Of the eight match-ups in the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the battle between St. Louis and Minnesota has played out with no real rhyme or reason. Both teams have traded victories the entire series, with the winner in each dominating the other. St. Louis came into game five with as much momentum as any heading home for game six. Unfortunately for the Blues, the team forgot to show up.
Despite giving up the first score eight minutes into the game, Minnesota rattled off four straight goals en route to a dominating 4-1 victory, control of the series and the opportunity to clinch Sunday afternoon.
St. Louis began the night with everything going in their favor; coming off a 6-1 victory in game four to win back home ice advantage with the opportunity to seize control of the series. Game five started out well as continued pressure on Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk finally led to the game’s opening goal.
Just more than eight minutes into the game, the Blues attack gained control in the zone and Blues forward Alex Steen sent a pass from near the goal line across the crease to a waiting Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian goal scorer slammed the puck into the lower left corner of the net, off Dubnyk’s right pad and into the net for the 1-0 lead. The home crowd erupted from the fever pitch they had been at since an hour before game time.
It was Tarasenko’s sixth goal of the series on just nine shots and seemed to continue a trend of playoff games where the Blues when he scores. It wouldn’t play out that way, though.
Just three minutes later and on Minnesota’s first shot on goal, Jared Spurgeon entered the Blues’ zone and sent a pass to his left for a streaking Marco Scandella on the near boards. Scandella let go a blast high glove side on St. Louis goalie Jake Allen. The drive went off the cuff of Allen’s catch glove and into the net to tie the game. The mistake in allowing such a weak goal seemed to deflate the Blues and the crowd struggled to get back into the game from that point forward.
The period ended with St. Louis having the better chances and outshooting Minnesota 12-3. The Blues were unable to solve Dubnyk despite the onslaught and it would prove to haunt them as the game wore on.
A few minutes into the middle frame, Alex Steen broke in around the Minnesota defense and nearly gave St. Louis the lead, but Dubnyk made a spectacular blocker save. Later in the second period, Steen had Dubnyk down and seemingly out, but could not lift the puck over the prone goaltender who was able to get his left pad on the drive. Those moments would come back to haunt St. Louis.
Minnesota continued to build on their fortuitous goal in the first period and the tide seemed to shift just five minutes left in the middle frame. With the Wild pushing late in the period, former Blues’ forward Chris Stewart bug the puck out of the corner, to the right of Allen, and fed Nino Niederreiter who one-timed a blast off the right post and in for the 2-1 lead.
And there was more. With Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk off for interfering with Minnesota’s Jason Zucker, Wild captain Mikko Koivu had his intended pass across the crease go off the heal Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester’s right skate, up over Allen and into the net for the 3-1 lead. It was Koivu’s first of the playoffs.
Minnesota had gained the upper hand in the game with converting two of their 13 shots in the period while St. Louis struggled to muster much offense with just 6 shots.
In the final period, St. Louis’ best chances came from their most lethal scorer. Eight minutes into the period and right off the draw, Vladimir Tarasenko sent a wicked wrist shot toward the Minnesota net, catching Dubnyk in the mask, but failing to score. A little more than five minutes later, Tarasenko found a loose puck and, while falling, sent a shot on goal which Dubnyk deflected away with his blocker. It would be St. Louis’ final chance at getting back into the game.
Minnesota wasn’t done with their scoring at put the final nail in the Blues’ coffin with just more than five minutes to play. After corralling the puck in the Blues’ zone, Thomas Vanek found Charlie Coyle above the far circle. The Minnesota center sent a drive toward a screened Allen, beating him low right side to make it a 4-1 lead. It was the second shot of the period.
Minnesota would end the period with just three shots to St. Louis’ nineteen. For the game, the Blues led in shots 37-19.
For Minnesota, Devan Dubnyk was the story of the night stopping 36 of 37 shots and giving his team confidence when his team struggled to score. Earlier in the day, he was nominated, along with Montreal’s Carey Price and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne, for the Vezina Trophy, given to NHL’s best goaltender.
For Nino Niederreiter, his game-winning goal gives him the franchise playoff record of 3. The victory in game five allows Minnesota to take series lead into an elimination game for the first time in their history.
For the Blues, it was another disappointing night at home, fueled by the first-period gaffe Allen made allowing Minnesota to tie the game 1-1 in the first period. The Blues look to their success from game four and perhaps some inspired play due to their being up against elimination. A loss to Minnesota in the series would mark the third straight season the Blues failed to survive the first round of the playoffs and lead to the end of coach Ken Hitchcock’s tenure in St. Louis.
Game six returns to St. Paul on Sunday, April 26th at 2:00 PM central time If a decisive game seven is needed, it will come back to St. Louis on Wednesday, April 29th.
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