The ‘Puck has dropped for Game 1 between the Minnesota Wild & the St. Louis Blues!
Our Playoff Preview is here if you didn’t see it!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
St. Louis Blues
Game Recap
Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek welcomes Blues D Nico Mikkola to the Playoffs by knocking him on his ass! Mikkola is in the lineup for the Blues because former Wild D Marco Scandella is out with an injury.
don’t even TRY to touch Joel. pic.twitter.com/RxLpkdTnYN
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) May 3, 2022
2:00 – Penalty – Blues – 26 Nathan Walker for Holding
Twooooo Minutes
3:50 – Penalty Shot – MN – Jonas Brodin for Hooking or Lifting the Stick
Blues awarded a penalty shot??? pic.twitter.com/XDdUTUEgjO
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) May 3, 2022
And Marc-Andre Fleury says NO!!!
Marc Andre Fleury with the big save on the Penalty shot!! #mnwild pic.twitter.com/KvdMA1gTNT
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) May 3, 2022
The Officials have entered the game as they give nothing to Brayden Schenn for absolutely blowing up Matt Dumba or the Hold on Perron who had Brodin’s stick.
Scheen just absolutely rolls over Dumba, but nothing is called pic.twitter.com/e3gTo2qJ7Y
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) May 3, 2022
and after, Greenway gets a roughing penalty for defending himself after Tarasenko goes after him. Wild on the PK. pic.twitter.com/ayH2MJNuiN
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) May 3, 2022
That Is A Joke!!!!
It’s the Playoffs! You gotta let that go and give them a warning when it’s not even 5 minutes into the Playoffs.
And, of course, they score so Greenway gave the official some of his thoughts as he was let out of the box.
6:17 – Perron on the Power Play off a rebound that went right to him. 1-0 Blues
7:36 – Penalty – STL – Bortuzzo – Holding the Stick- Twooooo minutes
You never want to get caught holding the stick
Now, can the Minnesota Wild do something with it? They had some chances on their first power play.
Nope. No dice on PP2.
Wild F Matt Boldy threw a pretty big hit on Leddy!
Perron then took a penalty when he hit Ryan Hartman up high and Hartman left the ice.
2 Blues hit Ryan Hartman. Perron hit him late and his glove got up in Hartman’s face.
Wild got some good zone time but they were having trouble getting shots through. Will they adjust? Take shots. Create rebounds?
Not yet. No goals, yet.
Good shift from the Wild’s Identity line to get some good vibes going.
Wild F Ryan Hartman was back on the ice and he almost got a pass through for a great scoring chance to Kaprizov (?).
Rebound goal again for STL – O’Reilly
The Wild finished the period well and had a nice push at the end then pushed the Blues around so the 2nd will start at 4-on-4 as both Blues F Ivan Barbashev & Wild F Kevin Fiala got 2 minutes for roughing.
1st Period Stats
STL | MN
Shots
12 | 14
Faceoffs
50% | 50%
Hits
7 | 9
Blocks
0 | 9
No Blocked Shots for the Blues? That’s hard to believe.
2nd
The Wild started the 2nd getting back to their game and had the puck for the majority of the 1st half of the period but still, NO GOALS!
12:29 – Penalty – STL – David Perron – Holding the Stick
It’s time to make it count, Wild…
Post by Ek on a shot from the slot then a rebound almost goes but still no goals on the Power Play.
15:39 – Penalty – MN – Jordan Greenway – Cross-Checking
Greener hit Torey Krug legally and then, for some reason, he gave him an extra hit.
Perron then added his 2nd goal off of a rebound.
19:32 – Penalty – STL – Justin Faulk – Roughing on Joel Eriksson Ek
St. Louis Blues Head Coach Craig Berube’s Reaction to the penalty:
Berube: (loosely translated) “How the f*** do you take one guy after that s***… that’s completely f***ed” pic.twitter.com/veZAqSkNCX
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) May 3, 2022
Here’s the Penalty and you have to wonder if Berube saw that because that seems very obvious. Twoooo Minutes!
Faulk went off for punching Eriksson Ek in the face for no reason. how DARE you touch Joel! pic.twitter.com/yLwi4S9IMH
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) May 3, 2022
2nd Period Stats
STL | MN
Shots
22 (10) | 28 (14)
Faceoffs
50% | 50%
Hits
15 (8) | 17 (8)
Blocks
3(3) | 12(3)
Power Plays
2/2(1/1) | 0/5 (0/2)
3rd
Make that 0-for-6 on the Power Play.
8:04 – Penalty – STL – Robert Thomas for Hooking Jordan Greenway
A loose puck came out to Ryan O’Reilly and Kevin Fiala got a high-sticking penalty as he tried to lift the stick of Ryan O’Reilly and it’s a double-minor.
8:32 – Penalty – MN – Kevin Fiala – High-Sticking
FOURRRR Minutes! DOH!
The Wild kill off all but the final second of the power play and they again, score off a rebound and, again, it’s David Perron for the Hat Trick.
The Wild showed their frustration late in the game with Marcus Foligno going after Nico Mikkola and Brayden Schenn. Why? Maybe to try to set a tone for Game 2? That’s the only thing that makes sense.
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Final & Stats
St. Louis Blues 4 | 0 Minnesota Wild
Goals
MN: None
STL: David Perron(1), Ryan O’Reilly(1), David Perron(2), David Perron(3)
Assists
MN: None
STL: Ryan O’Reilly(1), Torey Krug(1); Justin Faulk(1), David Perron(1); Brayden Schenn(1), Torey Krug(2); Torey Krug(3), Brandon Saad(1)
Goalies
MN: Marc-Andre Fleury – 27 Saves on 31 Shots on Goal, .871 Save%,
STL: Ville Husso – 37 Saves on 37 Shots on Goal, 1.000 Save%, 1st Playoff Win & 1st Playoff Shutout in his 1st Playoff Game
Game Notes
*
Emotions in Motion or Composure Exposure
The Wild didn’t keep their emotions in check. It caused at least 2 penalties and they know they can’t (or don’t want to) do that and put the 2nd-best power play on the ice.
If they control their emotions in those moments, who knows what would’ve happened?
**
Not Special Teams
The Wild showed why they don’t want to put the Blues on the Power Play and the Blues showed why they don’t care if they put the Wild on the Power Play.
The Blues were 3-for-6 on the Power Play and the Wild were 0-for-6 on the power play. They earned the Power Plays but just couldn’t do enough with them. Sometimes, a team can get momentum on the power play but even that didn’t seem to matter for the Minnesota Wild tonight.
***
Don’t Stop Believin’!
This Minnesota Wild team has responded to adversity all season long. This will be no different.
There is a long way to go and this Minnesota Wild team can do anything. It wouldn’t surprise us if they won 4-in-a-row because they will have learned a ton from this game on what not to do and they learn from their losses.
There isn’t really much of an advantage to playing at home anymore in hockey or any of the major sports anymore. It’s one game at a time. Forget about the last game if you win or if you lose because it doesn’t matter. It’s just like the regular season. They play 82 games to get a spot in the playoffs and then forget about those 82 games.
The Wild got to their game but it took away and they really played right into what the Blues likely wanted to do in getting power plays and sticking to what they do best, special teams.
We know “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades•” but the Wild were So Close A Lot tonight. Stick Taps to Hockey Wilderness on Twitter!
*Is that even a valid saying anymore? Should it be something else?
Postgame:
Minnesota Wild Head Coach Dean Evason postgame after Game 1 vs STL
Next Up:
Game 2 on Wednesday at 8:30 pm on Bally Sports North/ESPN!
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AND…as always…
