Anyway, enough weather talk. Let's get pumped up for game three tonight. The Wild returns home after skating to a 1-1 split in St. Louis Thursday and Saturday. The Wild took game one 4-2 and the Blues won the next one 4-1. I'd say both of those scores are slightly misleading as to how the games played out.
Game one
The physical game of the Blues was much-hyped before the series began. It seemed the Wild were ready for it. They stuck to their game and even got out to an early 1-0 lead a couple minutes in on a goal from the red-hot Jason Zucker.
It was a great play. Zucker had the puck with speed (obviously) and looked to the bench before entering the offensive zone on the far side. There was a line change going on, and you could tell he thought about dumping the puck in so he could change. Instead, he drove into the zone, let a sharp-angle shot go and then scored on his own wrap-around rebound.
The Wild's power play, which has pretty much been a low point all season, came through early in the second period when Matt Dumba scored his first playoff goal on a shot from the point to put the Wild up 2-0.
St. Louis didn't seem ready to play in this one, at least not until maybe the third period. How could you tell? Well, if you weren't watching their play on the ice, the chorus of boos from their fans provided a clue as to how things were going for the home team.
The final couple minutes got interesting. Mikael Granlund scored an empty netter with 1:13 left. Game over, everyone thought. But the Blues made it 3-2 just 14 seconds later on a shorthanded opportunity. Jason Pominville sealed the deal for real this time with a power-play, empty-net goal with 20 seconds on the clock.
Game two
The Blues showed up from the opening faceoff this time. They brought their physical game and there were some more after-whistle feathers ruffling. Kinda-tough guy Steve Ott was out there doing what he does best, even petting Zucker on top of his helmet at one point. Vladimir Tarasenko put his team on top with two first-period goals, one on the power play. That second goal is one goalie Devan Dubnyk would like to have back, I'm sure.
Down 2-0 after two periods, the Wild did what it needed to: Score early in the third. Marco Scandella got the tally. It was great, but he also made a couple costly turnovers and defensive miscues. He wasn't the only one. Thomas Vanek and Pominville (maybe some others?) didn't have the best games either. I'll pick on Vanek because I like to; he couldn't seem to move his feet at all.
Some of the penalties were questionable, on both sides. The classic goaltender interference penalty was called on Zach Parise. I don't even know what's interference and what's not anymore with these calls. I'm also not saying the penalties had affected the outcome of the game. I'm just saying.
The Wild tried to battle back trailing 2-1 in the third. It had some unlucky plays, too. A couple pucks during the game hit awkwardly off the stanchion behind Blues goalie Jake Allen. Of course, those pucks nearly went in but didn't.
Perhaps the closest moment was a Charlie Coyle shot off the crossbar. The rebound ended up behind Allen on the goal line. Any further and it would have been in. But David Backes (Minnesota's own) came to his goaltender's rescue and cleared the puck out of the way.
Here was a reactionary Tweet:
With about two minutes left, the Blues put the game away with another goal. Then Tarasenko ended up with the hat trick with an empty netter.
Thoughts from the split
Afterward, there was some unrest on Twitter about the game the Wild played. When you lose, of course you can point to what went wrong. But I really didn't think the Wild played a bad game. I mean, they nearly tied it up. They didn't get run out of the building.
Besides, a 2-0 series lead would have been great, but did we really think that was the most realistic option? If we've learned anything about this Wild team, it's that they don't do anything the easy way. Look at the playoff series they've won. During their 2003 run, they came back from 3-1 series deficits against Colorado and Vancouver to win in seven games. Last year, they beat the Avs in seven games.
I think the big question right now is: Can the Wild regain the home ice advantage? Unlike the past, it's been a much better team on the road, especially lately, than at home this season.
The Blues and Wild have matched up well so far in this series. I think we'll continue to see good hockey throughout the rest of the series. But let's hope there's a little puck luck for the Wild.
Some of the penalties were questionable, on both sides. The classic goaltender interference penalty was called on Zach Parise. I don't even know what's interference and what's not anymore with these calls. I'm also not saying the penalties had affected the outcome of the game. I'm just saying.
The Wild tried to battle back trailing 2-1 in the third. It had some unlucky plays, too. A couple pucks during the game hit awkwardly off the stanchion behind Blues goalie Jake Allen. Of course, those pucks nearly went in but didn't.
Perhaps the closest moment was a Charlie Coyle shot off the crossbar. The rebound ended up behind Allen on the goal line. Any further and it would have been in. But David Backes (Minnesota's own) came to his goaltender's rescue and cleared the puck out of the way.
Here was a reactionary Tweet:
#mnwild nearly tied it. Here is the reaction from me and mom: "NOOOOOOOOO...OHOHOHOH! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"
— Heather Rule (@hlrule) April 18, 2015
With about two minutes left, the Blues put the game away with another goal. Then Tarasenko ended up with the hat trick with an empty netter.
Thoughts from the split
Afterward, there was some unrest on Twitter about the game the Wild played. When you lose, of course you can point to what went wrong. But I really didn't think the Wild played a bad game. I mean, they nearly tied it up. They didn't get run out of the building.
Besides, a 2-0 series lead would have been great, but did we really think that was the most realistic option? If we've learned anything about this Wild team, it's that they don't do anything the easy way. Look at the playoff series they've won. During their 2003 run, they came back from 3-1 series deficits against Colorado and Vancouver to win in seven games. Last year, they beat the Avs in seven games.
I think the big question right now is: Can the Wild regain the home ice advantage? Unlike the past, it's been a much better team on the road, especially lately, than at home this season.
The Blues and Wild have matched up well so far in this series. I think we'll continue to see good hockey throughout the rest of the series. But let's hope there's a little puck luck for the Wild.
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