|
 Since he took over coach in 2011, Yeo saw his team lose the first
game of three consecutive playoff series, a trend it finally broke
Thursday.
Goals from left winger Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba in the
first two periods led the Wild to a 4-2 win over the Blues, snapping
the Wild's streak of losing the first game of their last seven
playoff series, a record that dated back to 2003.
"To me, it doesn't feel any different right now," Yeo said. "Maybe
it's the opponent that we're playing. I just know we don't have the
luxury or opportunity to feel really good about ourselves. We did a
good job tonight; that's great. It was nice to get this one for
sure."
The Wild jumped on the Blues for the early lead just 2:47 into the
game. Zucker scored his second career playoff goal after he was able
to skate around defenseman Zbynek Michalek and get off a shot.
Goalie Jake Allen made the save, but the rebound went right back to
Zucker, who made a quick move around the goal for the wraparound.
The Wild then took advantage of a hooking penalty against Blues
center Paul Stastny in the second period to increase the lead to 2-0
at 4:10 of the second period.
Dumba, playing his first career playoff game, beat Allen with a shot
from the point with 20 seconds to go in the penalty. Allen never saw
the shot because of a screen set in front of the net by two
Minnesota players.
"We did a lot of good things," Wild left winger Zach Parise said.
"We played smart, our lines were good. ... on the whole, we played a
solid game, a smart game.
"When we're playing well, that's what we're doing. That's one of our
strengths is playing a fast game, a speed game. We want to dictate
the pace of the game. They're going to get their chances ... We know
they're a really good team, and we expect them to play a really good
game. There is room for us to improve, but it was a good start."
It was not a good start for the Blues, but they also know the series
is far from over.
"We just didn't play a 60-minute game," Allen said. "We played well
in spurts, but we need to play a complete game.
"They're a speedy team. We have to get back to the drawing board. I
don't think we expected to win four straight."
After getting just 11 shots on goal through the first two periods,
the Blues were finally able to put more pressure on goalie Devan
Dubnyk in the third period. Left winger Jaden Schwartz deflected a
shot by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk past Dubnyk at 7:12 to cut the
deficit to 2-1.
[to top of second column] |
That lead stood until the final two minutes of the game, when the
Wild were able to add two empty-net goals, from center Mikael
Granlund and left winger Jason Pominville, sandwiched around a
short-handed goal by Blues left winger Alexander Steen.
"We have not played well off layoffs all year," St. Louis coach Ken
Hitchcock said. "This is probably another example of that. We've got
a game under our belt. We are going to have to play better."
Yeo and his players feel the same way as the series goes to Game 2
on Saturday afternoon at Scottrade Center.
"If we did one thing well tonight, I thought we were opportunistic,"
Yeo said. "At the same time, our focus has to be on getting better.
There's an awful lot of work to be done."
Said Wild center Mikko Koivu, "We have to leave this one behind and
take the good things out of it but move to the second one. We know
the further it's going to go, the tougher it's going to get. We have
to enjoy this one for a couple minutes and start to prepare for
Saturday's game."
NOTES: Both starting goalies, St. Louis' Jake Allen and Minnesota's
Devan Dubnyk, made their first NHL playoff start. ... Dubnyk's last
playoff experience came when he was a member of the Stockton Thunder
of the East Coast Hockey League in 2007. ... Allen became the fourth
goalie to start the Blues' playoff opener in the past four years,
following Jaroslav Halak in 2012, Brian Elliott in 2013 and Ryan
Miller last year. ... Wild LW Matt Cooke did not play. He has played
only two games since Feb. 3 due to an injury he said is related to
past issues with a sports hernia ... NHL commissioner Gary Bettman
was in attendance at the game.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
