Blues Beat Wild, Predators Blank Blackhawks

By ESPN

St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo said before the start of his team's series against the Minnesota Wild that one player wouldn't win or lose the series for his team.

Jake Allen is doing his best to prove his coach wrong.

The Blues' goalie was outstanding for the third consecutive game, making 40 saves and Jaden Schwartz had the go-ahead goal in the second period to give the Blues a 3-1 win over the Wild on Sunday for a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

"He's been unbelievable, a big reason why we got these three wins, and it gives us a lot of confidence," Schwartz said of Allen.

"He's in the zone and he's really backstopping us right now. He's making some big, timely saves, which gives us a lot of momentum."

Allen has been the star of the first three games. He's stopped 114 of the 117 shots he's faced for a .974 save percentage and 0.91 goals-against-average against a Wild team that ranked second in the NHL in scoring during the regular season.

Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues and Alexander Steen added an empty-netter for St. Louis, which will try to sweep the series Wednesday night in St. Louis.

"They've stuck to their game plan and we've stuck to ours and it was a real tough test for us out there the second half of the game," Allen said.

"They pushed really hard and put us on our heels a bit and we grinded and we got it done. A huge win for us."

Charlie Coyle scored for Minnesota, which got 28 saves from Devan Dubnyk. Dubnyk has allowed just two goals in each of the three games, stopping 92.3 percent of the shots he's faced, but the Wild have lost all three games.

"We've played three pretty good hockey games and we've just to keep playing hard," Dubnyk said. "Putting pucks to the net and trying to get some bounces and see if we can turn the momentum."

Schwartz had a power-play goal at 15:19 of the second period to put the Blues one win away from the second round. He scored with 2:27 left in the third period of Game 2 to give St. Louis the 2-1 win.

On Sunday, the Blues scored just 3:25 into the first period when Parayko beat Dubnyk high with a shot from the high slot after a nice pass from Patrik Berglund. The goal was the third in 23 playoff games for Parayko, who scored four goals in 81 games this season.

St. Louis outshot Minnesota 15-9 in the first period, but couldn't build on its early lead. Vladimir Tarasenko and Steen both hit the post.

Minnesota tied it with a goal from Coyle with 7:01 left in the second period. Coyle scored off a rebound of a shot from Zach Parise, giving the Wild their first even-strength goal of the series and Parise his third point in three games.

The Blues scored their first power-play goal of the series from Schwartz with 4:41 remaining in the second period. Schwartz, who took a high stick from Ryan White to earn the penalty, scored his second goal of the series off a pass from Steen behind the net.

Minnesota put 19 shots on goal in the third period, but couldn't score.

The Wild pulled Dubnyk for an extra attacker with 2:10 remaining and Steen scored his first of the playoffs, assisted by Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka, into the empty net with 1:11 left.

Predators 5, Blackhawks 0

Pekka Rinne was great again. Ryan Johansen had a big night, and Nashville got a lift from a couple of unlikely scorers.

The Predators are singing a sweet tune on their way home to Music City, threatening to play the Chicago Blackhawks right out of the postseason.

Rinne made 30 saves in his second straight shutout and picked up two assists, helping Nashville rout Chicago 5-0 on Saturday for a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

"Character win the first one, and then tonight played a really solid game," Rinne said.

Johansen had a goal and two assists as Nashville added a dominant performance to its taut 1-0 victory in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Ryan Ellis, Harry Zolnierczyk, Colton Sissons and Kevin Fiala each scored their first career playoff goal.

The Predators became the fifth NHL team to begin a postseason with consecutive road shutouts, joining Detroit (1936), Buffalo (1983), New Jersey (1995) and Toronto (2001). Game 3 is Monday night in Nashville.

"A lot of guys played great hockey out there," Ellis said. "We got the result we wanted, but we've got a lot of work left to do and it doesn't stop here."

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville shuffled his lineup, inserting rookie Vinnie Hinostroza and Dennis Rasmussen and benching veteran Jordin Tootoo and John Hayden. But it was more of the same for the Blackhawks, who once again looked out of sync against the Predators' active defense.

"That was frustration to a different level," Quenneville said. "That wasn't fun to watch. I think you can look at it, we dug ourselves a tremendous hole across the board. Not too many positives come out of tonight's game."

Chicago was shut out in consecutive playoff games for the first time since it was blanked in three straight in April 2002 against St. Louis. It has dropped six in a row dating to the end of the regular season.

The sellout crowd of 22,175 booed as the final seconds of the second period ticked off, and there were more jeers in the third.

"It seems like right now we're playing a little bit tight," forward Marian Hossa said. "Obviously everybody's trying to score that goal. We have to play our way, the way we've played all season. We have to take a deep breath, throw this one in the garbage and focus on Game 3."

The Blackhawks, who finished with a Western Conference-best 109 points this year, took the last four of their five meetings with the Predators during the regular season. They also controlled much of Game 1, outshooting the Predators 29-20, albeit with many of the attempts coming from outside.

But this one was all Nashville, right from the start.

"Overall I thought it was a much better consistent effort tonight than it was in Game 1," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said.

After Richard Panik had a shot go off a post in the opening minute, the Predators began to take over. Ellis' shot from the high slot was blocked by a sliding Panik, but the defenseman tried again and drove it by Corey Crawford for a 1-0 lead at 3:44.

Viktor Arvidsson, who scored the only goal in Game 1, provided a perfect screen on the play, with Ellis' shot going between his legs on the way to the net.

The Predators added two more in the second.

Rinne picked up a secondary assist when Mattias Ekholm found Zolnierczyk with a great stretch pass, and the forward shot it off Crawford's left shoulder for a 2-0 lead at 2:51.

"Once I cut in I wanted to get it over his shoulder there far side, and I was just lucky there was enough room to get it done," Zolnierczyk said.

The Blackhawks nearly got on the board about 30 seconds later, but captain Jonathan Toews shot it off the right post. Sissons then knocked in his own rebound with 7 minutes left.

It was Sissons' first point since he scored two goals against San Jose on March 25.

"It was good to get a balance," Laviolette said. "We've been trying to roll the lines and it was good to get a balance in scoring and get all the guys contributing."

Saturday, April 15 Scoreboard

Ottawa 4, Boston 3 (OT)

Game 2 -- Series tied 1-1

Toronto 4, Washington 3 (2OT)

Game 2 -- Series tied 1-1

Nashville 5, Chicago 0

Game 2 -- Predators lead 2-0

Anaheim 3, Calgary 2

Game 2 -- Ducks lead 2-0

Sunday, April 16 Scoreboard

St. Louis 3, Minnesota 1

Games 3 -- Blues lead 3-0

PIttsburgh 5, Columbus 4 (OT)

Game 3 -- Penguins lead 3-0

Montreal 3, New York  Rangers 1

Game 3 -- Canadiens lead 2-1

Edmonton 1, San Jose 0

Game 3 -- Oilers lead 2-1

Monday, April 17 Schedule (All Times Central)

Ottawa at Boston, 6 p.m.

Game 3 -- Series tied 1-1

Washington at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Game 3 -- Series tied  1-1

Chicago at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.

Game 3 -- Predators lead 2-0

Anaheim at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Game 3 -- Ducks lead 2-0