Have the Blues solved their Wild problem?
The St. Louis Blues will look to duplicate their Game 2 successes when they take on the Minnesota Wild in Game 3 of their first-round series on Monday.
Minnesota's speed and skill made the Blues look wholly lackluster in Game 1, but in Game 2 it appeared St. Louis had found a solution. The Blues used hard, relentless forechecking to slow down the Wild while their offense began cooking.
Both methods will need to work as the series shifts back to Minnesota on Monday. The good news for St. Louis is that Vladimir Tarasenko is already looking like an elite playoff goal scorer. His hat trick on Friday in St. Louis gave him seven goals in eight career playoff games. Tarasenko is the Blues' best offensive threat, capable of matching the Wild in both speed and skill. St. Louis will rely heavily on him again in Game 3.
The Wild, for their part, must hope that goalie Devan Dubnyk can figure out how to stop the Blues offense. Despite a magnificent second half run since joining the Wild, the Blues are the one team that have given Dubnyk trouble this year. After stopping just 23-of-26 shots in Game 2, Dubnyk's save percentage fell to .909 in five starts against St. Louis this year.
The series is currently tied at 1-1.
Game 3 coverage
8 p.m. ET | Game 3, Western Conference Round 1
Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, MN
Local: FS-MW, FS-N | Nat'l: CNBC, SN
Live stream at NBC Live Extra
More coverage: Blues Blog | Wild Blog
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1OyuRu2
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