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NHL Playoffs Preview: Blues vs Wild

By Lauren Lapka

Mar 1, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko (91) skates against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 6-5 after a shoot out. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko (91) skates against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 6-5 after a shoot out. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues will meet in the first round of the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues, two teams with a lot of similarities will face each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They both look to redeem themselves this post season after not advancing past the second round the past few tries.

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The St. Louis Blues finished 51-24-7 with 109 points to take the Central Division from the Nashville Predators. They have a strong roster with a lot of muscle. Where they really thrive is the power play, they finished the regular season ranked fourth.

The Minnesota Wild finished 46-28-8 with 100 points. This team has really been fighting to make a name for themselves the past couple year. They have strength in their offense with a lot of great players, but they struggle on the power play and they finished the regular season ranked 27th.

PLAYERS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

Both teams have had to work to find a steady goaltender through the season. The Blues moved on from Brian Elliott and welcomed in Jake Allen. Allen started every game in April but one and rocked a sparkling .964 save percentage in the month. It’ll be his first playoff appearance, however, so he’ll have to be sure to bring his big-boy pants.

The Wild turned to Devan Dubnyk and were rewarded by going 28-9-3 in his span of 39 straight starts. In that run, Dubnyk notched a 1.78 goals against and a .936 save percentage–that’s two goals or fewer in 29 of those 39. Either Allen or Dubnyk could go from “Who’s that guy” to “Oooh, that guy” status with a solid series.

What separates these two teams is the depth. The Wild have a powerful top end with Zach Parise, Nino Neiderieter and Thomas Vanek but, up and down, the Blues centermen are skilled, tough and ugly… real ugly.

INJURIES:

The only thing that could derail the Blues in this series is health. Everyone is available come playoff time but Alex Pietrangelo, TJ Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk and the caveman David Backes have all missed time lately.

PREDICTION:

This is one of the harder series to try to read, but the Blues are just so aggressive and they know what they’re doing out there. I’m taking St. Louis in 6.

SCHEDULE:

GAME 1: April 16, Minnesota @ St. Louis 9:30ET/8:30CT NBCSN

GAME 2: April 18, Minnesota @ St. Louis 3:00ET/2:00CT NBC

GAME 3: April 20, Minnesota vs. St. Louis 8:00ET/7:00CT CNBC

GAME 4: April 22, Minnesota vs. St. Louis 9:30ET/8:30CT NBCSN

IF GAME 5: April 24, TBA

IF GAME 6: April 26, TBA

IF GAME 7: April 29, TBA

For more of my videos, check out my author page here. Now that you know what my thoughts on it are, let me know what you think in the comments below or send me a tweet on the interwebs @LaurenLapka.

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