Blues at Wild
The Minnesota Wild avoided a sweep of their Western Conference first-round series and come home primed to put more pressure on the St. Louis Blues when the teams meet for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon. The Wild, who managed three goals in losing the first three games of the series, blanked the Blues 2-0 in Game 4 as Devan Dubnyk turned aside 28 shots.
“We just said coming into the game, we need to win one game and this is the only thing that matters,” Dubnyk told reporters. “This was our Stanley Cup. And it’s gonna be the same thing on Saturday, because if not, it’s over, and we’re not gonna think any further ahead than that.” The Blues appeared to take their foot off the gas in Game 4 as the Wild limited their quality chances, but Paul Stastny (foot) skated with the top line at practice on Friday and could be in the lineup for the first time since March 21. Jake Allen has stopped 140 of the 145 shots he has faced in the series, but St. Louis has not been able to break out offensively - scoring only seven goals. “He’s given us a chance to win every day, but we can’t lean on our goalie every day,” Blues forward Ryan Reaves told reporters of Allen. “We got to put a couple pucks in the net for him if (we) want a chance.”
TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBC, Sportsnet, TVA
ABOUT THE BLUES: St. Louis needs leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko to get things going after he managed only two assists despite topping the team with 16 shots over the first four games. “There’s no question, we need our best players to play their best,” coach Mike Yeo told reporters. “That’s not just in the playoffs, that’s anytime, it’s certainly magnified right now.” Jaden Schwartz, Tarasenko's linemate, has recorded a pair of goals and an assist to share the team lead with Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen at three points apiece.
ABOUT THE WILD: Charlie Coyle has stepped up with a goal in each of the last two games and Martin Hanzal netted his first of the postseason in the Game 4 victory. Zach Parise leads the team with three points while Jason Zucker, who scored a career-best 22 goals in the regular season, has yet to notch a point despite pacing the Wild with 18 shots. Erik Haula (upper body) is expected to rejoin the lineup, perhaps in place of rookie Joel Eriksson Ek (five shots, zero points in three games), after missing Game 4.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis C Jori Lehtera (22 points in 2016-17) also could return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last three contests.
2. Minnesota C Mikael Granlund, who led the team with 69 points in the regular season, has recorded just four in his last 14 overall games and one in the series.
3. Neither team is taking advantage of the power play in the series, as the Wild are 1-for-12 while the Blues have converted 1 of their 11 opportunities.