The big news following game one was the terrible crosscheck by Jared Spurgeon on Pavel Buchnevich. Spurgeon absolutely lost his head and made a stupid decision and one that could very easily have injured Buchnevich. Spurgeon is not a dirty player by any means, but that said there is no place in the game for that action.
I am sure that the Blues will let Spurg know about it and he will have a target for certain!
Game 2, what did the Wild learn from Game 1?
Despite the shutout there were a lot of positive elements of the Wild Game in the opener Monday.
5-on-5 the Wild were good, getting pucks to the net they were also solid.
Joel Eriksson Ek was one of the best Wild players on the ice and his line established thems3lves in the offensive zone all night. They however were not able to capitalize but a positive nonetheless.
Matt Boldy, playing in his first ever NHL playoff game, showed signs of what is to come. His puck protection was evident nearly every shift and his backbreaking wad relentless.
Marc-Andre Fleury is back in the Wild net tonight as was to be expected. Fleury was not the reason for Monday's defeat, however he also needs to clean it his game. The first two goals were the result of him losing his net after the initial save. That has been an issue through his short Wild tenure. Ideally, Fleury needs to cut down that uncontrolled lateral movement and put himself into better position to absorb pucks to nullify so e of the second and third chances the Blues got in game one.
Dean Evason said this morning that his team needs to play strong between the whistles and avoid the extra curricular stuff after the play has been blown dead. He did say that if the Blues players wa t to engage with the gloves off that is different and have at it. Otherwise, take the gloves to the face and turn away.
Evason must also make his own adjustment with how he conducts himself behind the Wild bench. As the season has progressed Evason's temper and anger toward the officials had become ever so noticeable and sometimes downright over the top. This behavior eventually funnels to the players and becomes an even bigger issue, creating a real problem amongst the officiating fraternity.
It is going to be a long series, these two teams are too good for it not to be. Game one is over, time for the next one tonight.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!