Wild fans finally had something to celebrate Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. The Wild avoided a first-round sweep in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by shutting out St. Louis 2-0.
The victory restored hope to a fan base that expected big things from its team entering the postseason.
Logan Krengel tweeted Thursday morning "When you wake up knowing the #mnwild won game 4:" with a GIF of Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) from Dumb and Dumber saying "So you're telling me there's a chance?"
The Twitter account "Lazy Vanek" also tweeted a Jim Carrey GIF of the actor proclaiming "IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE."
Wild fan Trevor Cole tweeted "Breathe a sigh of relief, there will be a game 5." Kyle Ramsey tweeted "Wild in 7."
St. Louis media criticized the Blues for their lack of effort in Game 4 and missing the opportunity to finish the series on home ice.
Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote "As eye-stabbings go, this was a complete failure. Rather than go for the kill -- pushing the knife right into the brain, as general manager Doug Armstrong famously described it -- the gracious Blues pulled back.
"Rather than finish off the Wild with the four-game sweep, they threw them a lifeline.
"Rather than earn a week of rest and the opportunity to get players healthier (especially Paul Stastny), the Blues will have to battle on. The teams head to Minnesota for Game 5 Saturday and if the Wild win there in front of their rabid fans, suddenly the Blues will be the team under duress."
Post-Dispatch columnist Benjamin Hochman was just as critical.
"Well, when the most energy early on comes from your anthem singer, "home of the brave" proves to be a tease.
"At home in Game 4, the Blues took the first period off. It'll haunt them. It was a meek 20 minutes of sloppy play, and the Blues lost a close-out game in St. Louis, headed instead to St. Paul. … The Blues got a taste of what it's been like to be the Wild."
More sampling of the reaction to the Wild victory:
