This western conference series should be one of the best the 1st round has to offer. Two teams who play fast hockey and finished right next to each other on the standings. The Minnesota Wild look like a totally different team this season. They look like they have the hunger and spirit to go all the way. The Blues on the other hand have gotten a lot of good things from Vlad Tarasanko and Jordan Kyrou. These two players could cause problems for the Wild. This series between two teams who don’t like each other should be a good one.
The Blues have been solid all year and after they got sweeped last year by the Avs, they want some redemption. What I’ve really been impressed with is the Blues special teams. They have the 2nd ranked power play and the 5th best penalty kill. That is impressive and they can use that to their advantage in this series. Ville Husso will start the series for them and he should play well. He’s had a better season than Binnington and a high flying Wild offense will be a challenge for him. The Blues in this series have to stop Kaprizov and Fiala. Both of them are rolling right now and Kaprizov makes crazy good plays out of nowhere. This Blues team has to be close to perfect to beat a Wild team which looks unbeatable.
To me right now, I don’t know how the Wild can lose. They have amazing goaltenders and it’s going to be awfully hard to beat them. Talbot, an all star this season, has really picked up his game since the trade deadline while Marc Andre Fleury continues to dazzle us even at his age. This might be the best pair of goalies in the NHL and they might be the key to the Wild winning. This Wild team is built for the playoffs. They have some tough guys on this team and they can really bring intensity. For the Wild, I feel like they have to play hard but by the rules. More power play time for one of the best PP units is only going to make the Wild worse and the Blues better. This team has all the players but we’ll just have to see if they can perform.
I believe that the Minnesota Wild will win this series in 6 games. I don’t know how the Blues will be able to beat the Wild’s goaltenders. Fleury flourishes in the playoffs and gets extra hard to beat. The Wild move the puck so well and their transition game is amazing. It is quick and they get from one end of the rink to the other fast. I am really impressed with the Wild and I don’t think they’ll disappoint the state of hockey.
The battle of the Central Division kicks off Monday night at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Can Craig Berubee lead his team to an improbable upset or will Dean Evason and the Wild move on to the 2nd Round? We’ll find out starting Monday.
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