Six games in the final nine days of the regular season will determine whether or not the Minnesota Wild has home ice in the opening round of the NHL playoffs.
Entering play Thursday, Minnesota and St. Louis are tied with 103 points in the Central Division, well back of NHL leader Colorado (116 points). Even with more than a week of hockey yet to play, the Wild and Blues are locked to meet in the playoffs. It’s just a matter of which team gets home ice.
“If it happens that would be wonderful. If it doesn’t we will move forward and play the same way,” Evason said about the home ice factor Thursday on KFAN radio.
The Wild have played one fewer game than St. Louis, which puts them in the driver’s seat for final week and change of regular season hockey. But the Blues have the easier remaining schedule.
According to Tankathon, the Blues play just one more tough opponent (Colorado) and five easier foes (Arizona, Anaheim, San Jose and Vegas). Minnesota still has to face Nashville, Calgary and Colorado, in addition to easier opponents in Vancouver, Seattle and Arizona.
Nashville has been Minnesota’s kryptonite and Calgary leads the Pacific Division with 104 points, so those will be battles. The Colorado game could be meaningless for the Avalanche because it’s the regular season finale and Colorado could rest its best players, which could be a giant bonus for the Wild.
But if you consider Minnesota’s struggles against the Blues – especially on the road – getting home ice for the series is critical.
Only two teams – Colorado and Florida – have lost fewer home games than Minnesota. The Wild are 27-6-2 inside the Xcel Energy Center, and they have one other “home” loss because of the Winter Classic beatdown by the Blues in sub-zero conditions at Target Field on New Year’s Day.
How have Minnesota’s games with the Blues gone?
- Jan. 1: lost 6-4 at Target Field
- April 8: lost 4-3 in overtime at St. Louis
- April 16: lost 6-5 in overtime at St. Louis
And it isn’t just a this year thing. Last season, when COVID prompted the league to schedule a billion divisional games, Minnesota lost six of eight to the Blues and got outscored 35-18. And oh by the way they lost all four games in St. Louis.
We’re stretching time and roster relevance by looking at the 2019-20 season, but the Wild lost all three games to the Blues then, too.
Minnesota has not won at St. Louis since the 2018-19 season.
Throw in the fact that the Blues are 26-9-5 at home and you can see just how valuable starting the series in St. Paul would be for Kirill Kaprizov and the gang.
