In a franchise first, the Minnesota Wild are advancing to round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs in only six games after topping the St. Louis Blues Sunday at home 4-1.
It was also the first time the Wild have wrapped up a playoff series at home. They did it Sunday in front of 19,000 screaming fans at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
#mnwild wins 4-1!!! Minnesota takes the #STLvsMIN series! Up next: Chicago. #DontStopBelievin pic.twitter.com/m8R70ICXxK
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 26, 2015
Zach Parise led the way for the Wild with two goals, including an amazing shorthanded goal in the first period.
Parise's never met an angle he didn't like to shoot from. WATCH his SHG: http://t.co/fPYWfmLNzN #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 26, 2015
Zach Parise becomes the sixth player in #mnwild playoff history to score a shorthanded goal, first since Marco Scandella 4/9/14 at COL
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) April 26, 2015
Justin Fontaine scored his first postseason goal to give the Wild a 2-0 lead with 8:41 left in the second.
The Blues scored their lone goal on a shot from T.J. Oshie with 1.8 seconds left in the second, making the score to 2-1 at the end of the period.
Parise’s second goal came just a minute into the third.
The last score of the game came on an empty netter by Nino Niederreiter with 1:52 left in the game as the Blues pulled their goalie.
Goalie Devan Dubnyk had 30 saves for the Wild.
The Wild took the series 4 games to 2 over the Blues. For two years in a row, the Wild have beat the Central Division champs to move onto round two, the Pioneer Press reports. Last year they knocked out the Colorado Avalanche.
Yeo: "The story continues. That's what we're hoping for." #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 26, 2015
For the third year in a row, the Wild will play the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the playoffs. The Blackhawks eliminated the Wild each of past two years.
The first game of the series hasn’t been scheduled yet.
