To open their series with Minnesota, the St. Louis Blues stepped onto the ice in game one and promptly had their style of play dictated to them by the Wild. On a game built with speed and getting the puck down low, Minnesota attacked the Blues, taking the game right to their own zone and dominating them at every phase. The contest was never really close, both on the scoreboard or the ice. No one expected a repeat by St. Louis in game two of the series, but few expected a player who was completely shutdown in the opening game to lead the offensive explosion.
Vladimir Tarasenko put on a show with a hat trick, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 defeat of the Minnesota Wild in their opening round series. It was the St. Louis sniper’s first career playoff hat trick and the first by a Blues’ player since Mike Sillinger scored three goals against San Jose on April 12th in the first round of the 2003-04 season playoffs. St. Louis lost that series 4-1 to the Sharks.
On the back end, rookie goaltender Jake Allen stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn his first NHL playoff victory. Allen’s play was inspiring to his teammates who like the rest of the onlookers, marveled at the miraculous saves he made on at least a half-dozen quirky plays. In his second NHL playoff start, Allen kept the home team in the game, allowing his teammates to gain confidence as the game wore on.
The tilt began with a unique starting line-up for St. Louis right from the opening draw. The fourth line of Steve Ott, Ryan Reaves and Marcel Goc, more known for their black and blue style of play, opened for the home team in an attempt to set a tone. It didn’t take long to show the sell-out crowd of 19,243 that game two would be different than the opening game of the series.
St. Louis afforded Minnesota very little space through the neutral zone, closing the gap between player and puck with crushing checks and a smothering defense. When an opening finally presented itself, it was St. Louis who drew the first point on the scoreboard just more than thirteen minutes into the opening period.
With suffocating pressure in the Minnesota zone, St. Louis corralled the puck in the corner to the right of the Wild goal. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk brought the puck safely to the right point and slid a clean pass to a waiting Alex Steen. The Blues second leading scorer sent a powerful drive to the low, left side of the Minnesota goal, which Vladimir Tarasenko tipped in, just past the outstretched right pad of Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. A relieved St. Louis crowd erupted knowing the first goal would likely dictate the game’s outcome.
Just less than five minutes later, the same scoring trio were back at it again, further applying a grip on the game. With Minnesota’s Matt Dumba off for interference caused by a pestering Ryan Reaves, St. Louis applied sustained pressure on the Wild net. Shattenkirk kept the puck in the zone after a clearing attempt and passed it off to Alex Steen at the near boards.
After waiting for the right opening, Steen found Tarasenko clear on the other side of the ice. The Russian sniper drew within a few feet from the end line at a sharp angle and found a small opening Dubnyk left exposed, firing it off his shoulder and into the net for a 2-0 lead.
The period closed with a blues advantage in shots 9-7 and two-goal lead, but more importantly, the momentum it sought to turn the series in the division champion’s favor.
In the second period, both teams kept each other in check trading shots and ending the period at ten a piece, but scoring no goals despite St. Louis having two power play opportunities to Minnesota’s lone man advantage.
Sensing the need to take risks early in the final period to get back into the game, Minnesota succeeded early in the final frame. Minnesota’s Marco Sandella dug the puck out of his own and began to carry the play up ice, a sequence which would end from his stick.
Minnesota’s Charlie Coyle entered the St. Louis zone and upon crossing the blue line, passed the puck to his left where Thomas Vanek was waiting. Sensing Sandella was advancing to join the play, Vanek left the puck for the rushing defenseman who fired a blast which had eyes, finding its’ way between leg and skates before beating Allen to put Minnesota on the scoreboard. The tightened 2-1 score brought the Wild back into the game.
For the next sixteen minutes, the pace was furious with St. Louis able to withstand the Minnesota rush. But the Wild nearly gained the equalizing goal with nine minutes to play when Charlie Coyle broke in alone on Allen, sent a drive high glove side, but hit the crossbar. The puck deflected down and back into Allen before careening toward the open goal. Blues’ captain David Backes cleared the sliding puck from the goal line to preserve the lead.
Minutes later, Finally, St. Louis gained an edge. After surviving a Wild attack, the Blues advanced the puck out of the zone and after a neutral ice battle, Jaden Schwartz poked the puck loose, passing it to an open Patrik Berglund. A player who has flown under the radar, Berglund crossed the Minnesota line and in waiting for the right spot, found one and sent the puck just under Dubnyk’s catching glove to give the Blues a 3-1 lead.
But the show was not over. While pushing to draw the score closer, Minnesota pulled Dubnyk and applied furious pressure on the Blues. Surviving one of several attempts, Tarasenko carried the puck out of his own zone, approached the center red line, turning before reaching it and sending a drive right into the center of the net to secure a 4-1 victory.
While Tarasenko provided the offense, Allen was rock solid in goal for the Blues. Having no chance on the only shot which eluded him and keeping the Blues in the game by making six magnificent stops, St. Louis seemed to gain more confidence in the netminder as the game wore on. They will need more of his solid play to advance to win the series and advance to the next round.
With the third best road record in the league during the regular season of 24-12-2, St. Louis now heads to St. Paul where the series shifts to the Xcel Energy Center for game three on Monday, April 20th at 7:00 PM Central. Minnesota returns home to familiar ice, where they hold a 22-13-6 record during the regular season, good for 19th overall.
Game four on Wednesday, April 22nd at 8:30 PM Central and game five will take place back in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center on Friday, April 24th at a time to be determined.
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