game 4 preview
Wild vs. St. Louis • 8:30 p.m. • Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 100.3-FM
Preview: The Wild, after splitting Games 1 and 2 on the road, has a chance to take a 3-1 series lead after shutting out the Blues 3-0 in Game 3. It was the first shutout in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wild is 6-1 at home in the playoffs the past two years. The Blues are 3-17 on the road in the playoffs since 2003.
Players to watch: The Zach Parise-Mikael Granlund-Jason Pominville line combined for six points in Monday's victory. Parise leads the Wild with 62 points in 82 playoff games. Parise and Pominville are tied for fourth in the NHL with four points. Blues Fs David Backes, Paul Stastny and T.J. Oshie and D Alex Pietrangelo don't have points in the series. The Blues' Alex Steen-Jori Lehtera-Vladimir Tarasenko line combined for two shots and a minus-9 in Game 3. Tarasenko, who had a Game 2 hat trick, had no shots. Wild G Devan Dubnyk is coming off his first career playoff shutout. Blues G Jake Allen has allowed two or fewer goals in 11 consecutive starts.
Numbers: The Wild is 2-0 in the series when scoring first after going 35-6-4 in the regular season when scoring first, including wins in 22 of the past 25 games. … The Wild is 3-5 in Game 4s all-time but won both Game 4 contests in last year's postseason (both on home ice). … NHL teams that have led 3-1 in a best-of-seven series have lost only 8.7 percent of the time (20 of 229).
Injuries: Wild D Keith Ballard (concussion) is out. The Blues have no injuries.
MICHAEL RUSSO
