Yeo, Blues prep for Predators after five-game win over Wild

St. Louis head coach Mike Yeo, fired by the Wild a little more than a year ago, said he took no special pleasure in beating Minnesota. “I mean, we averaged 40 shots on goal per game”.

“It’s such a good play, Sobotka’s patience with the puck”, Paajarvi said. We just weren’t ready, drop of the puck.

St. Louis Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko, of Russian Federation, brings the puck down the ice as Minnesota Wild’s Marco Scandella, left, watches during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Wednesday, April 19.

The league’s general managers vote for the victor. He tipped his cap to his former employer. My guy kind of went to him and he saw that and gave it to me. “Their team did a great job and they showed a lot of character”.

Yeo bobbed and weaved throughout the series about personal satisfaction bringing a St. Louis team that was left for dead when he relieved the fired Ken Hitchcock on February 1 back to Minnesota for a playoff reckoning.

Paul Stastny scored in the 3rd.

“I don’t know if shocked is the right word”. Capitals coach Barry Trotz said the closeness of the series is a credit to the parity in the National Hockey League and Toronto’s young stars like Auston Matthews and William Nylander. He missed six weeks when he broke his hand blocking a shot, but he had 18 points in 26 games. “Obviously, the results weren’t there, and it’s a game of results”.

The Blues do need to keep the shot totals either down or quality chances away. But in the end, the Wild simply didn’t have an answer for Blues goalie Jake Allen, who had 34 saves in Game 5. The Wild knew it, too, which is why they hesitated to congratulate themselves for applying such stifling defense on the 25-year-old Russian and the rest of the top Blues attackers. “Our goal is to advance in the playoffs and have our group continue to grow and have a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup”.

“Our start was really good”. “To get the momentum right off the bat feels good”. “I think everybody believed, before the game, in this room”. But, he added, “just not good enough”. “It’s the story of the series, really”. Dubnyk earned a shutout by out-dueling peer and previous series star Jake Allen. “It’s going to be the exact same approach on Saturday, and we’ll see what the score is when the buzzer ends”. He left the game with help from his teammates and was taken to Regions Hospital for further observation.

Game Four proved that no matter the adversity if you stick with the game plan you eventually get the bounces.

“You’d like to get it every night”, Boudreau said.

Stastny’s goal came in the third period with Minnesota pressuring to tie. Devan Dubnyk made saves on all 28 saves he had. In fact, the Blues only have three non-empty-net goals from their forwards, and none from superstar sniper Vladimir Tarasenko.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The Minnesota Wild got a break, and Charlie Coyle delivered. “I’ve been honest when I said that”, he repeated.

Until this year, they hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2013; 2004 before that. They’ve dominated play for most of the first four games.

He put his lines in a blender during Tuesday’s practice in St. Paul, kept them scrambled during warm-up and then reverted to his Game 3 combinations. “It’s tough to handle”.