Jobs might be on the line after head coach Ken Hitchcock’s team won the Central Division but fell flat in the playoffs in a six-game opening-round loss to the Minnesota Wild. The Blues had believed this was their best chance at winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup with four strong lines, solid defense and good to great goaltending. Vladimir Tarasenko led the NHL with six playoff goals and Shattenkirk led with eight assists, but few others lived up to their regular-season pedigree. Before Game 6, Hitchcock said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had been the team’s best player overall. Rookie goalie Jake Allen, who allowed two soft goals in the finale, was the most visible of the outsize group that underperformed. Allen had been impressive earlier in the series, but got yanked in Game 6 after letting one through the five-hole moments after Hitchcock said in a TV interview that he wouldn’t be making a goalie change. Hitchcock thought Allen would learn valuable lessons and added, “I don’t think it’s time to pile on the goalie or anything like that.”