Edmundson scores in OT as Blues edge Wild
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- A busy night by goalie Jake Allen and an overtime goal by Joel Edmundson propelled the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday in the opener of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Allen had a season-high 51 saves, and Vladimir Sobotka scored in regulation for the Blues, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
On the winning goal, Blues star forward Vladimir Tarasenko carried to the front of the net, then passed to Edmundson, a defenseman who was crashing in from the blue line. Edmundson's shot beat Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk on the stick side with 2:12 left in the first extra session.
The Blues were less than a minute from winning in regulation, but Wild left winger Zach Parise's goal with 22.7 seconds left forged a tie after Minnesota's first 43 shots were turned aside by Allen. The Wild, starting a playoff series at home for just the third time in franchise history, got 24 saves from Dubnyk and controlled play for long stretches, holding the Blues to 21 shots in the first 60 minutes.
With St. Louis up 1-0 and Dubnyk on the bench, Wild captain Mikko Koivu got the puck to Parise at the right of the net. Parise tapped the puck behind Allen, making it the third time this season that the Wild have scored vs. St. Louis with their goalie pulled.
Sobotka, who spent most of the season in Russia playing in the KHL, skated in just one regular season game for the Blues and had a goal in their 3-2 win over the Avalanche on Sunday. He had played in parts of seven NHL seasons previously, most recently with the Blues in 2014.
Minnesota emerged from the scoreless first period with a slight 10-9 edge in shots, but that was after the Blues went nearly the first 10 minutes without testing Dubnyk. Both teams survived a penalty kill, and Wild left winger Erik Haula had the best scoring chance via a breakaway after a Blues turnover, but Allen thwarted the attempt with a glove save.
The Wild dominate the shots early in the second as well, but the Blues made the first mark on the scoreboard. Alexander Steen gloved a clearing attempt by Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin, then fed the puck to Sobotka in the high slot. Sobotka's shot changed directions on the way to the net after hitting the stick of Wild defenseman Christian Folin, and fooled Dubnyk for a 1-0 St. Louis lead at 6:21.
St. Louis failed to capitalize on a pair of power plays, then Minnesota started buzzing around Allen, with the goalie making a sweeping glove save on a point-blank attempt by Charlie Coyle to keep the Blues in the lead.
In the third, the Wild mounted an all-out assault on the Blues net, and again Allen -- along with a bit of luck -- kept Minnesota off the board. During one flurry, just past the halfway mark of the period, three Wild players had whacks at a loose puck in the crease, with Parise inadvertently stopping the puck on the goal line before it could slide across.
NOTES: On Wednesday afternoon, the Wild recalled G Steven Michalek from their Iowa AHL team. He was the Wild's third goaltender for the playoff opener. ... Minnesota opened the NHL regular season in St. Louis, with the Blues winning 3-2 on Oct. 13. ... This is the second-ever playoff series between the Blues and Wild, but it's the 11th time St. Louis has faced a Minnesota team in the post-season. The Blues and Minnesota North Stars, part of the NHL's expansion class of 1967, met in the playoffs nine times, most recently in 1991. ... Blues C Paul Stastny was not able to play on Wednesday and was the team's most significant scratch. He missed the final 10 regular season games with a lower body injury. ... The 52 shots by Minnesota were a franchise record, for a regular season or playoff game. The previous high was 48.