Wild silence crowd with early goals, defeat Blues to take series lead

ST. LOUIS -- Jordan Greenway talked about how important it was to silence the crowd at Enterprise Center in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round. Then the Minnesota Wild forward went out and did just that in an emphatic 5-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Friday.

Greenway scored 39 seconds into the first period, the fastest goal in Wild playoff history, to put a sellout crowd into a bit of shock.
"Yeah, it's big to go out and not allow them to get momentum from their crowd and being in their own arena," Greenway said. "I don't think I came out planning on scoring as quick as we did, but we definitely wanted to go out there and attack them as much as we can. And we did."
Blues center Ryan O'Reilly felt the goal was deflating, especially with the home crowd so ramped up during the introductions and pregame hype video.
"We're a veteran team and we should've responded better," O'Reilly said. "Bounces are going to happen. We came out with great energy, feeding off the building, and I thought we did some great things well, but maybe got too excited offensively. We've got to be responsible and then build our game from there."
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Instead, the Wild were just getting started in the dismantling of the Blues.
Forward Kirill Kaprizov scored 99 seconds after Greenway, banking a shot in off Ville Husso from below the goal line following a breakaway attempt to make it 2-0.
"I thought St. Louis had a good push at the start, they came out strong," Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "But I thought our team defended well, really stuck together, stayed in the middle and didn't give them too much. We scored pretty early, that was a huge goal by 'Greener' and a nice pass and a nice shot. We got a second one quickly too, right? From that point on, I felt like we had the puck a lot and we didn't give them too much."
The Wild took whatever the suddenly vulnerable Blues threw at them and counterpunched their way to a victory that changed the complexion of this series.
The Wild lead 2-1 after back-to-back blowouts. They won 6-2 in Game 2 in Minnesota.
In NHL history, the team with a 2-1 lead in a best-of-7 series holds a record of 369-158 (.700), including a 7-4 record in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It is not just the odds of advancing gained from the victory that has the Wild confident heading into Game 4 here Sunday.
It is the domination displayed while turning their own personal house of horrors into a playoff oasis during one of the most complete games in their playoff history.
Before Game 3, Minnesota had lost seven regular-season games in a row at Enterprise Center, outscored 35-15.
"That's a [heck] of a team and they've been good for a number of years," Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said. "It's a tough team to play against. It's good to get a win here, get some confidence. At the same time, this game is over. You're looking towards the next one."
When Blues defenseman Torey Krug hobbled off the ice in the first period after delivering a check to Wild forward Matt Boldy, it was the third injury to an important defenseman in as many games.
Nick Leddy sustained an upper-body injury in Game 1. Robert Bortuzzo was injured blocking a shot in Game 2, and now Krug, who had three assists in a Game 1 victory. He could barely put weight on his left leg as he headed straight to the dressing room.
"It's tough, it's tough on the D, it's tough on the team," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We lose our quarterback power-play guy, and it is what it is."
The Wild pounced mercilessly on the wounded Blues, who were trying to shelter the young and inexperienced defensemen in their lineup.
Zuccarello scored the third goal on a 2-on-1 when defenseman Calle Rosen, pressed into action in Game 2, was too aggressive on Kaprizov at the attacking blue line.
Eriksson Ek scored with a one-timer from the slot, which came after Marcus Foligno stripped Brayden Schenn of the puck behind the net and passed to an unmarked Eriksson Ek, who has three goals in the past two games.
Husso was unbeatable in a 4-0 win in Game 1. Now the rookie has allowed 10 goals in the past two games and has surrendered two goals on the first three shots of each of those. Perhaps that opens the door for 2019 Stanley Cup hero Jordan Binnington to make an appearance in Game 4.
The Wild have outscored the Blues 9-2 (one empty-net goal) at 5-on-5 play in the series.
Everything, it seems, is going Minnesota's way, but coach Dean Evason knows how quickly things can change. He remembers how nervous, disjointed and undisciplined his team was in Game 1. He knows a few bad bounces in Game 4 can change the momentum again.
"Today we had success," Evason said. "We have to build for the next game."