The Minnesota Wild were the last Western Conference team to punch their ticket for the second round of the playoffs, beating the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Sunday. Here are the 6 best stats from their opening round series.
Yeo: "We're not done." #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 26, 2015
1. First Clinch In St. Paul
Sunday’s win was the first time the Wild have ever clinched a playoff series at home. In fact, it was the first time it was ever a possibility. The franchise has never held a 3-1 or 3-2 lead in any playoff series.
The team has won three of their previous eight playoff series, but all three were Game 7 wins.
Yeo: Winning at home — that was the first time we've ever done that — that was big for us to do that in front our fans. #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 26, 2015
2. 11 Different Goal Scorers
The Wild had 11 different goal scorers in the series. That’s tied for the most of any team in the playoffs. The other two? The eliminated Vancouver Canucks and the Wild’s second round foe, the Chicago Blackhawks.
In addition, the Wild have 11 players who tallied at least two points in the opening round series. That’s the exact same number as all four Western Conference teams who advanced to the second round. The most? The Capitals, Red Wings, and Canucks all have 13 players with at least two points. Next are the four Western Conference teams, as well as the Nashville Predators with 11.
The fewest? The New York Rangers (five games) and Tampa Bay Lightning (five games) have had just seven different goal scorers.
3. Dubnyk’s Making Marks
Devan Dubnyk set a few records this postseason, including becoming the first goaltender in Wild history to win his playoff debut. That win snapped a seven-game losing streak in Game 1s for the club.
Devan Dubnyk is the 1st goalie in @mnwild franchise history to earn a win in his #StanleyCup Playoffs debut #STLvsMIN pic.twitter.com/6LM3SxUzJr
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 17, 2015
Dubnyk also grabbed a shutout in a 3-0 Wild win in Game 3. He joins Darcy Kuemper and Ilya Bryzgalov as the only goaltenders to record a playoff shutout in a Wild jersey. It was Dubnyk’s first postseason shutout.
3-0! #mnwild wins Game 3 against #stlblues! Dubnyk gets his first #NHL postseason shutout! #STLvsMIN pic.twitter.com/vzvcuLfebN
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 21, 2015
The Wild still haven’t lost a game when scoring at least three goals since Dubnyk joined the team. They also haven’t lost back-to-back games in regulation since January 11 and 13, which was before the team acquired Dubnyk.
4. No One-Goal Games
The Wild-Blues series is the only series in the first round that didn’t have a one-goal game.
5. Storm Brewing
With a game-winning goal in Game 5, Nino Niederreiter becomes the Wild’s all-time leader with three game-winning playoff goals. He passes Wes Walz and Mikael Granlund, who both have two.
5. Parise Ties Gaborik
With two goals in the series-clinching Game 6 (his fifth career multi-point playoff game), Zach Parise ties Marian Gaborik for the all-time franchise lead in playoff points with 22. He has eight goals and 14 assists in the three years he’s been with the team. He leads the team in points in the opening round series as well with three goals and four assists.
In Game 6, he also became the first Wild player to score a shorthanded and an even strength goal in a playoff game.
Zach Parise becomes the sixth player in #mnwild playoff history to score a shorthanded goal, first since Marco Scandella 4/9/14 at COL
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) April 26, 2015
6. How’s Your Bracket?
26% of entries for #NHLBracketChallenge powered by Samsung picked MIN to win #STLvsMIN, including 13% who selected them to win in 6 games.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 26, 2015
More From This Series
Thanks to the NHL and team PR Twitter accounts, as well as Elias Sports Bureau for some of the statistics.