The St. Louis Blues know two things after the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild.
They know they have put themselves in a very good position by winning those two games on the road. They also know the series is far from over.
"We know the last two (victories) are going to be the hardest and it starts in Game 3," forward Jaden Schwartz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "They're going to throw everything at us and we're excited to go home for sure. We did a good job so far, but we know it's going to get a lot tougher."
Schwartz's goal with 2:27 to play in the third period gave the Blues their second consecutive 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. Goalie Jake Allen, who made 51 saves in the overtime win in Game 1, stopped 23 of 24 shots and allowed the Wild's only goal on a 5-on-3 power play.
The series resumes Sunday in St. Louis.
"We've still got a ways to go," Allen told the Post-Dispatch. "I don't think we're satisfied with the way we're playing yet. A huge two wins for us, but we haven't seen our best. We got two wins, you're definitely happy about that, but we need a little bit better effort and I think we're going to get it."
Blues coach Mike Yeo said Saturday he did not anticipate making any lineup changes for Game 3.
The Wild know the pressure will be on them, but it is not an unusual position for coach Bruce Boudreau. He was coaching Anaheim last year when the Ducks lost their first two games at home, and then won the next three before finally losing the first-round series in seven games.
"Both games could've gone either way," Boudreau said. "I don't see why we can't go in there and do the same thing to them that they did to us. This is what happened last year, when (coaching Anaheim) we went into Nashville and won the next three games. So, it's not impossible."
History, however, shows that a team which takes a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series has gone on to win 87 percent of the time.
"You have to dig deep and find out what we're made of here," Wild defenseman Ryan Suter told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
At least one player, forward Chris Stewart, believes the Wild can do that.
"I'll tell you right now, this series is long from over," Stewart told the Star-Tribune. "There's no quit in this dressing room. There's a lot of heart in this dressing room."
Goalie Devan Dubnyk said the team has to start showing it on Sunday.
"We just need to get the next one," he told the Star-Tribune. "That's got to be our focus right now. We've been a good road team all year so we're just going to try to keep playing our game and I think we'll get some momentum here."
With a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, the St. Louis Blues have returned home for Games 3 and 4.
There's no doubt Scottrade Center will be rockin' this afternoon (2 p.m., NBC, KMOX) on Easter Sunday.
"It's going to be buzzing. This place is always electric in the playoffs," said Blues forward Ryan Reaves. "Fans are usually excited when we get to this time of year, and I expect nothing less, especially with us coming home with a 2-0 lead. They're going to be excited and wanting more."
"Coming back home, forcing (the Wild) to deal with some of the things we had to deal with in their building as far as momentum, the crowd noise, we have to find a way to make it impactful," said Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo. "I remember coming into here in the playoffs, and this is an intimidating building."
Yes, the Blues are an intimidating club right now. For just the third time in franchise history, they have won the first two games of a playoff series on the road. In each of the previous two times, they swept the best-of-7 series in four games (2001 vs. Dallas and 1993 vs. Chicago).
In addition, the Blues have been stifling the Wild offensively in this series. Minnesota - one of the League's best offensive teams in the regular season - has yet to score a goal at even strength and has lit the lamp only twice: once with a 6-on-5 advantage and the other with a 5-on-3 power-play chance. So far, only Zach Parise has found a way to score for the Wild in this series.
"We stepped up our game a little bit in Game 2, but we know we still have a couple more notches to bring to our game," said Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson, who has goals in back-to-back games in this series. "We have the two wins in Minnesota, but the hard work starts now. It's a big game for them. They're going to bring their A-game and we just have to respond."
To this point, the Blues have to be happy with keeping the Wild in check offensively, but Yeo points out that things can change in an instant.
"Even in those games, there's been a lot of near misses and Jake (Allen) has had to be great," Yeo said. "It's not like we've found a magic formula that prevents them from getting to shots and chances. Sometimes it's Jake, sometimes it's a great defensive play of a great stick knocking a rebound out of there. Sometimes it's (penalty kill). Whatever the case is, we've found a way. That said, we know they're going to continue to try to pour more on us and we have to be ready for that.
"I've been on that side with that group over there where we were down 2-0 and came back to win a series. I know they're not going to go away lightly," Yeo added. "They're not just going to lose. We're going to have to beat them."
The Blues have returned home after taking both games in Minnesota. This marks the 13th time the Blues have taken a 2-0 lead in a playoff series. They won 10 of the previous 12 instances. For just the third time in team history, the Blues have started a series with consecutive road wins. In the previous two series under that distinction, they went on to finish off their opponent in four games (2001 vs. Dallas, 1993 vs. Chicago). Overall, the Blues have now won three straight and seven of their last nine meetings with the Wild. They have returned to Scottrade Center, where they won six of their final eight regular season games. According to Elias, teams that take a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-seven series hold an all-time record of 305-48.
What to Watch
It's all about Jake Allen. The Blues goaltender has gone three consecutive starts without allowing an even-strength goal against the Wild (one goal has come 6-on-5 and the other 5-on-3). Over his last seven starts against the Wild (reg. + postseason), Allen is 6-1-0 with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .945 save-percentage against the Wild. He is looking to become the first Blues goaltender since Roman Turek (2001) to give the Blues a 3-0 series advantage.
Quick Hits
Joel Edmundson has become the first Blues defenseman to score in consecutive playoff games since Alexander Khavanov (2001)
The Blues are looking to win three straight playoff games for the first time since 2012 (Games 2, 3, 4, 5 vs. San Jose)
Alex Pietrangelo has seven points (2g, 5a) over his last six games (reg. + postseason)
During the reg. season, the Blues scored at least three goals in six of their final eight home games (22-5-0 when scoring 3 or more at home this season)
Blues Career Playoff Leaders (current Blues)
Goals
Vladimir Tarasenko, 19
Paul Stastny, 12
Patrik Berglund, 10
Alexander Steen, 10
Assists
Paul Stastny, 20
Alex Pietrangelo, 19
Jaden Schwartz, 16
Points
Paul Stastny, 32
Vladimir Tarasenko, 26
Alexander Steen, 25
Blues Playoff Streaking
Longest Active Playoff Streaks, NHL
11: Pittsburgh Penguins (since 2006-07)
9: Chicago Blackhawks (since 2008-09)
7: New York Rangers (since 2010-11)
6: St. Louis Blues (since 2011-12)
This day in history:
1985 Jorgen Pettersson sent to Hartford to complete trade of Mike Liut for Greg Millen & Mark Johnson (another of those bad trades in the 80s before the Hull era)
1992 Brett Hull became only 2nd player to score 70 goals in 3 straight seasons as Blues beat North Stars 5-3
1995 Brett Hull scored 4 goals for 1st time in his NHL career, including a natural hat trick (23rd) in the 1st period, as Blues beat Red Wings 6-5 on hat night in St Louis
1997 Blues Grant Fuhr recorded his 4th career playoff shutout, stopping 30 shots, to defeat the Red Wings 2-0
