Bleedin' Blue
Fansided

St. Louis Blues: Five Reasons They Win, Five Reasons Minnesota Wins

By Todd Panula

Mar 7, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; St Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save in the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The St Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; St Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save in the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The St Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 11
Next
Mar 16, 2017; Raleigh, NC, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund (64) celebrates his goal with forward Mikko Koivu (9) against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2017; Raleigh, NC, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund (64) celebrates his goal with forward Mikko Koivu (9) against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

Irresistible Force

The phrase has existed much longer, but fans of pro wrestling in the 80’s will remember this one. Gorilla Monsoon used to call certain matches as the Irresistible Object vs. the Immovable Force.

To a certain degree, that’s what we have in the Wild against the Blues. The trouble becomes the Blues are no longer the immovable object they may have once been.

The Blues defense and goaltending solidified themselves as the season went along. They got good enough, along with the scoring, to turn a negative goal difference into a +17.

Nevertheless, the Blues have allowed 218 goals in the season. Only two teams in the Western Conference made the playoffs by allowing more.

Combine that with Minnesota’s incredible offense and it’s not a great recipe for Blues success.

The Wild scored 266 regular season goals. Nobody had more in the West and only Pittsburgh had more goals in the entire league.

The Blues have calmed things down of late, but they have a bad habit of allowing bunches of goals. They also lack the ability to come back they had in previous seasons.

So, if Minnesota can jump out to a three goal advantage, it will be difficult for the Blues to hang around.

Home/Analysis