*** 2021-22 Playoffs Opening Round: St. Louis Blues (C3) at Minnesota Wild (C2) - (St.L WINS 4-2) ***

[ClusterChuck 1,629]

1 hour ago, Hockey Junkie said:

It’s not over but Blues need next one.  

Not a "must win" for the Blues but a really really need to  Win, Like the Wild's 2nd game at home. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Wild are in the lead in this series, but to me, Game 4 will be a test of how bad they want to win the set as the Blues are dealing with all sorts of issues on their blue line.
Torey Krug won't be in for Game 4 and there is speculation that he may be out for awhile with the nebulous LBI.

Nick Leddy and Robert Bortuzzo, who had missed Game 3 with injuries of their own, are drawing back in...but are they 100%, or are they being hurried back in because Krug, and I believe Scandella, have injuries, or nagging issues at best?

Given the Wild's newfound 'heavy style' of play, I would think they'd be smelling blood in the water here, knowing the Blues can't withstand a whole lot more on defense, and continue to grind and wear down those blue liners silly.

Also, Jordan Binnington is rumored to possibly start Game 4, making me think head coach Craig Berube is in some kind of damage control mode where he is trying for this series not to get away from his team.

Wild shouldn't take anything for granted of course.....assume that whomever is brought in for the Blues will play just as hard...but at the same time should be going after those St. Louis boys even tougher!

[Hockey Junkie 482]

On 5/7/2022 at 10:30 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Wild are in the lead in this series, but to me, Game 4 will be a test of how bad they want to win the set as the Blues are dealing with all sorts of issues on their blue line.
Torey Krug won't be in for Game 4 and there is speculation that he may be out for awhile with the nebulous LBI.

Nick Leddy and Robert Bortuzzo, who had missed Game 3 with injuries of their own, are drawing back in...but are they 100%, or are they being hurried back in because Krug, and I believe Scandella, have injuries, or nagging issues at best?

Given the Wild's newfound 'heavy style' of play, I would think they'd be smelling blood in the water here, knowing the Blues can't withstand a whole lot more on defense, and continue to grind and wear down those blue liners silly.

Also, Jordan Binnington is rumored to possibly start Game 4, making me think head coach Craig Berube is in some kind of damage control mode where he is trying for this series not to get away from his team.

Wild shouldn't take anything for granted of course.....assume that whomever is brought in for the Blues will play just as hard...but at the same time should be going after those St. Louis boys even tougher!

You may have a new view on this after Teresenko's hat trick puts the Wild on the brink?  I like the Blues chances.  If I were coach I would keep Binnington in the nets for the rest of this series unless he lets in a bundle in lets say period 1.  I just dont see that happening. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26 5,420]

Blues, beat up blue line and all, prove to still be too much for the Minnesota Wild and will now move on to face the Colorado Avalanche in Round 2.

 

Wild now move into the off season to try and answer some team questions, while their rival Blues look to regain former glory and raise the Stanley Cup for the 2nd time.

Jordan Binnington looked the part of a Cup winning goalie after initially, the team starting Ville Husso in net.
Something tells me that unless Binnington completely blows in in Game 1, he will be the go-to against Colorado.

Some new  hungry players on the Blues, but also, some guys who were around for the 1st Cup and want another sip.

What can be said about the Wild?
A surprise to many as they not only made the playoffs, but essentially transformed their entire team on the fly and made some believe (myself included), that they COULD get by St. Louis.

As good as MN played overall, and with as much heart as many of their players have, it is still obvious the team needs a little bit of everything in order to be able to make the playoffs every year and have a legit shot to win anything.

Maybe some low cost acquisitions would do the trick, maybe some trade of a valuable player for a haul of assets...who knows...

Grudging congratulations to the Blues.
Some may say they will have their hands full with the Avalanche.....but would it really be out of the realm of possibility the Avalanche will have their hands full with St. Louis?

[Brewin Flames 747]

rved.

St. Louis Blues win third straight to complete series comeback, conquer Minnesota Wild in 6

 

Minnesota fell 5-1 in Game 6 of its first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against host St. Louis on Thursday, dropping the best-of-seven 4-2. The Blues advance for the first time since 2019, when they won the franchise's first-ever Stanley Cup. They will face the Western Conference's No. 1 seed Colorado Avalanche in the second round.

The Wild have not advanced in the playoffs since 2014-15, losing in the first round each of the past five times they qualified.

 

 

Minnesota had been in control of this series at first, holding a 2-1 lead over St. Louis after Game 3. The Wild went on to lose the next three games by a combined score of 15-5.

To try staving off elimination, Wild coach Dean Evason turned from Marc-Andre Fleury to Cam Talbot in net for Game 6. Fleury, who was acquired by Minnesota at the trade deadline, played well early on, but the reigning Vezina Trophy winner was particularly leaky in Game 4 and Game 5 (.875 SV%, 4.10 GAA).

 

Talbot hadn't recorded a regular-season loss since March 1 but was still seated behind Fleury to start the playoffs. Thursday marked Talbot's first game action since April 28.

 

St. Louis took advantage and challenged Talbot out of the gate. Nick Leddy put the Blues up 1-0 in the first and St. Louis piled on in the second with Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak and Vladimir Tarasenko scoring in a span of just over nine minutes.

 

"It was a tough, tough battle,'' Bozak said. "That's a very good team over there. It's kind of a shame we played in the first round of the playoffs. It was two of the top teams in the West and they deserve a lot of credit for the season they had.''

 

Matt Dumba recorded the only Minnesota goal early in the third period, but the Wild never gained any more traction. Colton Parayko eventually sealed the deal for St. Louis with an empty-net goal.

 

Talbot finished with 22 saves and an .846 SV%.

 

"This is one of the most special groups I've been a part of,'' Talbot said. "We're really building something here. So, as much as this hurts right now, I'm proud of the guys, proud of the way we battled all season long.''

 

If Minnesota waited too long to orchestrate its goalie change, St. Louis certainly did not.

 

When the Wild took its 2-1 lead, Blues' coach Craig Berube made the switch from Ville Husso to Jordan Binnington in the crease. Binnington had not won a postseason start (0-9) since St. Louis clinched the Cup in 2019, but his 28-save performance helped secure the Blues' Game 4 win and gave the team new life.

 

"It's just his demeanor, you know, he loves this kind of stuff,'' Berube said.

 

Binnington turned aside 25 shots in Game 6 and allowed only five goals in three games to push the Blues on to the next round.

"We had a good first period and kind of weathered the storm,'' Binnington said. "They came out hard and they were playing desperate and I think we matched that and then we came out in the second period and played really hard.''

 

As Binnington continuously slammed the door, Minnesota's offense just kept drying up. Outside of Kirill Kaprizov -- who registered a team-leading 7 goals and 8 points in the series -- and Joel Eriksson Ek (three goals, five points), few of the Wild's other forwards had much impact. St. Louis generated far more balanced scoring, with multiple players scoring three of more goals in the series.

 

"There are a lot of emotions coming home and the building was electric and, yeah, everybody was kind of caught watching a bit and obviously Binner did an amazing job of shutting the door there early and then Ledds makes a great play and a great goal,'' O'Reilly said. "That just kind of helped us kind of settle down and start you know, building our game.''