Wild advance to conference semifinals with 4-1 win over Blues
Zach Parise scored twice, including a short-handed, highlight-reel goal to get Minnesota going in the first period, and the Wild advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday in Game 6.
Justin Fontaine also scored, Nino Niederreiter added an empty-net goal and the Wild set up a rematch of their second-round loss last year to Chicago. The Blackhawks beat Nashville in six games to move on.
The Blues had their third straight first-round ouster.
Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves, giving him 67 over the last two games after the 6-1 defeat here that allowed the Blues to tie the series. The Wild outscored them 8-2 after that, and the Blues lost their 10th straight postseason game when facing elimination.
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Coach Ken Hitchcock pulled goalie Jake Allen after Fontaine scored with 8:41 left in the second period, and T.J. Oshie's first goal of the series came with 4 seconds left before the second intermission to give the Blues some life. They outshot the Wild 27-11 over the last two periods.
Parise's next goal came on a rebound of Jason Pominville's attempt early in the third, though, and Dubnyk and the Wild were unflappable after that. Only one of the six games in the series was decided by less than three goals, a 4-2 win by the Wild in Game 1, and the average margin was 3.2.
The crowd was roaring from the start, taunting Allen and agitator Steve Ott and buzzing befitting of the opportunity to see the Wild celebrate a postseason advancement at home for the first time. The Wild won three of their previous nine playoff series, all with Game 7 victories on the road.
The master of an even more famous Game 7 from Minnesota sports history, Jack Morris, led the fans in the traditional "Let's Play Hockey!" chant in his home city. His Major League Baseball career, including the World Series championship with the Twins in 1991, was spawned in St. Paul.
The Wild owned the first period, keeping the Blues from a shot on goal for more than 8 minutes and getting on the board with a remarkable play by Parise during a penalty kill. Matt Cooke knocked Paul Stastny off the puck and dived to deflect it toward Parise, who evaded a check attempt by Kevin Shattenkirk and snapped a shot between Allen's right arm and the near post into the far side of the net.
Less than a minute after Hitchcock told an NBC reporter in an interview during stoppage of play that he'd stick with Allen, Fontaine sent a simple shot between the rookie's pads for a 2-0 lead that prompted the coach to call for Brian Elliott. The two goalies rotated often during the regular season, and Hitchcock didn't announce his starter until the day before the series began.
Allen stopped 11 shots.
Dubnyk made one of his strongest saves soon after the St. Louis change when Chris Porter crashed the net after his attempt from the slot. The puck was dislodged during the scrum in the crease, but that happened after the whistle and a replay review upheld the no-goal call. Porter was so upset on the bench afterward he was caught on camera snapping the blade off his stick.