Wild Blog: Wild Beat St. Louis In Possible Playoff Preview
By Craig D. Schroepfer, WCCO Radio
With 10 games left to play in the NHL season, the Minnesota Wild is in position to earn a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If Minnesota does qualify for the postseason, there is a good chance the St. Louis Blues will be their opponent.
And if Saturday was an indicator, the Wild will be ready for them.
A four-goal outburst by Minnesota chased St. Louis goaltender Brian Elliot from the net in the second period as the Wild went on to a 6-3 win. It was the second time in seven days that Minnesota has defeated the Blues, beating them 3-1 a week ago in St. Louis.
Minnesota got on the board first when former Blues forward Chris Stewart scored on a breakaway at 7:47 of the first period to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. For Stewart, it was a sweet goal that was even sweeter considering who it came against.
"I think anytime you play a former team it's an easy one to get up for, especially this time of year," Stewart said. "It's not often that St. Louis gives up breakaways so when you get that chance you definitely want to make them pay."
Minnesota would add three more goals to make it 4-0 when Elliott was pulled from the game for Jake Allen. The goaltending switch gave St. Louis a small spark as they would score twice in 1 minute, 39 seconds to make it a 4-2 game. The Wild called a timeout to calm things down, and at 16:11 of the second period, Justin Fontaine would score to give Minnesota a three-goal lead once again.
"The defenseman kind of lost his footing so I was able to skate in a little closer," Fontaine said about his goal. "I got a fortunate bounce as it went in off Allen's stick but you take them anyway you can get them."
With the 6-3 victory, the Wild can feel good that they were able to control the pace of the game and pick up a win against a very good NHL team that they don't normally match up well against. Especially since Minnesota was outplayed in St. Louis seven days ago.
"We knew the challenge coming into the game," Captain Mikko Koivu said. "Every single point is important to us right now that every single night is a challenge. St. Louis is one of the best teams in the NHL so we have to be ready for every shift."
Despite beating the Blues for the second time in a week, the Wild is not looking at this victory as a possible playoff preview.
"The postseason is so different. We got a long ways to go and we have to worry about just getting there. You don't want to look too far ahead," Zach Parise said. "The game we won in St. Louis, we might have stolen that one. Today was an all-around better game. We controlled the puck a lot better and spent more time in their zone."
While the players may not be looking ahead to the playoffs just yet, Wild fans are. Each team has 10 games left in the season and while nothing is definite, it's very likely that these two hockey clubs could play each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The next meeting between Minnesota and St. Louis takes place in three weeks on April 11 in St. Louis, the final night of the regular season. If the standings remain the same, however, it won't be the last time these teams see each other this year.
Follow Craig D. Schroepfer on Twitter at @CDSWCCO.
