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In the middle of this series between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues are two different coaches. Both understand their teams, but as Mike Max reports, Ken Hitchcock appears unfazed by a 2-1 deficit. Mike Yeo has grown up as an NHL coach in front of the Wild fans' eyes.
The Minnesota Wild were built around speed. Playing smart has been, and will continue to be, an equally important factor in their success in this playoff series against St. Louis.
If there is one thing that can make a playoff series more dramatic than it already is, it's the presence of a villain. Whether it's a player you detest, a guy who just rubs you the wrong way or a person you only tolerate because he's plays for your team, knowing that if he played anywhere else you would despise them, a villain just makes things more intriguing.
Fans turned out in droves for the Wild's shutout win at the Xcel Energy Center Monday night. At the Wild Hockey Lodge, sales are double what they typically are for regular season games.
Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves and Jason Pominville and Zach Parise scored second-period goals and the Minnesota Wild earned a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 of their Western Conference series on Monday.
As the series shifts back to St. Paul tonight for game three, another key to the series has emerged and it's one that Minnesota needs to take care of if they want to win the series and move on to the next round. The Wild have to find a way to stop St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals in the first period and then had an empty-netter for his first career playoff hat trick, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday that evened their playoff series at a game apiece.
Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba gave Minnesota a two-goal lead through two periods and the Wild kept chances to a minimum for Devan Dubnyk, opening the playoffs strong with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
Five-hundred-sixty-two miles separate the Minnesota Wild from their fans. But in downtown St. Paul Thursday, playoff excitement still had that home-ice feel. "This is where you go," St. Paul resident Linda Eichinger said. "Hockey fans, we're together and we're going to celebrate them no matter if they're in town or away."
Everyone knows the Blues are a good team with a lot of depth and a lot of size. This is going to be a very physical series, but the Wild is a fast team and if they can use that quickness to get out of their zone and on the rush, they'll be in perfect position.
The Minnesota Wild open the playoffs Thursday night in St. Louis, but fans can still watch the game at the Xcel Energy Center, where there will be a free viewing party.
Minnesota sports have been in a bad state, and a new analysis pours salt on the wound.
The St. Louis Blues are going with the hot hand in goal to start the playoffs, choosing rookie Jake Allen over veteran Brian Elliott. The 24-year-old Allen was 5-1-1 with 1.32 goals against average and .950 save percentage in his last eight games.
The Minnesota Wild ended the 2014-15 season Saturday with a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Minnesota will have anywhere from four to seven chances to avenge that defeat over the next couple weeks as the Wild and the Blues face-off in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So which team has the edge? Let's go to the tale of the tape.
The Minnesota Wild know its first-round opponent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the St. Louis Blues, well. Do they know themselves well enough? That's the job of leadership and in the case of the Wild, its captain is Mikko Koivu.
