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If only they had finished on some of those good chances.

If only they didn’t have that one bad period.

If only the goalie made that one save he wishes he had back.

If only, if only, if only. The Blues lead the league in “if onlys,� and I’m sick of it.

This core group was supposed to level up this season and compete for the playoffs. Instead, the Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou Blues have been inconsistent — and are arguably even regressing.

The latest transgression was Tuesday’s overtime loss at home to the Oilers. Sure, of course, Edmonton is Edmonton — the team with hockey’s best passer and hockey’s best scorer (who naturally relies much on hockey’s best passer). But the Blues had a lead in the third period — until an onslaught of “if onlys� kept the boys from getting two points.

Hey, the fact that they got even one against a good team was actually an accomplishment, considering recent Blues losses to, essentially, every good team they play.

Jim Montgomery is not the problem. Jim Montgomery is the solution. The problem is — whether it’s a lack of talent or a lack of mental focus — the Blues players aren’t playing a “Monty� style of hockey.

After practice on a fittingly dreary Wednesday, I asked the new coach if his team has encompassed his “identity� of winning hockey.

“I thought that in the first seven weeks, we were building and building and getting closer, and then I did feel like it fell off a little bit,� Montgomery said. “I think we’re getting it back right now. I think our puck pressure has been significantly better here in the last two games. And I think we are hanging onto the pucks — but we need to hang on the pucks more. And our puck support needs to be elevated to be able to have puck possession even more so.�

From Dec. 20 to Jan. 16, the Blues went 7-4-1.

And then came when they “fell off a little bit� — after Jan. 16, heading into Thursday’s game against first-place Florida, the Blues went 3-5-1.

And the special teams are especially hurting St. Louis — overall, it is the 10th-worst power play and fourth-worst penalty kill.

This is year No. 3 of the retool. The goal was the postseason. Well, the Blues (53 points) entered Wednesday six points behind Calgary and Vancouver, two clubs tied for the final wild-card spot.

The Blues’ goal is to move up the standings; one wonders if the smarter move is to move up the draft board?

There is much to complain about, but a lot comes down to the best players not having their best years. Buch has just 33 points in 52 games (yes, he had to deal with the playing-center stuff, but that can’t be the lone reason his production is down). Kyrou isn’t bad with 44 points in 54 games. His 23 goals are still 20th in the National Hockey League, while his points per game total of 0.81 is 73rd-best in the league.

And Thomas, indisputably, is a talented and at times tantalizing player. But the Blues’ best player is still just 51st in the NHL with 0.90 points per game.

It’s interesting, right? Like, in our St. Louis bubble, we’re like — Thomas and Kyrou are budding stars. But then you pull back and look at the whole league, and there are dozens and dozens of dudes with better stats.

Thomas has fared well in the past couple games, yet in his last 11 games overall, he has five points and is minus-three. And he and Buch were benched by Montgomery on Jan. 18 because, as the coach said at the time, “I was going with the players that I thought were trying to get it done.�

And you watch Thomas play, his body language speaks for itself. He expresses frustration and displeasure too often. That kind of thing rubs teammates the wrong way and seeps into a team’s culture.

Asked about it Wednesday, Montgomery said: “I don’t mind guys being frustrated when they come back to the bench. I don’t like it within the game. I want next-play speed. You miss an open net (like Thomas did vs. Edmonton) or you make a great play, and someone misses an open net, it doesn’t matter who you are — the puck is still in play.�

So the Blues’ top line is playing like a second or third line — and the future of the Blues isn’t on the Blues yet, be it Jimmy Snuggerud (college) or Dalibor Dvorský (minors). And — it’s not like they have many trade-able assets, beyond the Ryan Suters of the roster.

Overall, the current Blues are blah. They’re stuck in the middle in so many advanced stat categories in Natural Stat Trick (though in regard to goals scored in “high-danger areas,� the Blues have the third-fewest in the NHL).

They’re consistent only in being inconsistent.

“As a team, I think we’ve got a lot of potential — I think we’re showing spurts of us playing really good hockey for games,� 23-year-old forward Dylan Holloway said. “But the biggest thing for us is we’ve got to do that consistently.�

If only they could play consistently good hockey!

I suppose, at this point of the season, the reality is they can’t.