16Ws—Stanley on 7th Playoff Blog. Game 2 Vs. Blues.
Now that’s more like it. Someone grab Nelly a Band-Aid because there’s blood in the water. And we officially have a series.
Hopefully you didn’t toss in your rally towel after the game one loss. Because the series is tied up, and we’re back with the Stanley on 7th playoff blog where we make observations in sentences that start with the letter W.
Because, ya know, it’s about the dubyahs. #ItsAboutWinning
More specifically, it’s about 16 Ws.
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
And we got one last night, so let’s take a closer look, folks. Here goes:
We have a new theme song, and it’s wonderful.
As a B-Side to the Wild’s #ItsAboutWinning playoff theme, this little nugget of yacht rock could be heard playing in the Xcel concourse after last nights, yes, win. To be clear, this is officially what winning sounds like. It doesn’t matter if the vocals remind you of Will Ferrell singing in Elf, or maybe you in the shower. Listen to this goodness, and your collar will get a few sizes bigger, you’ll unbutton one more button, and a small tuft of hair will pop out on your chest #NoSleepTilSantana . . .wait #NoSleepTilStanley. Yes, more of this.
Why does winning sound like yacht rock? Because winning is loose and groovy and joyful and fun. Winning does not have white knuckles or furrowed brow. Winning has muttoncops and bell bottoms. You should really listen again.
You’re welcome, and, remember, you’re winning.
We have God on our side now. If you were wondering if the Wild were a team of destiny, look no further than the moment Bortuzzo’s stick exploded into a million pieces allowing the Wild to score the first goal last night. Also, can we please dumpster dive for this broken stick and sell small pieces of it for people to wear the rest of the way.
We love Jost. Don’t fool yourself, Mr. Jost is no playoff newbie. Second to the Flower, he has the most playoff experience on the Wild roster with 42 games played. Mark our words, Tyson Jost is precisely the kind of player who scores the big goal in OT when you really need it. He’s gritty, and he’s fast. And in this series, it’s not easy to look quick. But he does. We’re all happy Mr. Jost chose the State of Hockey over the Blue Mountain State. Doesn’t look like it was easy for him.
We owe Marc-André Fleury an apology. Not us, specifically. But collectively as a fanbase. While it can be harder to watch him play, it’s clear having a French Inspector Gadget in net like the Flower is a real benefit against a team like Saint Louis who likes to go east/west in the snot bubble. You knew Flower was going to be good when he had his “Come back with a smile” moment postgame of Game 1. So what if at times he looks like a soccer goalie guessing on penalty kicks in the crease, he’s been here before. Not to mention it’s going to take athleticism and aggressiveness to shut down the Blues East/West game. The Flower knows how this is done. Also, can someone please bring a bouquet of flowers into Enterprise Center this weekend. This needs to happen. Because at the Enterprise Center, if you leave flowers on the ice . . .wait for it . . .We pick you up.
We have the best Russian. If you watch the Wild on a nightly basis, you know 97 gives 100% even on a Tuesday night against Arizona in the regular season. So, the question was, will his game actually dip in playoffs as the rest of the league finally is playing as hard as our favorite tire flipper in the rain? Well, Mr. Kaprizov showed us last night that he’s capable of playing at 130%, which is cool. We will see how 97 likes going against Ryan O’Reilly now that the Blues have last change for a few games, but we know the effort will be there.
We need to make VILLE! VILLE! a thing. What better way to toast a young goaltender that’s in over his head in the playoffs, than every time we score on him the rest of the way, we clink a Big Wood Beer and shout VILLE! VILLE! to each other. Seems like just the right remix on a vintage Saint Louis tagline.
We should probably stay out of the box. Sure, the Wild’s special teams were much improved yesterday. But, generally, it seems like taking a half dozen minors against the Blues East-West juggernaut of a powerplay is probably a terrible idea. So, yes, let’s stay out of the box. Especially in Saint Louis. Box . . .bad. Box . . .bad.
We must execute the “Bluesprint” to win Round 1. The way to beat the Blues is to wear down their defense. Specifically, to wear down Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk. Matt Boldy’s huge hit on Nick Leddy in Game 1 seems to have left a mark as Leddy didn’t play Game 2. This is the playoffs, so the more defensemen we can see bouncing off the back wall, or walking down the tunnel—the better. It’s a war of attrition. Leddy might be back, and the Blues could add Scandella. But if the GREEF line can get to their blueliners, that’s how we advance. With any luck we will be sending some skeleton emojis with numbers like 55 and 72 next to them as we grind down the Blues’ back end.
We have a Conn Smythe looking player. It’s way early, but Joel Erikkson Ek has been brilliant early for the Wild. He’s consistently drawing the toughest assignment, and is also contributing offensively. It also appears his “punchable face” is back in full effect as he’s clearly getting under the Blues’ skin. Dare we say he’s playing a bit like the guy on the other side, #90, who knows a thing or too about the Conn Smythe himself. Here’s to hoping things remain Bork! Bork! Bork! for our Swedish Chef.
We need to talk more about Freddy Hockey. Freddy Gaudreau, formerly of the East Coast Hockey League, continues to under promise and over deliver on a nightly basis. He scored last night, and with the Kaprizov line likely drawing O’Reilly in Saint Louis, we should only expect bigger things for Freddy Hockey and his BFF linemates in games 3 and 4.
Welcome Jake Middleton. Middy was great in Game 2. Middleton is as hard and heavy as they come. If you’re imagining what a hockey player still standing in late June looks like—look no further than #5. If Saint Louis were trying to execute their own “Bluesprint” on us, good luck rag-dolling or bouncing a cat like Middleton off the back wall. You’d only hurt yourself trying.
Oh, sorry! How’d that get in here again.
