As the regular season drew to a close and the playoff picture appeared in sharper focus, top seeded teams in the Western Conference were hopeful not to draw Minnesota in the first round. It wasn’t until the final game of the year that the seeds were set and St. Louis drew the short straw. Thanks to Minnesota’s 4-1 victory over the Blues in game six of their opening round series, now Chicago has something to be concerned about for the second round.
Minnesota has arrived and sits among the most dangerous teams remaining in the playoffs. Armed with the experience of last season, the Wild are a force to be reckoned with this Spring. Last season, they outlasted Colorado by winning in overtime of game seven. Then they pushed defending champion Chicago to overtime in a sixth game falling in defeat. The Wild are ready even though they survived St. Louis in peculiar fashion. It doesn’t matter; they are advancing and will seek to avenge their loss to the Blackhawks last season.
It was thought St. Louis might come out quick in game six, but their pace of play seemed to lack jump and opportunity. It was the Wild who found the scoreboard first and it came in similar style as to how their first goal in game five was scored.
Just more than seven minutes in, the Wild went on the attack while shorthanded. While taking the play wide along the near boards while entering the St. Louis zone, Zack Parise took the puck deep toward the end line and sent a shot a shot short side toward the Blues goal.
Blues goaltender Jake Allen was positioned in a way which left just enough open space between his body and the left post for the sharp-angled shot to find twine, giving the Wild a 1-0 lead. The weak goal was eerily similar to the soft first shot allowed when Minnesota tied the game 1-1 on Friday night.
As energy built up among the two teams, there were numerous chances on both sides. St. Louis’ best chance came on the power play with seven minutes to play in the opening frame. With Nino Niederreiter off for hooking Alex Steen, Kevin Shattenkirk laid into a blast from the blue line that a screened Devan Dubnyk just popped his left pad out to make the stop.
Minnesota applied a relentless assault of their own on a shaky Blues netminder, but the rookie stood tall and seemed to gain confidence as the period wore on. Allen stopped chances on several odd-man breaks and at least three close-in shots requiring him to be strong in the crease.
The period ended with Minnesota dominating in shots 10-4 and in hits 8-4. St. Louis was lucky to survive the first twenty minutes.
With a renewed purpose knowing they were outplayed early on, St. Louis came out quick, outshooting Minnesota 5-2 in the period’s first half and putting the Wild on their heels. When trouble came near the Minnesota net, though, Dubnyk was there. Minnesota’s stability transitioned to offense just after the midway point of the second period.
After winning the draw and working the puck to the neutral zone, Minnesota’s Justin Fontaine used his speed to pick up the puck and skate diagonal from the far boards toward the center of the St. Louis Line. Eluding Blues’ defenseman Jay Bouwmeester as he entered the zone, he sent a weak shot toward Allen. The speed of the shot seemed to fool the Blues goaltender and it slipped under his stick and between his pads untouched to give the Wild a 2-0 lead.
It was the second weak goal given up by Allen and led to St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock sending Brian Elliott in to replace him after the goal at 11:19 of the period. Allen left having stopped just 11 of 13 shots and had his confidence shaken on two inexcusable goals. It was the right move to make and allowed St. Louis and opportunity to get back into the game. In facing a new goaltender, Minnesota sought to pepper Elliott early and the veteran backstopper lived up to the pressure by thwarting the early attack.
St. Louis continued to find ways to get chances on the Wild net. They found ways to outshoot Minnesota 14-7 in the period, the last shot allowing the Blues to get back into the game with just three seconds remaining in the period.
Taking the draw to the far side of the Minnesota net, St. Louis worked the puck back to defenseman Alex Pietrangelo at the right point. He passed to Kevin Shattenkirk stationed at the left point and sent a desperation shot on goal. It was deflected through the scrum of players in front of Dubnyk, but St. Louis’ T.J. Oshie corralled the puck along the end line. He banked a shot off Dubnyk into the net to give the Blues life and narrowing Minnesota’s lead to 2-1.
Elliott finished the period stopping all 4 of Minnesota’s shots and the Blues outshot the Wild through two periods 19-17, doubling the home team in the middle frame 15-7.
While St. Louis sought to build on the momentum of the late period goal, Minnesota had other ideas. Mikael Granlund brought the puck over the far boards into the St. Louis zone. He hit a streaking Jason Pominville who slipped behind the defense and put a shot in Elliott. The Blues goaltender made the save, but kicked the puck out in front where no player cleared it away. That would have been helpful since a waiting Zach Parise was there to put it into the open net for his second goal of the game, giving Minnesota a 3-1 lead.
Still, St. Louis continued to press in hopes of drawing closer to Minnesota. One of the best chances came with twelve minutes to play. A point blank drive by Jaden Schwartz nearly snuck past Dubnyk, but the netminder got a shoulder on it before the Wild cleared it the other way for icing. Midway through the period, the Blues held a 10-2 edge in shots, but St. Louis could not get one past Dubnyk.
In a last effort, the Blues pulled Elliott for an extra attacker and, while mounting pressure on the Minnesota net, could not score. With just under two minutes to play, Nino Niederreiter found open space and from his own blue line, deposited the puck into the empty net to close out the scoring and secure a 4-1 victory for the Wild.
St. Louis finished the period ahead on shots 12-4 and for the game 31-21, but it didn’t matter. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Blues season ends again far too early.
For the last 47 seasons (plus the one lockout year, so make it 48), the St. Louis Blues ended their season with disappointment. Along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Blues have gone the longest period of time without a Stanley Cup. The Leafs last won in 1966 while the Blues have never won in their history, a journey which began in 1967.
It marks the third straight season the Blues were dispatched in the first round, this after stellar regular season results.
As the top seed and division champion heads to the off-season, it is highly likely a new coach will lead from the bench next season. And don’t be surprised if T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund shed the blue note for another team’s jersey. While eight other teams will advance to play a second round, St. Louis will be left to ponder why another season ended again far too early.
Follow me on Twitter at DMMORRELL
You must be logged in to post a comment.