Blues vs. Wild: 3 things you need to know

The St. Louis Blues emerged from the regular season atop the most competitive division in the NHL. The reward for their second division title in four seasons is a first-round series against the Minnesota Wild - the hottest team in the Western Conference since the All-Star break.

Here are three things you need to know about this series between two Central Division foes:

Red-hot Dubnyk could be cooling off

Minnesota earned its wild-card berth on the back of goaltender Devan Dubnyk. He started 38 consecutive games for the Wild after arriving in a trade, carrying a 26-6-1 record with his new team into April.

But Dubnyk appeared to hit a wall at the end of March. His save percentage dipped to a pedestrian .915 in five April appearances and the Wild went 1-3-1 in that span, showing just how much the team was relying on his heroic level of play.

It's easy to forget that Dubnyk was all but written off by many following his last season with the Edmonton Oilers, when his save percentage dipped below .900 and he was eventually dealt to the Nashville Predators before ending up in the Montreal Canadiens' farm system. 

Dubnyk's impressive run with Minnesota has revitalized his career, but it will seem more like the exception than the norm if he is unable to carry it into the postseason.

Blues have questions in the crease

The Blues have assembled one of the deepest rosters in the league over the last few seasons, but playoff success has eluded them in large part due to their Achilles heel: goaltending.

St. Louis tried to address the problem last season by trading for Ryan Miller at the deadline - a strategy that backfired in the Blues' opening-round loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Miller posted the lowest playoff save percentage of his career in the six-game defeat and was not re-signed in the offseason.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock named Jake Allen as Game 1 starter, leaving the more-experienced Brian Elliott on the bench. Neither netminder stole the show during the season and while Allen has just one minute of playoff experience under his belt, Elliott's .898 save percentage in 18 playoff appearances does not inspire confidence.

Minnesota needs more from man advantage

St. Louis's offense will be difficult to contain with leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko back from injury, so the Wild need to figure out a way to match it.

The Wild and the Blues scored at similar rates in 5-on-5 situations, but Minnesota's power play leaves much to be desired. The Wild converted on 15.8 percent of their man advantages, scoring only 12 times on 108 road opportunities, while St. Louis finished fourth in the league (22.3 percent) and is even more effective on the road.

Minnesota is good at staying out of the penalty box and has the league's top penalty kill percentage (86.3), which should slow the Blues slightly, but the Wild need to capitalize on St. Louis's tendency to take a lot of penalties if they hope to advance.

Series schedule