St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild: Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 1 Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 5/2/2022

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Western Conference First Round, Game 1

Time: 9:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN

Where to watch: ESPN, Bally Sports Wisconsin, Bally Sports North, Bally Sports Midwest

DraftKings: Wild -140, Blues +120

BetMGM: Wild -145, Blues +120

Caesars: Wild -141, Blues +120

The only playoff matchup that’s been decided for a couple of weeks now will finally come to fruition in Game 1 on Monday when the Minnesota Wild take on the St. Louis Blues in their best-of-7 series in St. Paul.

Knowing this matchup for a while tends to be good in evaluating a bunch of areas. For one thing, we’re talking about two teams with high-powered offenses that closed the season, but one of them involves a very balanced team, while the other is centered around the best offensive player in franchise history.

Playoff Kirill ended in a thud last season in his first postseason appearance, but you must think I’m high if I’m counting out Kirill Kaprizov heading into another playoff after that incredible season that featured 108 points and 47 goals.

"I know in the playoffs, every game, every shift is kind of all out, so I think we're going to be ready," said Kaprizov, who had three points (two goals, one assist) in a seven-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last summer. "I know we're going to be ready as a team to go out there and to play really physical, really good hockey every single shift, every single game.

"To be honest, it's not about the fancy plays and all the really interesting things we do on the ice. It's all about the little plays, the battles in the corner, the small things we do. If we can continue to do those things right and continue to win our battles and win our shifts and ultimately help the team win, that's what we need to continue to focus on."

There’s no doubt that Kaprizov’s arrival has, at the very least, thrown an element of offense that has never been seen before in Minnesota. Between Mats Zuccarello putting up 79 points and Ryan Hartman scoring an astounding 34 goals this season, the Wild have an offense that can attack you from all angles.

For an organization that’s always been forged on defense and goaltending, the offense is giving them a chance to really the Winning Cup this season and it’s having a clear trickle-down effect for this group heading into this series.

"You saw how we played them down the stretch here, and it's been some great games back and forth," Minnesota forward Tyson Jost said. "It's going to be a great series. We're excited for it and we're looking forward to that."

But if there’s one group that could rival what the Wild are doing right now, it’s the group that had a 16-game point streak end recently and were coming into the playoffs with a forward group that’s been killing it at the right time.

The Blues have used this season to revitalize the career of Vladimir Tarasenko, as he scored 34 goals and led the team in scoring. Robert Thomas, who carried a point streak of the double digits into late in the season, had a team-best 57 assists.

St. Louis had an unreal nine players score at least 20 goals, including captain Ryan O’Reilly.

"I think this team is the best I've seen at putting the puck in the net," said O'Reilly, who scored 58 points (21 goals, 37 assists). "We get momentum offensively it's quite dangerous and playoffs is obviously going to be a lot tighter, tougher checking, but I'm excited. I like our group and excited for this challenge against 'Minny,' who's playing unbelievable hockey. It's going to be a war."

But while this is going to be about offense, goaltending will rule the day. The Wild acquired Marc-Andre Fleury at the trade deadline to pair with Cam Talbot, and coach Dean Evason will have an interesting decision to make as it pertains to his Game 1 starter. Meanwhile, in St. Louis, there may be a new regime with Ville Husso having taken over from Jordan Binnington.

Husso went 25-7-6 this season with a 2.56 GAA and .919 save percentage, while Binnington continues to play as if he keeps wasting money on his six-year contract extension.

There’s no better atmosphere for playoff hockey than Minnesota, and we as fans were robbed of getting a full barn at Xcel Energy Center last season. Those fans will be excited as hell to get back into that building and cheer on their team, and the veteran goaltending will outduel the young Husso, no matter who is in net. Wild win 5-3

Blues are 8-1 after four or more consecutive overs the past three years.

Blues are 8-10 off a home loss by two goals or more the past three years.

Wild are 17-8 this season after a division game.

Wild are 5-10 in Game 1 during their history.

Blues:

Brandon Saad -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron

Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Vladimir Tarasenko

Ivan Barbashev -- Tyler Bozak -- Jordan Kyrou

Alexei Toropchenko -- Logan Brown -- Nathan Walker

Torey Krug -- Colton Parayko

Nick Leddy -- Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola -- Robert Bortuzzo

Ville Husso

Wild:

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Nick Bjugstad

Kevin Fiala -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Matt Boldy

Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno

Nicolas Deslauriers -- Tyson Jost -- Brandon Duhaime

Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill -- Dmitry Kulikov

Marc-Andre Fleury