blues Go Marchin' In: St. Louis is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2004 , (Apr. 11, 2009)

On the same day the Blues clinched a playoff spot, their first-round draft pick in 2008, Alex Pietrangelo, 19, was assigned from the Niagara IceDogs in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to the Blues' top minor-league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).Blues Assign Pietrangelo to Peoria, (Apr. 10)

Divisional standings Standings  

Conference standings

Standings  

Schedule and results Green background indicates win (2 points). Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points). White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).

2008–09 Game Log October: 5–4–0 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 10 Nashville 2–5 St Louis Legace 19,150 1–0–0 2 2 October 11 St Louis 2–5 NY Islanders Mason 16,234 1–1–0 2 3 October 13 St Louis 5–4 Toronto SO Legace 19,045 2–1–0 4 4 October 16 Dallas 1–6 St Louis Legace 18,550 3–1–0 6 5 October 18 Chicago 3–4 St Louis SO Legace 19,150 4–1–0 8 6 October 22 Detroit 4–3 St Louis Legace 19,150 4–2–0 8 7 October 24 Los Angeles 4–0 St Louis Legace 19,150 4–3–0 8 8 October 25 Florida 0–4 St Louis Bishop 19,150 5–3–0 10 9 October 30 Carolina 1–0 St Louis Mason 17,860 5–4–0 10 November: 5–6–2 (Home: 1–2–1; Road: 4–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 1 Pittsburgh 6–3 St Louis Mason 19,150 5–5–0 10 11 November 5 St Louis 2–5 Anaheim Mason 16,144 5–6–0 10 12 November 6 St Louis 4–5 San Jose SO Bishop 17,496 5–6–1 11 13 November 8 St Louis 3–5 Los Angeles Legace 17,182 5–7–1 11 14 November 12 St Louis 3–4 Buffalo Mason 18,690 5–8–1 11 15 November 14 St Louis 4–3 Chicago OT Legace 22,260 6–8–1 13 16 November 16 Montreal 3–2 St Louis SO Legace 19,150 6–8–2 14 17 November 21 Anaheim 2–3 St Louis OT Legace 19,150 7–8–2 16 18 November 22 St Louis 2–1 Minnesota Mason 18,568 8–8–2 18 19 November 25 St Louis 1–0 Nashville SO Mason 13,825 9–8–2 20 20 November 26 St Louis 1–3 Colorado Legace 14,568 9–9–2 20 21 November 29 Edmonton 4–2 St Louis Legace 19,150 9–10–2 20 22 November 30 St Louis 4–2 Atlanta Mason 14,078 10–10–2 22 December: 4–10–1 (Home: 4–4–1; Road: 0–6–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 23 December 3 St Louis 0–4 Minnesota Mason 18,568 10–11–2 22 24 December 5 Calgary 4–3 St Louis OT Mason 17,365 10–11–3 23 25 December 6 Phoenix 3–4 St Louis Legace 19,150 11–11–3 25 26 December 8 Nashville 3–6 St Louis Legace 14,537 12–11–3 27 27 December 10 St Louis 2–4 Anaheim Mason 16,058 12–12–3 27 28 December 11 St Louis 2–6 Los Angeles Mason 13,851 12–13–3 27 29 December 13 St Louis 4–5 San Jose Mason 17,496 12–14–3 27 30 December 16 Calgary 6–3 St Louis Mason 16,426 12–15–3 27 31 December 18 St Louis 2–4 Washington Bishop 18,277 12–16–3 27 32 December 20 Minnesota 2–4 St Louis Legace 19,150 13–16–3 29 33 December 21 Boston 6–3 St Louis Legace 19,150 13–17–3 29 34 December 23 St Louis 1–4 Detroit Legace 20,066 13–18–3 29 35 December 27 San Jose 2–3 St Louis SO Legace 19,150 14–18–3 31 36 December 28 Anaheim 4–3 St Louis Mason 19,150 14–19–3 31 37 December 30 New Jersey 4–3 St Louis Legace 19,150 14–20–3 31 January: 6–4–1 (Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 38 January 2 St Louis 1–2 Carolina Mason 17,092 14–21–3 31 39 January 3 Columbus 2–5 St Louis Legace 19,150 15–21–3 33 40 January 9 St Louis 6–4 Vancouver Legace 18,630 16–21–3 35 41 January 11 St Louis 1–2 Edmonton Legace 16,839 16–22–3 35 42 January 13 St Louis 1–3 Calgary Mason 19,289 16–23–3 35 43 January 15 Colorado 2–5 St Louis Legace 17,545 17–23–3 37 44 January 17 Chicago 2–1 St Louis OT Legace 19,250 17–23–4 38 45 January 19 St Louis 5–4 Boston SO Mason 17,565 18–23–4 40 46 January 21 St Louis 2–0 Chicago Mason 22,299 19–23–4 42 47 January 29 Ottawa 3–1 St Louis Mason 18,639 19–24–4 42 48 January 31 Philadelphia 0–4 St Louis Mason 19,150 20–24–4 44 February: 8–2–4 (Home: 4–1–2; Road: 4–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 49 February 2 St Louis 3–4 Detroit SO Mason 19,384 20–24–5 45 50 February 3 St Louis 4–2 Columbus Mason 13,560 21–24–5 47 51 February 5 Edmonton 2–1 St Louis SO Mason 15,668 21–24–6 48 52 February 7 Colorado 1–4 St Louis Mason 19,250 22–24–6 50 53 February 10 Vancouver 6–4 St Louis Mason 16,431 22–25–6 50 54 February 12 St Louis 3–4 Nashville SO Mason 14,307 22–25–7 51 55 February 13 Chicago 0–1 St Louis Mason 19,150 23–25–7 53 56 February 16 NY Rangers 1–2 St Louis Mason 16,341 24–25–7 55 57 February 18 St Louis 3–4 Columbus Mason 14,305 24–26–7 55 58 February 19 St Louis 2–1 Nashville OT Mason 15,037 25–26–7 57 59 February 21 Nashville 1–0 St Louis OT Mason 19,250 25–26–8 58 60 February 24 Phoenix 1–2 St Louis Mason 17,512 26–26–8 60 61 February 26 St Louis 3–1 Dallas Mason 17,603 27–26–8 62 62 February 28 St Louis 3–1 Phoenix Mason 15,893 28–26–8 64 March: 9–4–1 (Home: 6–2–0; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 63 March 3 Detroit 5–0 St Louis Mason 19,250 28–27–8 64 64 March 6 St Louis 4–3 Tampa Bay OT Mason 13,831 29–27–8 66 65 March 7 St Louis 3–5 Florida Mason 17,591 29–28–8 66 66 March 10 Dallas 2–5 St Louis Mason 17,708 30–28–8 68 67 March 12 San Jose 1–3 St Louis Mason 19,150 31–28–8 70 68 March 14 Detroit 5–2 St Louis Mason 19,250 31–29–8 70 69 March 15 Minnesota 3–5 St Louis Mason 19,150 32–29–8 72 70 March 17 St Louis 1–2 Edmonton SO Mason 16,839 32–29–9 73 71 March 19 St Louis 0–3 Vancouver Mason 18,630 32–30–9 73 72 March 20 St Louis 3–2 Calgary Mason 19,289 33–30–9 75 73 March 24 Los Angeles 0–2 St Louis Mason 19,150 34–30–9 77 74 March 26 Vancouver 2–4 St Louis Mason 19,250 35–30–9 79 75 March 28 Columbus 3–4 St Louis SO Mason 19,250 36–30–9 81 76 March 29 St Louis 5–2 Columbus Mason 17,095 37–30–9 83 April: 4–1–1 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 2–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Goaltender Attendance Record Pts Recap 77 April 1 St Louis 1–3 Chicago Mason 21,548 37–31–9 83 78 April 2 St Louis 5–4 Detroit Mason 19,935 38–31–9 85 79 April 4 St Louis 4–5 Dallas OT Mason 18,532 38–31–10 86 80 April 7 St Louis 5–1 Phoenix Mason 13,761 39–31–10 88 81 April 10 Columbus 1–3 St Louis Mason 19,250 40–31–10 90 82 April 12 St Louis 1–0 Colorado Mason 13,661 41–31–10 92

Playoffs