Wild aware of 'desperation' needed against Blues in Game 6
Minnesota will try to stave off elimination in Western First Round series
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The Wild will try to stave off elimination when they play the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Enterprise Center on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN360, TVAS, BSMW, BSN).
"We've seen our group respond, and we're expecting our group to respond," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "It's a must-win, it's desperation, we're going to play our best game, all the cliches that you want to throw out there. It's one hockey game at a time, and we'll compete our butts off and see where we sit at the end of the night."
Staring down another first-round disappointment is not the place the Wild expected to be after a record-setting season that included taking an aggressive stance at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline.
The Wild acquired Marc-Andre Fleury, arguably the best available goalie on the market, from the Chicago Blackhawks on March 21. They also added defenseman Jake Middleton from the San Jose Sharks the same day and rugged forward Nicolas Deslauriers from the Anaheim Ducks on March 19.
From March 21 through the end of the regular season, the Wild were the best team in the NHL, going 17-2-3. With that run, they were able to edge the Blues for second in the Central Division, giving them home-ice advantage in the first round.
Minnesota finished the regular season with a team record 53 wins and 113 points, second-most in the Western Conference, which gave rise to an optimism that this could be the team to deliver a long postseason run after failing to win a series in each of its previous five postseason appearances.
The presence of Kirill Kaprizov factored further into this confidence. The forward became the first Wild player to get 100 points in a season (108 points; 47 goals, 61 assists) and emerged as one of the elite goal-scorers in the League in just his second season.
The pieces were all there, with the experience gained through the heartbreak of the previous six seasons expected to add to the motivation.
But heartbreak looms again, and the expectation of advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2015 is on life support after consecutive losses to the Blues.
"It's 82 hockey games of preparing, putting yourself in this spot in order to compete and get the job done," Evason said. "Our belief is strong. We know we're a good hockey club. We know we're still playing hockey.
"We have a chance to win Game 6, and that is our focus, period. We're going in there competing. We've been there before all season. We've been in the spot where we've lost a couple in a row, we compete, whatever, make some mistakes, let it go and we move forward."
RELATED: [Complete Wild vs. Blues series coverage]
Evason is so confident in his team that he did not even address their precarious position after a 5-2 loss in Game 5 on Tuesday, when Vladimir Tarasenko scored a natural hat trick in the third period to help St. Louis pull away.
Although he was ready to deliver a motivational message before he departed the rink, as he approached the doors to the dressing room, he heard the players talking amongst themselves, discussing the things that must be done, the mindset that must be adopted.
"We have such a mature group for even having young guys in that room that we can see the situation at hand," Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon said. "Whether it's something being said or just a shift to change the momentum, that can definitely help. During a game or throughout the year, we've been able to put games behind us right away, and that's something we have to do right now."
A path forward is there for the Wild.
They know they can come back if they play to their ability, something that has been lacking far too often in this series. They know they have to be better, that they need more scoring from their depth players, better communication in the defensive zone, and for Fleury to be the difference-maker he was brought in to be.
Evason said he will make changes to their lineup in Game 6. Perhaps forwards Nick Bjugstad and/or Connor Dewar could be inserted.
But could one of those changes be in goal?
Fleury has a 3.04 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in the series. Cam Talbot finished the regular season 13-0-3 in his final 16 starts but has not played since April 28.
Evason was noncommittal when asked who his starter would be.
"We trust both our goaltenders," Evason said. "We've seen enough of Marc-Andre Fleury to know, or watched him forever, to know that he's a guy that responds correctly. We also know that Cam Talbot is the ultimate professional. Works his butt off whether he's playing or not playing and would be ready to go tomorrow night as well."
No matter what changes the Wild make, the Blues are aware of how dangerous an opponent they are facing, and they will do everything to avoid returning to Minnesota for a decisive Game 7 on Saturday.
"It's hard to close a team out," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "We've got to continue doing what we're doing, make sure we control our emotions, and make sure we're just detailed in all the right areas. Again, you've got to play hard."
