The Minnesota Wild are set to take on the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs after finishing second in the Western Conference.
The Wild come into their first home playoff game in front of the Minnesota faithful since 2018 due to the pandemic derailing fan attendance in 2020 and 2021.
As the series gets set to kickoff, the decision of what hot goaltender to start is still on the table as Head Coach Dean Evason has yet to make the announcement.
The Wild had a record year in more than one way, with young star player Kirill Kaprizov setting a franchise record for points and goals scored in a season. He was also the first Wild player to finish in the top five league-wide for points scored with 108.
But Kaprizoz isn’t the only forward making noise for the Wild as Kevin Fiala has come into his own down the stretch scoring a career-high in points, goals, and assists, and rookie Matt Boldy has proven he has what it takes in his 47 games played.
Injuries have been a big question mark for the Wild as Marcus Foligno, and Matts Zuccarello have been recovering. However, both remained on the ice throughout practice on Sunday, and Evason said the team is waiting for them to say they are ready to go.
Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin was active during the trade deadline adding physical players in Nick Deslauriers and Jacob Middleton, as well as veteran and future Hall of Fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
The Wild have met the Blues in the playoffs two prior times, winning in six games in 2015 and losing in five in 2017. Last year they faced off against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, which they lost in seven.
The Wild met up with the Blues three times in the regular season, which ended in a loss each time, including one at the Winter Classic in Minneapolis and two in overtime.
Closing out the season, the Wild picked up a win against two of the top three teams in the Western Conference, clinching home ice and bringing their record to 53-22-7 — a franchise-best that included them going 12-2-2 in April.
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