St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo still owns a house in Minnesota from his days when he coached the Wild. His next chance to play will be Sunday, when the Blues return home for Game 3.
All the Corsi in the world doesn't matter when you're forced to take low-percentage shots, and that's what the Wild have been settling for in this first-round series. They are trying as bad as everybody.
Schwartz's skid ended about two weeks later, also in Colorado. They had the most even strength goals in the National Hockey League and the second most goals overall. They pack it in pretty tight. In the first game especially the Wild did not get many looks close to the net. Devan Dubnyk isn't the problem.
Perhaps most interesting on Thursday was hearing the winning team talk about the need to play better and hearing the losing team talk about needing to stay the course. "I think if we play that way and 10 percent better, then I think the results will be a little bit different". Sobotka has been a welcome addition to the Blues lineup, scoring a goal in the first game of the series.
Instead, the Blues have done nearly everything right.
As for the Wild, well, this has to be a frustrating position to be in.
For Blues fans, that's a familiar feeling. Minnesota needs to get a lead on St. Louis and take it from there.
"I think we kind of expect that type of series, for them to wait and be patient and wait for a turnover, wait for something to get their chance and then try to lock it down", said Parise.
It was painful to watch. Keeping the Minnesota Wild forwards out of the crease was clearly a priority.
Now, the tables have turned.
Apparently, it is more comforting to pad the walls at home instead of banging their heads in a St. Louis hotel room for a few days agonizing over how this magnificent season of Stanley Cup aspirations is swirling down the drain of an terrible week.
Blackhawks Down 2-0, Looking For Answers In Stanley Cup Playoffs
Trying to squeeze the life out of the Blackhawks and hang onto the smallest advantage is a way to steal a game but not a series. But it was more of the same for the Blackhawks, who once again looked out of sync against the Predators active defense.
Instead, the Blues have snaked their way into the heads of Minnesota like those nasty worms from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan.
The Minnesota coach became irritated with the media and somewhat stormed out when he was done.
"You know, sometimes it's nice to get on the road and get away from the distractions at home", Stewart said. A huge two wins for us, but we haven't seen our best.
His statements are true.
"You're not looking at like, 'Uh oh. Let's just win one game.' And take it from there".
That sounds very familiar. Blues C Jori Lehtera was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Now the Blues and Allen have all the answers and Minnesota is feeling around in the dark. "Trust me, I know what happened", he said. "Well, it's obvious that it's offense".
Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom scored for the top-seeded Capitals, who are now feeling the heat going into Game 3 today in Toronto. We have to figure that out soon.
No news on the Paul Stastny front for St. Louis. Not only because of the 3-0 advantage, but the mental state you have your opponent in.
Minnesota's 2-1 overtime loss at Xcel Energy Center rang hollow after thoroughly dominating its reclusive opponent only to be undone by the play-making wizardry of the most talented player on either team.
Even if you allow the Wild a faint glimmer of hope, it must be snuffed out entirely quickly after. They have relied less on Allen every game too.
Game 2 was a case of deja vu for both the Blues and Wild with the visitors scoring first off the stick of Joel Edmundson before things were leveled up by Zach Parise once again. They've needed him to be great, but not superhuman. Join the Bleedin' Blue team!
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