Notes: Blues defend Ott's peskiness

Blues antagonist Steve Ott continued to play the villain's role in Game 3. After goading Wild players throughout the game, he saved his best for last, blasting Marco Scandella before tackling Jared Spurgeon in the final minute. That act drew a 10-minute misconduct, Ott's second of the series.

The Wild laughed off Ott's antics, but Blues coach Ken Hitchcock took the any-publicity-is-good-publicity angle Tuesday. Ott has 22 penalty minutes, two shots, no points and is minus-1 in the three games.

"That's how he plays," Hitchcock said. "You all are talking about him. That's good for us. You stop talking about him, that's not good for us.

"He's an agitating guy, and he's got great moxie on the ice. He's a guy, if you're writing in the newspaper today, you probably hate him, and you talk about him. But if he's on your team, you love him. Because he has a way of getting your attention, and it means that somebody has to be aware when he's on the ice. He's a real good teammate."

Blues forward Marcel Goc, who plays on Ott's line, concurred when asked if Ott was the most hated man in the series.

"If that's what they say," Goc answered with a smile, "then he does a good job."

The Wild, though, continues to do a great job ignoring Ott. The hallmark in Monday's Game 3 was Ott missing a check on Jonas Brodin and nearly landing in the Wild bench. Ott faked throwing a punch at defenseman Matt Dumba as he sat on the bench. Dumba just began laughing.

When asked why the Wild's defense has been so effective, Hitchcock credited goaltender Devan Dubnyk — but not for the obvious reason. Since the Wild acquired Dubnyk, Hitchcock said, the team has played for the goalie, creating a hard-to-penetrate curtain in front of him.

The coach echoed a theme Dubnyk has repeated frequently in his three months with the Wild, praising the defense for providing solid and consistent support. Hitchcock noted that the Blues have not reached double digits in even-strength scoring chances through the first three games.

"When you play for the goalie, you block every shot," Hitchcock said. "You get in front of every puck. There's no gap, no space, no room. You're going to have to get through that."

Wild coach Mike Yeo said he anticipated going with the same lineup in Game 4 as Game 3. Hitchcock wouldn't divulge his lineup or any line alterations.

"You're right, I'm not going to tell you, nor am I going to show you in the morning at the pregame skate, so you're going to have to bring an eraser [Wednesday]," Hitchcock kidded.

"We're playing a team that's played the best hockey in the league since the goalie change and everybody is trying to catch up to them," Hitchcock said. "They're on top of their game, and it's our job to catch up. We had some really good things happen in the end of Game 1 through Game 2, but then they got their speed burn-and-go back [in Game 3]. They caught us again and took advantage of it. They're a great team through the neutral zone and if you give them opportunities to use that element, you're just feeding — especially the [Mikael] Granlund line — and that's what we did."