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ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Miller was supposed to be the piece the St. Louis Blues needed to make a deep playoff run and perhaps at long last win a first Stanley Cup. The highly-decorated goalie was among those falling fall short for a franchise smarting from another early exit, and he might not be back. The team scheduled availabilities for general manager Doug Armstrong, coach Ken Hitchcock and players for Tuesday. Hitchcock deflected questions about the 34-year-old Miller, wholl be an unrestricted free agent, after the Blues were eliminated Sunday in Chicago. The Blues could opt to go with prospect Jake Allen, called the franchise goalie of the future by Armstrong when the Miller deal was made. "I dont get into long-term stuff. Thats Dougs department," Hitchcock said. "He played good for us. Im sure theres some goals that hed like to have back, just like any goalie would. We win as a team and lose as a team." Asked how he played, Miller said: "Im going to sit down and think about that. Not good enough, I guess." The Blues were among the NHLs best before a six-game losing streak to end the regular season landed them with a tougher first-round draw. For the second straight year they were knocked out in four straight by the defending Stanley Cup champion after taking a 2-0 series lead. Last season, it was the Kings. This time, it was Chicago. It was small consolation that before the Blackhawks four-goal third period in Game 6, the difference was razor-thin. The first five games were decided by one goal, discounting an empty-netter by the Blackhawks in the final minute of Game 3. "Youve got to bring your game every night, every shift, every period," captain David Backes said Sunday. "I sound like a broken record here. Finding ways to win those close games, they did and we didnt." Miller was acquired from Buffalo on Feb. 28 along with forward Steve Ott in a deal that cost the Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart and a first-round pick in 2015. He made $6.25 million last season. "Ive just got to take things as they come right now," he said, adding, "I guess Im free to go to my sister-in-laws wedding." Miller would like to stay, but acknowledged he wasnt sure how the Blues "feel about me." He had a 2.70 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in the series. Hitchcock wasnt pinning the teams failure on the goalie. He noted the Blackhawks split the defence on the go-ahead goal and the Blues surrendered a breakaway on the third goal, which he called "a back-breaker." Just as important, they couldnt capitalize on scoring chances. St. Louis was 2 for 29 on the power play in the series. "Ill take more than my share of the blame," Backes said. "Im counted on to produce and I didnt produce. Ill think about that a lot this summer and drive the engine going into next year." Injuries factored into the early exit. Backes missed two games with stiffness in his neck after an illegal hit by Brent Seabrook, who was suspended for three games. T.J Oshie also wasnt quite himself coming off a blow to the head late in the regular season and Patrik Berglund was no factor coming off a shoulder injury, scoreless and minus-7 in four games. Vladimir Tarasenko was a breakout star early in the series and had four goals, one of them forcing overtime with 6.4 seconds to go in Game 3. But he was scoreless the last two games. The Blues defence got burned on an ill-timed change in the pivotal Game 5, leading to Jonathan Toews overtime winner. Barret Jackman was minus-5, Jaden Schwartz minus-4. Backes, Oshie, Ott and Roman Polak were all minus-3. "We all need to look in the mirror and assess how we did and we didnt do, and take that gut check," Backes said. "No offence to you guys," he added to reporters, "but these interviews are getting a little sickening to have in April and not in June." Fake Shoes From China . - Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 5 and finished a home run short of a cycle, and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. Fake Shoes .com) - Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson lost an appeal to have his indefinite suspension overturned, the NFL announced Friday. https://www.fakeshoeswholesale.com/ .com) - The Carolina Panthers won for the first time in seven games last week, were without Cam Newton due to a car accident this week, but somehow sit atop the much-maligned NFC South. Cheap Shoes . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Shoes Sale . Next week, hell try to add to the list. A Stanley Cup champion as a rookie, Seguin followed that up by becoming the youngest player to lead the Boston Bruins in scoring.MINNEAPOLIS -- Lose by a little or win by a lot: thats been the story for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. Theres still time to move past their spats and struggles make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, and this was a forward step. Nikola Pekovic scored 26 points in 27 minutes and the Timberwolves blew off some steam with a 119-92 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday. "We just need to have one good streak and then were right back where we need to be," said Kevin Love, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds and rested for most of the fourth quarter. Kevin Martin added 19 points, and Minnesotas bench had 20 points before Charlottes reserves even got on the board late in the second quarter. "Im happy when we play hard, when we play to the end," said Pekovic, who also stifled former Timberwolves big man Al Jefferson on the defensive end. Anthony Tolliver led the Bobcats with 21 points on 5-for-5 shooting from 3-point range, and Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 16 points. Jefferson finished with only eight points and seven rebounds, though, and the Bobcats were outrebounded 54-33 on their way to their seventh loss in eight games. "Basically just kicked our butts," Jefferson said. The Timberwolves lost on Wednesday 104-103 to Phoenix to fall to 0-10 in games decided by four points or fewer. The tension lingered into the locker room where Love, who was critical recently of a particularly paltry output by the reserves, ripped J.J. Barea and Dante Cunningham for their disinterested body language at the end of the bench. By midway through the second quarter, though, all the frustration had faded away. "We did a good job of letting the other night go. We forgot about that already. Now were back winning, so weve just got to keep it going," Barea said. The Wolves posted their league-leading eighth win of 20 points or more. Theyre also 8-2 following those losses of four points or less. "They want to be a good team, but they have to find out how theyre going to do that," said coach Rick Adelman, who remained critical of some defensive risks and forced shots, mistakes that have contributed to the close losses. Love set the tone with a commanding start, posting hhis league-leading 31st double-double before halftime.dddddddddddd Then the backups put together one of their sharpest stretches of the season. With Chase Budinger and Ronny Turiaf finally healthy, the second unit is much stronger. The highlight came when Cunningham blocked Kemba Walkers fast-break layup, Barea grabbed the ball, and Alexey Shved caught his outlet pass for an uncontested dunk for a 45-34 lead. That came near the end of a 20-6 run by the Wolves. Pekovic then scored 13 straight points for the Wolves in one third-quarter, and Martin followed with a layup to push the lead to a game-high 88-57. "If we can do it consistently, this teams going to be great," Barea said. The Bobcats (15-22) entered the game still above the cut in the Eastern playoff chase, seeking just the second appearance in the franchises 10 seasons. Too many more performances like this, though, and theyll have a hard time keeping up even in the far weaker of the two conferences. For a team that went an NBA-worst 28-120 over the last two seasons, there has been clear progress under first-year coach Steve Clifford. But the Bobcats, who had allowed the second-fewest points in the league entering the night, have taken a step back on defence lately. "You have to have a team game thats together where everybody knows what your game is, then understand that and they play it. We were doing that three weeks ago. Were not doing that right now," Clifford said. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will give them a boost soon. He missed his 18th straight game because of a broken left hand, but plan is for him to practice on Monday and play on Tuesday against New York. NOTES: This was the first time in nearly two years the Wolves had no injured players on the roster. Luc Mbah a Moute returned from a three-game absence due to a strained left groin and played in the fourth quarter. ... The Bobcats fell to 3-11 against Western Conference teams this season. ... Jefferson wasnt the only former Timberwolves player the Bobcats brought. Tolliver, who spent two seasons here from 2010-12, went 8 for 9 from the field. "Whenever youre getting blown out by 30 or 20 or whatever, if youre shooting really well it doesnt matter," he said. ' ' '