Bleedin' Blue
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St. Louis Blues vs Nashville Predators: Five Keys To Victory

By Todd Panula

Apr 22, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; The St Louis Blues celebrate forward Magnus Paajarvi (56) overtime winning goal against the Minnesota Wild in game five of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xcel Energy Center. The St Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; The St Louis Blues celebrate forward Magnus Paajarvi (56) overtime winning goal against the Minnesota Wild in game five of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xcel Energy Center. The St Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 19, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save against Minnesota Wild center Charlie Coyle (3) during the third period in game four of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Wild won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 19, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save against Minnesota Wild center Charlie Coyle (3) during the third period in game four of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Wild won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Goaltending

Speaking of goaltenders, the men themselves are going to be huge to this series. What will be interesting to see is just how huge.

Both guys were top three stars for their teams in their first round wins. You could make a case that they were the star of their respective series.

However, this topic has the feeling of one of those football games that is predicted to be a shootout by everyone. The score usually ends up 13-9 in a defensive struggle.

That is not to say these guys won’t play well. Allen and Rinne are too good to play poorly at this stage. Yet, they played so well in the first round that you almost wonder if they can live up to their own lofty standards.

Until Game 5 messed things up a bit, Allen had a goals against under 1.00. Even now, he has a 1.47 GAA and a save percentage of .956 in the playoffs.

Rinne, though under much less pressure, is even better statistically. He’s currently at 0.70 GAA and .976 save percentage.

The question for these guys is actually how much the layoff hurts them. Goalies are not like scorers or hitters in baseball. A layoff is not going to turn them ice cold.

It can affect timing and hotness though. A goaltender in stride, especially in Allen’s case, is used to seeing game action shots and lots of them. Practice can only do so much to simulate that.

Both goaltenders were on top of their games coming out of the first round. Rinne has to shrug off the rust a little more than Allen does as Nashville completed their sweep two days before the Blues won.

As mentioned, don’t expect either of these guys to play poorly. Shaking off the rust first will be key though.

Similarly to the Minnesota series for the Blues, scoring first is probably going to be key with both goaltenders coming into the series in form.

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