St. Louis _

Some observations from the Blues and Wild morning skates at Scottrade Center:

-This is a series between point guards and power forwards. You walk around the Blues' lockerroom and you see bodies that would look at home in an NFL facility. You walk around the Wild's and you don't see many candidates for protein powder commercials. You wonder, if this series goes seven games, whether the Blues' superior size could wear down the smaller Wild.

-Devan Dubnyk is a loose, funny guy. He talked about feeling that he's ``in the right place,'' and that because of that feeling he doesn't feel the amount of pressure he expected during a playoff series. ``We feel like we're doing what we're supposed to be doing right now,'' he said. ``We feel like we can win this game and win this series, and that's when you know you're supposed to be here, when it feels right.''

-Zach Parise is so demanding of himself that I saw him curse himself after he missed the goal during drills.

-Parise is wearing a scruffy beard. He joked that he hasn't had much success growing them in the past, but he's giving it a try right now.

-Parise admitted he doesn't like talking about opponents during playoff series. He's close friends with Blues forward Chris Porter – they played at Shattuck together – but the two haven't spoken during this series. Parise wouldn't even offer praise of the Blues' spectacular Vladimir Tarasenko. ``He's good,'' was all Parise would say.

-For Minnesota Wild fans who don't get to travel to away games, please understand how good you have it. Of the away arenas I've traveled to in recent years – St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Anaheim and Dallas – only Anaheim and Dallas are anywhere as close as nice a joint as the Xcel Energy Center. They don't actually compared, but at least they're not dumps like Scottrade. Chicago has a tremendous game-day experience because of the fans, the Anthem and the game production, but the building itself is nowhere as comfortable and fan-friendly as the X.

-Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was tremendous when talking about the reasons for the lopsided performances so far in this series. I'm writing about that for the newspaper, but he noted that he's never seen such short shifts, and that's due to these being two teams offering maximum effort and investing themselves totally in their defensive assignments. Since Hitchcock has won 708 NHL games, his perspective is fascinating. This has been a remarkable series for sheer effort.

-Hitchcock noted that Blues agitator Steve Ott has played better, and under more control, when used at center. Hitchcock said that as a winger ``he's a big of a wingnut.'' His point: When Ott is at wing, he doesn't worry about controlling the puck or maintaining position, leaving him free to roam around causing trouble. At center, he tries to run his line, keeping him in line.

-Wild captain Mikko Koivu has one assist and no goals in this series. Since 2008, when he had four goals and an assist in six games, he has one goal and seven assists in 22 games. He does a lot of little things well for this team. He is not doing the big things well.

-I'm not a big believer in the plus-minus statistic in hockey, but, for what it's worth, Mikael Granlund is the only Wild player with a positive, at plus-2.

-Patrick Berglund leads the Blues at plus-5.

-Hitchcock said defenseman Alex Petrangelo has been his best player so far.

-Personal view: I picked the Wild to win in seven, and thought the first three games of the series – the Wild finding a way to win one in St. Louis, the Blues bouncing back, the Wild dominating Game 3 – were all fairly predictable. I did not expect the Blues to dominate the way they did in Game 4. I agree with Hitchcock when he said, ``The series is where it should be, all even. And I expect a really good hockey game tonight.''

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Michael Russo and I will do a live podcast from St. Louis at 4 p.m. today (Friday) to preview Game 5. You can listen live or later at SouhanUnfiltered.com, or via Iheartradio. You can also get a free subscription through Itunes that will deliver every podcast to your inbox. Thanks.

@Souhanstrib