Watch CBS News

Wild Blog: Wild Need To Find A Way To Stop Tarasenko

by Craig D. Schroepfer, WCCO Radio (@CDSWCCO)

The playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues has been a contrast in different styles of play between each team.

Minnesota is a team that uses their speed and skating to create scoring chances while St. Louis is a physical team that loves to hit and create space on the ice while doing so.

So far after two games in the series, both styles have stood out. The Wild used their speed to take game one while the Blues were more physical in winning game two.

As the series shifts back to St. Paul tonight for game three, another key to the series has emerged and it's one that Minnesota needs to take care of if they want to win the series and move on to the next round.

The Wild have to find a way to stop St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

The 23-year-old Russian led St. Louis in scoring this year with 73 points and was fifth in the NHL in goals with 37. Tarasenko has unlimited offensive potential and is a threat to score at all times when the puck is on his stick. That's something the Blues haven't had since Brett Hull skated for them in the '90s.

Tarasenko was quiet in game one, only assisting on Alex Steen short-handed goal with under a minute to play. Tarasenko didn't even have a shot on net.

Game two was a different story as Tarasenko made his presence felt early in the first period, sneaking behind Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and tipping an Alex Steen shot past Devan Dubnyk to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

Nearly five minutes later, Tarasenko scored his second goal of the game as he was found open streaking toward the net. Once Tarasenko got the puck, he shot it at Dubnyk and found just enough space to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

Tarasenko's third goal was an empty net goal but that came as a result of the damage he did earlier in the game.

It's only been two games but Tarasenko has already shown how much better of a team the Blues are when he is involved in the offense.

Now with action shifting back to St. Paul for game three, one thing Minnesota will have in their favor as the home team is the final line change.

The Wild aren't expected to have one player shadow Tarasenko because St. Louis has too much depth at forward for Minnesota to do so. What Mike Yeo will have to do is make sure he has the right players out on the ice to match up with Tarasenko.

Whether it's the line of Mikko Koivu, Jason Zucker and Chris Stewart matching up against Tarasenko's line tonight or the defensive pairing of Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin, one thing we have learned so far in this series is that Tarasenko is the scariest player on the ice and must be accounted for at all times.

Columbus General Manager Jarko Kekalainen was the director of amateur scouting for St. Louis when he drafted Tarasenko 16th overall in the 2010 NHL draft. Kekalainen said about Tarasenko: "If his name was Walt Smith he would have been gone before the 16th pick."

Tarasenko may not be a household name yet but if Minnesota doesn't find a way to contain him for the rest of the series, it could be a name Wild fans are cursing for years to come.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.