Wild and Blues meet once again as pursuit of a Stanley Cup begins

The last time the NHL decided a Stanley Cup Final not in a bubble and not after a shortened regular season, it was the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2019 that hoisted Lord Stanley's chalice.
One look at this year's version of the Blues would tell you there's no reason to think St. Louis couldn't be right there again this summer as well.
That's the challenge the Wild faces in the First Round of the postseason as Minnesota aims to advance to at least the Second Round for the first time since it upended the Blues in six games in 2015.

The two Central Division rivals will collide in a First Round playoff series for the third time in history. Each club has advanced as the underdog, with Minnesota winning in six games seven years ago with the Blues as the higher seed.
St. Louis returned the favor in 2017, upending the Wild in five games following a regular season where Minnesota finished second in the Central Division.
Perhaps it's fitting this time around that the Wild and Blues constantly jockeyed for position over the final month of the season, with each team spending time in the pole position for controlling home ice in the series.
Like control of home ice in this series, the last two meetings between the clubs have been back and forth.
While the teams met just three times during the regular season, including once at Target Field for the NHL Winter Classic, each of the final two games over the season's final month was a nail-biter.
Once, Minnesota blew a two-goal third-period lead before losing in overtime. In the other, St. Louis blew a three-goal advantage in the final frame before recovering in the extra session.

"These last two games, if it goes into [overtime], we go back in the locker room and play five on five again," said Wild forward Ryan Hartman. "We lost two games 3-on-3. That's regular season hockey, so we're not too worried about it."
St. Louis has won 12 of the past 14 meetings between the clubs since the start of the 2019-20 season, but that doesn't tell the whole story.
Five of those victories by the Blues came in overtime. Two more were tightly contested one-goal games.
With that in mind, there's a good chance Wild fans better buckle in for the long haul, because if one thing is clear: these clubs play close games, they play hard games and it's anyone's guess who may advance and whose season will be over.

Forwards

Up front, the Blues might be stronger than they were the year they won the Cup.
Down the middle, the Blues roll out one of the best center groups in the NHL, with breakout star Robert Thomas, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Tyler Bozak forming a pivot group that can do a little bit of everything.
The 22-year-old Thomas has been a breakout star, and along with linemates Vladimir Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich, that line has been one of the most explosive in the NHL down the stretch.
Brandon Saad, O'Reilly and David Perron have tons of experience in big games and can fill a number of roles. They're versatile and difficult to contain, and with O'Reilly in the middle, they're often starting with possession. He's one of the top faceoff men in the NHL.
Between Schenn and Bozak, the Blues have two veteran complements to younger wingers that can fill the net.
Both Ivan Barbashev and Jordan Kyrou are explosive scorers who have established themselves as legitimate threats. Kyrou tallied four points in the Blues' 6-4 win in the Winter Classic in January.
"They've got tremendous forwards, guys that have played with each other for a while now," said Wild forward Marcus Foligno. "They're good up the middle, O'Reilly, Thomas, two great players and it's something that we're a team that always talks about getting pucks behind their D and wearing them down."
The Wild has good forwards too, and like the Blues, can create offense from several sources.
Kirill Kaprizov, Hartman and Mats Zuccarello have been a constant force for Minnesota this season, with Kaprizov smashing the team's single-season scoring record and becoming the first player in Wild history to surpass 100 points. He should be in the Hart Trophy conversation as the NHL's Most Valuable Player.
Zuccarello missed time late in the season with a lower-body injury, but some of that was precautionary. He practiced on Sunday and it seems like he'll be ready to go when the lights come on Monday night.
Assuming Zuccarello does play, he and Kaprizov have been one of the better offensive combinations in the league for two years now.
Kevin Fiala, Freddy Gaudreau and rookie Matt Boldy have formed a second offensive line that has been as dynamic as anyone over the final month of the season. Fiala and Gaudreau have far surpassed previous career bests offensively, with Fiala also besting Marian Gaborik's previous club record for single-season points. Boldy scored the game-winning goal in his NHL debut on Jan. 6 in Boston and he hasn't slowed down since. Gaudreau is the line's "security blanket," according to Evason and has been the Wild's best faceoff man this season.
A line that could be a major factor in this series is Minnesota's checking line of Foligno, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway, which has been one of the best matchup lines in the league this season. Foligno and Eriksson Ek will be in the Selke Trophy mix at season's end for top two-way forward, with each also topping previous career best seasons offensively. Greenway was playing some of his best hockey until an upper-body injury over the season's final month cost him several weeks. He returned late in the regular season, however.
Evason will deploy that line against whichever group is clicking for St. Louis with the hopes they can render at least one of those potent groupings moot.
Minnesota did get a scare in the final game of the regular season against Colorado, as Foligno was on the receiving end of a brutal knee-on-knee hit from Avs defenseman Kurtis MacDermid.
Foligno tried to get back to his skates, but quickly fell back down and needed assistance to get to the bench and down the tunnel.
"When I got hit, it felt pretty brutal to be honest. I didn't really have much feeling in my knee or in my leg," Foligno said. "I tried to get back up and then I went back down. You don't know what to expect, and you think of the worst."
Foligno said it took some time for the knee to calm down a bit and the feeling to return. An MRI on Saturday returned favorable results, as doctors indicated the Wild's burly forward and someone who could get some Selke Trophy votes this season dodged a major bullet.
Foligno practiced on Sunday afternoon and sure sounds like a guy that could be ready to go for Game 1.
"It's the playoffs," Foligno said. "It'd feel wrong sitting out. Just something you gotta play through for a while, and I can do that. Obviously, there's a little bit more equipment on the knee but other than that, I feel pretty good skating-wise and I wouldn't be out there if I didn't feel like I could play. So, I feel pretty good."
The addition of Nicolas Deslauriers at the Trade Deadline added toughness and an added veteran presence on the Wild's fourth line. He's playing in the playoffs for the first time in his NHL career, so he'll be extra motivated. Connor Dewar, Nick Bjugstad and Brandon Duhaime have all been effective at various points and could rotate in and out of the lineup on a game-by-game basis.
Expect Deslauriers, Tyson Jost and Duhaime to get the first look out of the gates.
"We feel that our depth is an advantage to us, I think a lot of teams do," Evason said. "We've got great depth with our organization and with our hockey club right now, and we're gonna need them all."

Defensemen

Where the Wild may be able to take advantage is on the back end, where St. Louis has talent but is not as deep as their championship run, which was captained by Alex Pietrangelo, now a Vegas Golden Knight.
Colton Parayko and Torey Krug lead the way and are joined by three guys with Minnesota ties in South St. Paul's Justin Faulk, Eden Prairie's Nick Leddy, and former Wild blueliner Marco Scandella.
Scandella sustained a lower-body injury in the penultimate game of the regular season and did not play in the Blues' finale against the Vegas Golden Knights, so his status in the series bears watching.
Niko Mikkola and Robert Bortuzzo bring some added size to the mix as well.
Faulk is the team's best offensive defenseman, leading the group in goals and points, but Krug isn't far behind. Parayko isn't on their level in terms of an offensive threat, but still had the best season of his career in that department. Leddy's numbers have trended downward in recent years but he rebounded after being moved from Detroit to St. Louis at the deadline.
While the Blues bolstered their blueline at the deadline, so did the Wild, adding Jake Middleton to the mix on its top pairing with Jared Spurgeon. After a few games, the duo's simple games meshed perfectly and they were dominant down the stretch.
Matt Dumba returned the final week of the regular season from an upper-body injury that cost him three weeks to pair with Jonas Brodin on a familiar second pairing that has been together for years.
Jon Merrill and Dmitry Kulikov were very good in their first seasons with Minnesota and form an experienced third pairing that Evason feels comfortable matchup up against anyone.
Those six are expected to start in Game 1, with Alex Goligoski and Jordie Benn each able to scratch in if Evason seeks change for whatever reason. Goligoski brings a little more offensive firepower while Benn has some sandpaper and grit.
"There's lots of tough decisions," Evason said. "I think when we acquired Middleton we talked about this: we've got eight defensemen out there today, all can play in the National Hockey League and all can play in the National Hockey League playoffs.

Goaltenders

Jordan Binnington arrived on the scene as a virtual unknown three years ago to lead the Blues all the way to a championship, earning himself a long-term contract and status as the team's goalie of the future with one playoff run.
But things haven't come as easily for him since that run, and he's been relegated to backup duties for large stretches of this season as Ville Husso has commandeered the Blues crease as the postseason approached.
If the Blues are going to make another run at a title, it will likely come on the back of Husso, yet another relative newcomer to the scene, much like Binnington in 2019.
Minnesota also has two goalies capable of carrying the load, although it's hard to say either commodity is an unknown. Cam Talbot was a first-time All-Star this season who seemed motivated and emboldened when the Wild acquired his new creasemate, future Hall-of-Famer Marc-Andre Fleury to the mix.
Losses were rare over the final five weeks of the season, as Talbot and Fleury essentially split duties and lost only a handful of games along the way.
Evason wouldn't reveal a Game 1 starter on Sunday, but the smart money might be on Fleury. He occupied the cage typically held by the starter, but that's not always an end-all with Evason.
Of course, no matter whom starts Game 1, it's likely both goaltenders will see some action along the way in what the Wild hopes is a long and prosperous postseason run.
"Have we used two goaltenders all year even before Marc-Andre Fleury got here? Yeah, it's a tough league right? It's a lot of games," Evason said. "We played a lot of games in a little amount of time.
"We do not have a perception of what we're going to do. There's no crystal ball. We'll evaluate as we go and hopefully, as an organization, as a staff, as a team, make the right choice."
The two Wild goaltenders dueled against one another in Minnesota's seven-game series loss to the Golden Knights last season, but they'll look to combine forces this time around. Talbot has never spearheaded a long postseason run but was outstanding in a losing effort for Minnesota last season.
Fleury has won three Stanley Cups and won't be rattled in any situation. He also knows he's closer to the end of his career than the beginning, so he'll be motivated for a run at a fourth championship.
"I think we have tons of momentum. I think we have a lot of confidence and I don't think it's like last season at all," Foligno said. "Our mindset is entirely different and motivated. We're not looking at it like, 'Let's do our best against these guys.' Not at all.
"We believe we can win. That's just the mentality of this year. It's always been like that."