'Blues phone it in, lose Game 1' : Views from St. Louis media

Here's some of what was being written and said in St. Louis following Game 1 of the Wild-Blues series.

From Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 'Blues have a lot of work to do'
In a 4-2 win over the Blues in front of a disappointed crowd of 19,671, Minnesota's speed and creativity slicing through the zone was clear. After falling behind 1-0 in the best-of-seven series, the Blues are going to have to be much improved defensively to stick with the Wild.

As for Dubnyk being a difference-maker, who knows, because Ken Hitchcock's offense failed to test him Thursday. They directed 58 shots on net, but most were from the perimeter, with only 21 registering as attempts, 20 others blocked by the Wild and 17 missing the net.

The Blues have a lot of work to do before Game 2, which is Saturday at Scottrade Center.

"It's the first of four," said a defiant Alexander Steen afterwards. "This is just Game 1."

Read his full game report here.

***

This was not how Blues coach Ken Hitchcock envisioned his team starting the postseason. They controlled stretches of the first period but fell behind 1-0 — and then they fell apart in the second period, taking penalty after penalty, falling behind 2-0 while getting outshot 14-4.

Fans who were roaring during the stirring pregame presentation were booing as that frightful period wound down.

The Blues staged a spirited third-period rally, twice getting within a goal. But they couldn't quite undo the second-period damage.

How could this happen? The Blues knew what was coming in this series. The battle lines between these teams couldn't be clearer.

Read his full column here

Bleedin' Blue blog: 'Blues phone it in, lose Game 1'

The St. Louis Blues—except Jake Allen—attended but barely competed in all but the last twelve minutes of Game One of their 2014-15 Stanley Cup quarterfinal series in front of a sellout crowd at Scottrade Center with a deflating 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the same team they beat in the regular season's final game 4-2. Their fans, who were sky-high at game time and gave their team a rousing welcome, deserved far better.

On the positive side, the Blues now know they will not repeat the disastrous first-round exits of the last two years by winning the first two games only to drop the next four in a row.

Read the full blog post here

***

It was death by a thousand passes Thursday for the St. Louis Blues, who dropped Game 1 of their first-round playoff matchup to the Minnesota Wild 4-2.

Although the Blues managed sustained time in the offensive zone, they left with little to show for it; the Wild dominated the middle of the ice for much of the game, keeping the Blues passing along the perimeter of the zone. By the end of the second period, the Blues had only 11 shots on goal to Minnesota's 21.