The Minnesota Wild punched a ticket to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, doing so by beating the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 of their best-of-seven series, 4-1. Zach Parise lit the lamp twice, Justin Fontaine and Nino Niederreiter chipped in a goal each and Devan Dubnyk continued his masterful campaign with a strong showing between the pipes.
Blues vs. Wild 2015 final score: Minnesota eliminates St. Louis with 4-1 victory
The Wild won their second straight game to knock off the St. Louis Blues.
Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports
This marks the third straight year in which St. Louis has been eliminated in the first round of the postseason.
Parise opened the scoring 7:14 into the first period with a shorthanded tally from below the left circle, mere inches from the goal line. Coming from a sharp angle, it was a goal Jake Allen should have undoubtedly prevented.
GIF: Parise shorthanded goal. pic.twitter.com/dd1HG6N3EO
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) April 26, 2015
The Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the middle frame thanks to Fontaine's tally, which came from a wrister just inside the right circle. It was yet another goal Allen should have saved; his inability to do so convinced Ken Hitchcock to pull the young backstop in favor of veteran Brian Elliott less than halfway through the contest.
T.J. Oshie got St. Louis on the board with only 3.4 seconds left in the second when he knocked home a shot from the doorstep -- his first of the playoffs. It gave St. Louis some much-needed life, but no other Blue could solve Dubnyk, who turned aside 30 of the 31 shots he faced.
Parise gave Minnesota its second two-goal lead of the night by burying a juicy rebound created by a Jason Pominville shot. From there, the Wild went into a bit of a defensive shell and were heavily outshot in the final 20 minutes. Dubnyk stood tall, though, and prevented St. Louis from composing anything that resembled a comeback.
Niederreiter potted an empty netter with 1:52 left in regulation to seal the victory for Minnesota, who will take on the Chicago Blackhawks in Western Conference semifinals.
3 things we learned
1. Allen wasn’t good enough
Allen surrendered four goals on just 19 shots in Game 5, and while hindsight is always 20/20, Allen simply wasn’t good enough on Sunday. Both goals he allowed came off low-quality shots.
2. Parise stepped up when Minnesota needed him most
Parise had a great series, finishing with seven points -- three goals, four assists. Jonathan Toews, who registered three goals and five assists in Chicago's first round matchup against Nashville, is the only skater with more points so far in the 2015 postseason.
3. Dubnyk hasn’t run out of gas
Dubnyk’s success since joining the Wild has been one of the better stories this year. But, despite his extraordinary work, there were concerns about the massive workload he’s shouldered over the last several months. This wasn’t a problem against Minnesota, however, as he gave up two or fewer goals in four of his six appearances.
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