The Minnesota Wild returned home to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for their game three tilt against St. Louis. Armed with the 19th-best home record in the regular season and going up against the league’s 3rd-best road record, Minnesota sought to reverse their fortunes and return to the style which brought them victory in game one. The Wild did even better.
On the strength of speed and clogging the neutral zone, Minnesota destroyed St. Louis 3-0 in a game which featured timely scoring and a relentless attack on the Blues net. Had it not been for the stellar play of St. Louis rookie goaltender Jake Allen, the score would have been further out of hand.
The opening period began with a tense exchange or rushes and heavy hits with Minnesota gaining the upper hand in shots 9-4. While the period ended scoreless, Minnesota held the advantage on an effort which pinned St. Louis deep in their end for extended periods of time. Only the solid efforts by Allen allowed the Blues to survive the assault.
When the middle frame began, the Wild went back on the attack as St. Louis struggled to gain traction. With less than six minutes left to go in the period and on their 19th shot, Minnesota finally broke through.
With St. Louis forward pushing in the Minnesota zone, Wild centerman Mikael Granlund came with the puck out of his own zone, carrying the puck along the far boards and into the offensive zone. With Blues’ forwards caught flat-footed, Granlund went to his backhand, but was poke checked by Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson. The loose puck went to Zack Parise who found Jason Pominville alone and behind Allen, sending it to him for the easy poke in and the 1-0 lead. It was his second goal of the playoffs.
It didn’t take long for the Wild to add to their lead on their next shot and it was the same three Minnesota players who created the first goal who were at it again. A little more than two minutes after opening the scoring, Mikael Granlund corralled the puck at center ice and found Jason Pominville streaking toward the St. Louis zone. He dished it off to Zack Parise on the far side whose subsequent drive was blocked before it could reach the net. It was his first goal of the playoffs.
After some cycling the play along the far boards, Pominville regained control of the puck and found Parise high in the slot. With three Blues players challenging Parise, the Minnesota left wing found the puck at his skates and continue to battle for it until he could release a shot on net, beating Allen high on the glove side for the 2-0 lead.
The period ended with Minnesota holding a 20-10 lead in shots and a 10-2 lead in the takeaway category. With the exception of the St. Louis goaltender, the Blues players hardly showed up for the game.
In the third period, with their backs up against the wall, St. Louis attempted to mount a comeback. With several opportunities on odd-man rushes to draw closer to the Wild, Kevin Shattenkirk missed the net entirely on a clever feed from Vladimir Tarasenko from the left side.
While St. Louis held the edge in third-period shots 7-4, Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk capably held Blues shooters at bay to record his first ever NHL playoff shutout.
The Wild were 0 for 3 on the power play, but perhaps importantly, did not take a single penalty the entire game.
Should St. Louis fail to show-up for the next game and lose to Minnesota, they would trail the Wild 3-1 in the series and likely continue to path all too familiar in the club’s nearly 50-year history failure to deliver success in the post-season after a successful regular season.
Game four is set for the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Wednesday, April 22nd at 8:30 PM Central while game five will take place back in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center on Friday, April 24th at a time to be determined. If necessary, game six will return to St. Paul on Sunday, April 26th at a time to be determined.
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