Well that was not the result we were expecting, last night. Take aways from last night's disappointing 2-1 OT loss to St. Louis.
The obvious is the fact that the Wild dominated the play 5 on 5, the shots 52-26, the face-offs 47-33, the hits 35-18. But the only thing that matters is the final score and that is the one category the Wild did not win.
Zach Parise's goal with 22 seconds left, with Devan Dubnyk off for the extra skater showed a lot of character about this Wild team. There is no panic, from the play behind the net where Eric Staal took the puck quickly off the back of the net keeping the play alive and then out to Granlund for the head up play to Koivu in the middle and his touch pass to Parise, who made no mistake burying the equalizer. That goal was executed to perfection and don't think for a minute that playoff experience didn't come into play on that goal.
The good news is the Wild looked like the Wild team that ascended to the top of the Western Conference standings for much of the season, prior to their March swoon. Yes, Jake Allen, played very well and kept the Blues in the game long enough to give them an opportunistic chance in OT, on a broken play, for the game winning goal.
The good for the Wild far outweighs the bad in overall play of the game, but the bad was their lack of any pressure on their three powerplay opportunities. 5 on 5 they seemed to look to shoot to create offense, but with the man advantage they that philosophy went out the window.
The Blues penalty kill is absolutely one of the best in the league, but no team is invincible and there is always a way to get shots through to the net especially with the man advantage. It is time for the Wild to incorporate a big body in front of the net to keep the Blues PJK honest and take away the sight lines from Allen. It seems so simple but for some reason the Wild rarely incorporate this system on the PP.
Jake Allen stopped 51 of 52 Wild shots, but he also kicked out numerous rebounds. So yes, it was a great playoff performance from the Blues netminder, but given the circumstances that appears to be more of an aberration rather than the norm.
The Wild never appeared to be frustrated by the fact that they were not scoring, despite the tremendous number of chances. Usually when a goalie is in the zone, teams tend to get too fancy and think that the only way to beat a hot goalie is to look for the perfect play. The Wild never did that, which leads me to believe that they know deep down that they can and will beat Allen and that as long as they play their game they will be triumphant in the end.
Dubnyk was not tested nearly as much as was Allen, but he played very well, and came up with some huge saves especially late in the third period, one in particular off the stick of notorious Wild killer, Vladimir Tarasenko. Dubnyk was tracking the first goal into his glove, when it caromed off the leg of Wild defenseman, Christian Folin, changing the trajectory and ultimately finding the back of the net.
That goal along with the winning goal are not at all on Dubnyk as the game winner, was the direct result of the puck being accidently lost by Tarasenko, who was going to the net to shoot himself. The puck found a wide open Joel Edmundson who had the gaping 4X6 net to seel the victory.
The Wild PK was very good and actually generated better chances shorthanded than did the Blues with the man advantage.
Friday is game two, no time to worry about game 1 any longer, as it is in the past. St. Louis will make their own adjustments and will be better themselves. They have a an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series heading home. Bruce Boudreau will of course make his own adjustments, but I think his may be a bit more subtle, as the Wild really controlled the play and actually played a very strong Wild game.
A noticeable detail was how often the Wild sent the puck deep into the right wing side of the ice, where Allen often played the puck off the glass and back out. He did almost get caught on a bad carom of the glass support but recovered quickly enough to steer the puck away. This is an area the Wild can exploit and you can bet that BB and staff are working on ways to either create chances for themselves or to take this clearing option away from Allen.
Game one lived up to the buildup that this will be a hard fought series and every inch of the ice is fought for and desperation plays a big role every shift. Mistakes are magnified in the playoffs, and last night the Blues capitalized on a Wild mistake on the Brodin failed clear off a defensive zone faceoff win. The Wild were unable to take advantage of the Blues blunders and the result is a 1-0 series lead for St. Louis.
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