Worst playoff performance in Wild history

By Jim Souhan

Playing at home, with a lead in a playoff series against a team that finished higher in the standings, the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday got booed off the ice after two periods.

The jeers were deserved.

The Wild played its worst playoff game ever, losing 6-1 to the St. Louis Blues at the Xcel Energy Center, while providing a reminder of all of the reasons fans and hockey analysts spent the winter saying the Wild would be best off facing anyone other than St. Louis in the playoffs.

The reminders were that…

-The Wild was a mediocre team at home during the second half of the season.

-Devan Dubnyk, a resurrected goalie who resurrected a team, was not too long ago a forgotten backup on a bad team.

-Most of all, that the Blues are a very good hockey club when stick to hockey and forgo the professional wrestling act.

The Blues used their brawn to win puck battles and faceoffs and crash the net on Wednesday, instead of trying to win the meaningless battles after whistles.

They dominated from the start, and the final score is absolutely indicative of their dominance.

Even Steve Ott, the Blues' agitator, played an effective game, although his reckless penalty at the end of the first period led to the Wild's first goal.

For most of the series, the Wild have looked like the quicker and more intelligent team. Wednesday, the Blues provided a reminder of why so many Minnesotans didn't want to see the blue note in the playoffs.