Blues, Blackhawks Set To Begin NHL Playoffs

By ESPN

Minnesota Wild (49-25-8, second in Central Division) vs. St. Louis Blues (45-29-7, third in Central Division)

Why you have to watch: It's tempting to write this compelling first-round encounter off as a clash between two teams headed in startlingly different directions. And there's something to that after the Wild let a sure-thing Central Division title slip away with a March swoon of just four wins in 16 games. ... The Blues, trying to build off a trip to the Western Conference finals last spring, fired veteran coach Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1 while languishing in fourth place in the division. Hitchcock had announced he was retiring at the end of the season to be replaced by assistant coach Mike Yeo, who got the call a little earlier than expected. Messy? Yes. ... The Blues have been a different team under Yeo, going 21-8-2 and from 28th to first in goals against per game. ... Still, the Wild, behind breakout W Mikael Granlund, who led the team with 69 points, and C Eric Staal, who enjoyed a renaissance with a team-best 28 goals, hit the postseason on a four-game winning streak.

Head to head: The Blues won the season series 3-2, including their last matchup in Minnesota. But the teams have not played in more than a month, so those results are basically meaningless. These are different teams now.

Injury fallout: The Blues are missing up-and-coming W Robby Fabbri, gone for the season with an ACL injury, and veteran C Paul Stastny hasn't played since suffering a lower-body injury on March 21. Those losses coupled with the trade of D Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals will test the Blues' depth against the much deeper Wild.

Goalie advantage: Quite a season for both No. 1 goalies, as Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk looked like he had locked up the Vezina Trophy until he turned in an .889 save percentage in 14 games in March. Still, Dubnyk rebounded after a lighter workload down the stretch and should still be a Vezina finalist with his 40 wins (fourth in the league) and .923 save percentage (third among goalies with 55 appearances or more). ... As for Jake Allen, the 26-year-old Blues goalie suffered through a crisis of confidence under Hitchcock but has been a rock for Yeo, going 10-2-2. Still, Allen must prove he can handle the playoff spotlight after having failed previously with a pedestrian 3-5 record and .902 save percentage in postseason action for the Blues. The Wild win this matchup.

Coaching advantage: Yeo gets a chance to stick it to the team that fired him a little more than a year ago. He has found a nice groove with a young Blues team that will start this series on the road with very little pressure, given many people expected them to slide out of the playoff picture altogether after Shattenkirk was traded. ... Bruce Boudreau, who took the Wild job in the offseason, is one of the most successful regular-season coaches of all time (he reached 400 wins faster than any coach in NHL history and boasts the top winning percentage of any active NHL coach). But he has his own playoff demons to exorcise as his talented teams with the Capitals and Anaheim Ducks advanced beyond the second round just once.

Prediction: A scout told me recently he still loves the Wild in spite of their recent slide. They've got great goaltending, a deep and talented blue line, and with the acquisition of big C Martin Hanzal before the trade deadline, they are as big and gritty down the middle as they've ever been. It all adds up to a Minnesota victory. Wild in 6.\

Chicago Blackhawks (50-23-9, first in Central Division) vs. Nashville Predators (41-29-12, second wild card in Western Conference)

Why you have to watch: The Blackhawks under GM Stan Bowman have once again retooled on the fly to hit the playoffs as the Western Conference's best team. Seven rookies combined for 105 points for Chicago this season. Coming off an emotional seven-game, first-round loss to the St. Louis Blues last spring, the Blackhawks bounced back with 109 points, their second-highest point total ever. ... The Predators, meanwhile, are playoff bound for the third straight season, but they've never been past the second round. ... This spring marks the first playoff appearance without former captain Shea Weber since Weber came into the league in 2005-06. It took half a season for the Predators to sort through the leadership vacuum created by Weber's trade to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban. ... Still, the Predators boast one of the most dangerous lines in the league with Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg, and one of the deepest, most dangerous blue lines in the league.

Head to head: Nashville defeated Chicago on opening night and then lost four straight times to the Blackhawks and was outscored 18-10 over the season series. ... The Predators have the worst road record of any playoff team (17-20-4), and with Games 1 and 2 set at the United Center in Chicago, the Preds need to correct their road woes in a hurry to avoid going in a hole early. Not that it gets any easier at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville -- Chicago's 24 road wins were second in the NHL.

Injury fallout: Veteran C Artem Anisimov will return for the Blackhawks after missing almost a month with a leg injury. This will allow coach Joel Quenneville to reunite Anisimov with Patrick Kane, who finished the season with 89 points, and Artemi Panarin, who followed up his Rookie of the Year season with 74 points.

Goalie advantage: Despite winning at least 30 games for the sixth consecutive season and having won two Stanley Cups in that time, Blackhawks G Corey Crawford is still underappreciated. That's life when toiling in the shadow of more famous teammates Kane, captain Jonathan Toews and two-time Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith. And, to be fair, there was a slight drop-off in his level of play as Crawford went from a .924 save percentage last season to .918 this season. His goals-against average went up to 2.55 from 2.37 last season. The Preds made life miserable for Crawford two springs ago, and they'll need to get to him again and in a hurry. ... The most important part of the goaltending equation is veteran Predator Pekka Rinne. Rinne has struggled with consistency the past couple of seasons, and while he's been very good of late -- allowing just 14 goals in his past nine games -- his career playoff save percentage of .912 isn't good enough. The 34-year-old needs to be the best goaltender in this series by a sizable margin for the Predators to have a chance.

Coaching advantage: Predators coach Peter Laviolette won a Cup for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and coached the Philadelphia Flyers to the 2010 finals, where he lost to coach Joel Quenneville, who won his first Cup for the Blackhawks. ... Quenneville doesn't get enough credit for his work, but he's No. 2 in career wins, and he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer who knows how to push the right buttons at this time of year.

Prediction: One of these years the Predators will break through. Top center Johansen and defenseman Subban will inject new blood into the rivalry, and Arvidsson has been a revelation, with 31 goals and 61 points. But -- and you knew this was coming -- there's just too much to like about the Blackhawks, who had six players score 20 or more goals, to expect an upset. Blackhawks in 7.

Tuesday, April 11 Schedule

No games

Wednesday, April 12 Schedule (All Times Central)

Playoffs

New York Rangers at Montreal, 6 p.m.

Bosdton at Ottawa, 6 p.m.

Columbus at Pittsburgh,l 6 p.m.

St. Louis at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.

San Jose at Edmonton, 9 p.m.

Thursday, April 13 Schedule (All Times Central)

Playoffs

Toronto at Washington, 6 p.m.

Nashville at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Calgary at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m.