St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen withstood a 52-shot barrage from the dominating Minnesota Wild during Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series. Blues coach Mike Yeo stressed the need for the Blues to match the Wild's intensity during Friday's Game 2.
St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen was beaten.
Minnesota Wild center Mikael Granlund cradled a bouncing puck, looked up and relished an open-net opportunity. But like many of the 51 Wild chances Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center, Granlund's shot was robbed.
Simply, Allen stole Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series, 2-1 in overtime.
The Wild completely outclassed the Blues in the series opener, but find themselves in an early hole. They registered a 52-26 advantage in shots on goal, buzzed around for another 38 shot attempts, and made the Blues defenders appear to be skating in low gear.
[via YouTube]
The Wild also held significant advantages in time of possession, face-off wins, and hits, according to Fox Sports.
'We Have to be better'
"Win or lose, short memories are important," Wild winger Zach Parise told the Star Tribune. "You still have to look at the good things that we did and look at where we can be better. Unfortunately, right now, we're down 1-0 and now we've got to even it up."
Game 2 is Friday. The Blues realize they likely will not be rewarded for another lackadaisical effort.
"I think we can do a much better job in some areas," Blues coach Mike Yeo said after the game. "We didn't have the puck enough. That's the issue and we know that we have to be better.
"We can't just rely on Jake to have a performance like that night after night." [Via Startribune.com]
Onto Game 2. #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue #StanleyCup ???? pic.twitter.com/tpv0VdJKCp
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 13, 2017
The Blues shouldn't rely on Allen because, while Game 1's performance was spectacular, he has yet to prove he can dominate an entire series. Allen was inconsistent during the regular season, going 17-13-3, with an ugly .895 save percentage before Feb. 1. After Yeo replaced former coach Ken Hitchcock, however, Allen went 16-7-2 with a sexy .938 save percentage.
But in 12 previous playoff outings, Allen registered a pedestrian save percentage of .902, offering few clues of his brilliance Wednesday. But there he was, denying Wild winger Chris Stewart in the crease and winger Erik Haula from a variety of angles.
During his post-game press conference, Yeo was immediately asked about Allen's performance. More than 10 minutes after Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson scored the winner with 2:12 remaining in the opening overtime, Yeo remained speechless.
Career Effort
What more could he have said about Allen?
Besides, the Blues goalie did not execute the biggest save of the third period. Parise did. The Wild forward inadvertently turned aside a teammate, providing one of the game's top highlights. Parise made up for the blunder by beating Allen off Mikko Koivu's tip pass with 22.7 seconds remaining in regulation, forcing OT.
Allen's 51 saves were a career-high and the most by a Wild playoff opponent.
"We relied on (Allen) a bit too much," Edmundson was quoted as saying. "We weren't too happy with the way we played, but luckily (Allen) came to play tonight and he stood on his head and got us the win." [Via Startribune.com]
Along with failing to possess the puck enough, Yeo pointed to the Wild's strategy to attack from the outside, negating the Blues' tendency to clog the middle of the ice.
"We have to be aware of that," Yeo said. [Via Startribune.com]
If not, Allen should be prepared to provide an encore.
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