Minnesota Wild lean on Devan Dubnyk to set up clinching scenario
The St. Louis Blues, darling pick by many to win the Stanley Cup – or at very least make it out of the Western Conference playoffs – are in trouble. A ton of trouble after losing 4-1 in Game 5 to Minnesota on Friday.
The Wild took a 3-2 series advantage and a chance to win at home Sunday. Ouch.
While Minnesota has out-maneuvered the Blues this series and should indeed be lauded fort the clinching scenario, the Blues are choking … again. This team has never gone past the second round of the playoffs with Ken Hitchcock as the head coach. And it appears the Blues may again find themselves going into yet another offseason asking whether this group assembled, coached by Hitch, can’t make a dent in the postseason. The Blues had so many glorious chances in this game, but couldn’t convert.
Per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“They were opportunistic,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “The first period, until they scored their goal, was the best we’d played in the whole series. We kind of flattened out a little bit when they scored their (first) goal, and then had all the chances in the second (period).
“We did so many good things today. We had a little bit of a lull. I didn’t think we responded as hard as we could have when they scored their first goal. That gave them a little bit of wind. But just did so many good things, you’re disappointed for the guys. We’ll rebound and get ready for the next game.”
The Blues blasted the Wild 6-1 in Game 4, and there was some wonder as to how Minnesota would bounce back. The Wild leaned heavily on goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
After Vladimir Tarasenko made it 1-0 Blues at the 8:04 mark of the first period, the Wild scored four unanswered goals to give them the win. Dubnyk stopped 36 of 37 St. Louis shots on goal while Jake Allen stopped 15 of 19 Wild shots on goal.
From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t approaching it like I had to go get a shutout after last game,” Dubnyk said. “I just wanted to get back to finding pucks and being set and feeling good about what I was doing.”
Even strength, the Blues beat the Wild in puck possession. Sigh,
So if you’re Hitchcock, going into Game 6, do you stick with Allen or go to veteran Brian Elliott? If the Blues lose, it could be one of his last decisions as the team’s head coach.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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