St. Louis Blues Lose 4-1, Down 3-2 In Series

The St. Louis Blues returned home to Scottrade for Game Five fresh off a 6-1 thrashing of the Minnesota Wild in Game Four at Xcel Energy Center in which they chased Wild goalie and Vezina finalist Devan Dubnyk in the second period after putting six pucks past him on only 17 shots in the second period.

The Blues also exorcized some major playoff demons by winning on the road for the first time since 2012, having dropped the last nine, including Game Three’s shutout loss. Perhaps this will help in Game Six.

It was the most lopsided game of the series and the most goals the Wild have surrendered in a playoff game in franchise history.

Through the first four games of the series, the victor of the previous game was dominated in the next game, highlighting the uncanny parity between these two teams. So Blues coach Ken Hitchcock and his players knew the Wild were going to be coming at them with everything they had in Game Five to avoid becoming the first team in the series to drop two straight.

Devan Dubnyk and the team talked about it being a team effort and losing 6-1 being no different than losing 1-0, but starting with Reaves’ shot from center field, Dubnyk played poorly and after giving up 6 goals on 17 shots, nobody on the ice had more to prove tonight than him. Given his level of skill, he was sure to deliver.

He did, stopping 36 of 37 shots.

Apr 20, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) makes a save on St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz (17) during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Blues 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and right winger Vladimir Tarasenko were both co-leaders in the NHL playoffs for points and goals respectively heading into tonight’s action, Shatty with 7 points and Vladi with 5 goals. Jake Allen, who had allowed 2 goals or fewer in 12 consecutive starts, sat third in the playoffs with a 1.51 GAA behind two goalies who have played in fewer games.

But a team’s trends even after, and sometimes especially after, winning are often far more difficult to overcome than the team on the other side of the ice.

Then came the stunning reversal of fortune that has become so unwelcome and overly-familiar to Blues fans over the years.

Tonight the Blues indulged those trends, which over the past several years have included both the inability to ever regain a series lead once their opponent has evened it up or taken a lead, multiple defensive breakdowns and, perhaps the most vexing of all, an all-too-frequent propensity to blow critical games by completely missing wide-open opportunities. It cost them the game.

Conservative coaching late in the contest, when the Blues were down by two and had only mustered one goal the entire game, doomed their final opportunity when the game was still winable.

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Hitchcock stuck to the same lines and pairings for Game Five that won so convincingly in Game Four. The lone variable involved the unavailability of Jori Lehtera with a lower-body injury, resulting in veteran Paul Stastny centering the line with Schwartz and Tarasenko.

Chris Porter stayed in on the fourth line with Steve Ott and Ryan Reaves for Game Five. Hitchcock did move Ott to center from the wing.

The Wild kept the same lineups they had in Game Four, but coach Mike Yeo inserted Matt Cooke on the fourth line in place of Sean Bergenheim with Kyle Brodziak and Justin Fontaine.

The Blues came out roaring in the first four minutes, controlling the play and getting three shots on Dubnyk to none for the Wild. But then Dmitrij Jaskin was called for hooking in the offensive zone at 4:16. After a solid kill, including multiple blocked shots, Nino Niederreiter of the Wild got called for tripping Alexander Steen in the last :06 of the Wild powerplay, putting the Blues on their first man-advantage.

On the powerplay Dubnyk made a spectacular save on Jay Bouwmeester to keep it scoreless. But on the next rush in the closing moments of the powerplay, Alexander Steen got it to Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored his sixth goal of the postseason, yet another tip-in, to put the Blues up 1-0 at 8:04 and improve their powerplay on the series to 2-of-8.

Apr 24, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) celebrates with teammates after his goal against the Minnesota Wild during the first period in game five of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

At the 10:12 mark of the first period, in a start reminiscent of the Wild’s suffocating play in Game Three, the Blues had outshot the Wild 7-0. The crowd was roaring, and the Blues seemed on top of the world. It was the only time all game they would be.

Unfortunately, a minute later, at 11:04, after a defensive break let Dumba in on Allen, the Wild’s Marco Scandella scored, blistering a shot that went off Allen’s glove into the net for both the Wild’s first shot on goal and their first score.

With 6:05 to play the Blues had outshot the Wild 10-2. Both teams were playing with far more emotion than at any time in the series, with more hard hitting and more jawing and shoving after the whistle. With 45 seconds left in the period the Blues nearly got burned by failing yet again on repeated occasions to clear the zone as the Wild were pressing in the Blues’ zone.

In a game in which the Blues had managed only one goal and nothing since the first period and facing a strong goalie in net, Hitchcock really should have pulled Allen and gone for a two-man advantage at that point.

The Blues wound up tied 1-1 and outshooting the Wild 12-3 at the end of a first period which, except for the one goal off Allen’s glove, the Blues dominated.

At 2:08 Shattenkirk failed to handle a puck and Matt Cooke fired a shot alone in on Allen, and Allen was forced to make a strong save after the next faceoff. The Wild seemed to be pressing hard on the Blues and getting the better of the action. But some good forechecking by T.J. Oshie got another scoring chance for the Blues. Around the 4 minute mark, Steen broke in with a great move on Dubnyk stick-side who came up with a fabulous save to keep things knotted at one.

Shortly thereafter, in a trend that has dogged the Blues heavily this series, as it did last year, Marcel Goc had a two-on-one break with Reaves and whistled a golden opportunity wide of the net. At 4:44 Wild forward Zach Parise as he was going down put a puck on goal that Allen miraculously kept out of the net.

With the Wild still carrying play and the shot margin now narrowed to 14-to-7 in favor of the Blues, at 6:20 some extracurricular activities after the whistle resulted in offsetting penalties to Steve Ott and Chris Stewart and 4-on-4 hockey. A poor clearing attempt by Carl Gunnarsson almost resulted in a goal by Jared Spurgeon, who intercepted.

Around the 11 minute mark the STL II line and then the SOB line cycled the puck and had a couple superb scoring chances that Dubnyk kept out of the net. After that the grinder line of Reaves, Porter, and Goc also had a great shift in the Minnesota zone. At this point the Blues were taking the play to the Wild.

Then came the stunning reversal of fortune that has become so unwelcome and overly-familiar to Blues fans over the years. Michalek lost his stick, and Niederreiter scored with 5:04 left in the period to put the Wild up 2-1. With 4:20 to go Shattenkirk was called for interference. Mikko Koivu, assisted by Stewart and Parise, wristed a shot with 3:38 remaining that went off Bouwmeester’s skate and then Allen and into the net. That was the game.

Apr 24, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild center Mikko Koivu (9) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Blues, who completely dominated the first period yet came out tied, missed two golden open-net opportunities, and were carrying the play only minutes before, were now down 3-1 to a team superb at defensive suffocation and puck management with the lead. Just before the buzzer the Wild got a 2-on-1 break with a chance to put the game on ice but shot it wide.

With a bit over 10 minutes left in the game, the Blues had outshot the Wild 8-1 in the third period but Dubnyk had steered everything aside. With 9 minutes left, Granlund came in on Allen who made a great save to keep it 3-1.

With 7:44 to go, Matt Cooke tripped up T.J. Oshie to send the Blues on a desperately-needed powerplay. In a game in which the Blues had managed only one goal and nothing since the first period and facing a strong goalie in net, Hitchcock really should have pulled Allen and gone for a two-man advantage at that point.

Instead, although the Blues got some good cycling in the zone and a couple shots, Dubnyk and the Wild killed off the penalty without event after a spectacular save on Tarasenko in tight. Dubnyk appeared to knock off his goalie mask to get a stoppage in play with the Blues pressing.

With 5:10 to play, the Wild’s Charlie Coyle sent a wrister past Jake Allen to make it 4-1, which was the final result. Allen laid his first egg in 13 games, stopping 15 of only 19 shots.

The Wild now have a 3-2 lead in the series, and can close out the Blues with another win. Game Six is on Sunday afternoon back in St. Paul at 2:00 p.m. Central.

What should the Blues do next? Let us know your thoughts, Blues fans!

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