ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The State of Hockey is advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild win the series 4-2 and will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the next round.
How it happened: A two-goal performance from Minnesota's Zach Parise helped the Wild to victory. Also scoring for Minnesota were Justin Fontaine and Nino Niederreiter (empty net). Goaltender and Vezina Trophy finalist Devan Dubnyk finished with 30 saves. Wild fans must have listened to coach Mike Yeo's advice and imbibed plenty of Bloody Marys prior to Game 6, because this building was rocking well before the puck dropped and beyond. The Wild fed off that energy and gained an early 1-0 lead on Parise's short-handed goal at 7:14 of the first period. On the attack, Parise squeaked around St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and unleashed a shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle that beat Blues goaltender Jake Allen to the short side. It was a bad goal for St. Louis and ignited the fans.
St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock was asked during his TV timeout interview if he thought about pulling Allen after the first goal. Hitchcock answered "no" and added that he was sticking with Allen. Well, that didn't last very long. Only moments later, the Wild's Justin Fontaine slipped the puck five-hole on Allen to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead. That was it for the goaltender. Hitchcock pulled Allen and replaced him with Brian Elliott. Unfortunately for the Wild, they allowed a goal with 1.8 seconds remaining in the second period as the Blues' T.J. Oshie snuck the puck short side through a scrum on Dubnyk. The energy was taken out of the building, but it quickly returned when Parise notched his second goal of the game only 1:01 into the third period.
Save of the series: With the Wild holding a 2-0 lead late in the second period, Dubnyk stoned the Blues' Chris Porter on a point-blank quality chance from the slot. St. Louis forced a turnover behind the Wild net and Porter was all alone in front for the shot, but Dubnyk made the timely save. That proved crucial, because the Blues scored with 1.8 seconds remaining in the second period to cut their deficit to one goal.
Up next: The Wild will face the Chicago Blackhawks, who defeated the Nashville Predators in the first round. The Blackhawks defeated Minnesota in six games in the second round last season. With the way the Wild are playing, especially Dubnyk, and with the goaltending issues in Chicago, Minnesota has a solid chance of beating the Blackhawks.
What it means: After winning the Central Division and tying the Anaheim Ducks with 109 points atop the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues' 2014-15 season is over. After a disappointing playoffs showing, changes could be coming for the Blues, including a possible coaching change. The Blues are just another example that anything can happen in the playoffs. Their 50-win season goes for naught.