Justin Faulk saw the reminders of 11 years ago throughout Xcel Energy Center, the custom posters pointing out key events in the arena's history. One of those moments was the 2011 NCAA Frozen Four, when the defenseman from South St. Paul helped Minnesota Duluth win its first men's hockey national championship.
"It looks like every Frozen Four that's been in here, a Minnesota team's won it," Faulk said, referring to the Bulldogs' first crown, their follow-up title in 2018 and the Gophers' 2002 championship. "… So yeah, you think about it. But that's not what I'm here for."
Faulk is here on what he calls a business trip with the St. Louis Blues, who are playing the Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Business was good in Game 1 on Monday night for the Blues, who blanked Minnesota 4-0, and Faulk, who had an assist and played a strong all-around game.
In Wednesday's Game 2, however, Faulk had a difficult night, taking a pair of first-period penalties that the Wild cashed in for two power-play goals in a 6-2 victory in St. Paul that evened the series at a game apiece.
Faulk led the Blues with 26 minutes, 39 seconds of ice time and a game-high seven hits. Both of his penalties came when he was engaged in battle with Wild star Kirill Kaprizov, the NHL's fifth-leading scorer (108 points) and fifth-leading goal-scorer (47) in the regular season.
First, with the Wild up 1-0 on Joel Eriksson Ek's goal on Minnesota's first shot of the game, Faulk high-sticked Kaprizov. Fredrick Gaudreau's power-play goal at 13:04 boosted the Wild's lead to 2-0.
Faulk nearly halved the lead with the Blues on a power play at 16:22, but Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury smothered Faulk's slapshot from the point.
Less than two minutes later, Faulk returned to the box after slashing Kaprizov. The Wild's leading scorer extended the lead to 3-0 with a tap-in power-play goal at 19:06.