David Backes: The Key To Winning Against The Wild?

The St. Louis Blues will face down the Minnesota Wild on Minnesota ice at 1 PM CST Saturday. When they last matched up, the Wild took home the two points to maintain their place in the standings as the first wild card in the playoffs.

It was a fast game, with 41 shots on goal for the Blues, but Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk had one heck of a game in net. While Blues captain David Backes was able to get yet another redirection in the second (that man is a marvel when it comes to tip-ins) it wasn’t enough to keep St. Louis in the lead. You can see a brief video recap below:

Vanek tied the score up for Minnesota in the second, and it was off to the races. The game was a fight for both teams, but Minnesota was able to come out hard in the third period, and scored two goals in quick succession against the Blues.

Today, as the Blues and Wild face off again, the Blues will have to focus on three things:

Fast Clears Out Of Their Zone

The Wild scored one of their three goals off a turnover in the Blues’ own zone. While it’s not a regular occurrence for the Blues to get caught in their own zone, Minnesota has a number of fast skaters who know exactly where to position themselves to interrupt a good zone clear. St. Louis won’t be able to rely on simply throwing it out of the zone; they have to have at least one wing up near the blue line at all times.

Not Getting Caught Pinching

The Blues have a nasty habit of having their defenders pinch in close in the offensive zone without a forward coming back to take the defender’s position. This has led to a number of odd-man rushes, as A.P. Andes explored in his article.

While the Wild aren’t the fastest team in the central division, they have enough speed on their side to make Elliott’s life very uncomfortable should the Blues allow these rushes on goal. And the number one rule of defense is: never leave your goalie exposed.

Planting David Backes In The Blue Paint

Last, but not least, the Blues need to get their best tip-in man to the blue paint and keep him there. The lone goal scored against the Wild the last time the two teams faced off was a David Backes redirection, and it was a beauty.

Minnesota’s goaltender, Devan Dubnyk, has been on fire since the Wild picked him up off the Arizona Coyotes. He appears to have been the missing piece; since his addition the Wild have turned themselves around from certain-to-fail to a playoffs wild card spot.

However, Dubnyk has a history of having a difficult time blocking a redirect. To be fair, it’s the most difficult type of shot to guard against; unless you have a tip in from outside the blue paint it’s nearly impossible to guess its new direction. This could be the key to winning for the Blues, especially with a net-crasher like Backes on their first line.

What’s your prediction for the game?

Next: Blues Threatened By Odd-Man Rushes

Fast Clears Out Of Their Zone

Not Getting Caught Pinching

Planting David Backes In The Blue Paint

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