It’s a common problem that the Minnesota Wild find when playing the St. Louis Blues: After St. Louis gets out to a lead, they park the bus and the Wild are unable to penetrate the collapsing defensive structure.
The game began with dominant possession play from the Wild. On the opening shift, Ryan Reaves got a chance in close off of a rebound. The Blues found themselves stuck on their heels defending Wild rushes and fighting to get the puck out of the zone. Aside from that Reaves rebound chance, however, the Wild were tied up out front of the net and only connected on long shots from the point.