from Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

The Minnesota Wild played fast and the Blues couldn’t quite catch up, falling 4-2 in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series.

This was not how Blues coach Ken Hitchcock envisioned his team starting the postseason. They controlled stretches of the first period but fell behind 1-0 — and then they fell apart in the second period, taking penalty after penalty, falling behind 2-0 while getting outshot 14-4.

Fans who were roaring during the stirring pregame presentation were booing as that frightful period wound down.

The Blues staged a spirited third-period rally, twice getting within a goal. But they couldn’t quite undo the second-period damage.

How could this happen? The Blues knew what was coming in this series. The battle lines between these teams couldn’t be clearer.

The Wild want to play with speed, breaking out of their zone with crisp passes and sending their forwards into the offensive zone with control. They are at their best creating scoring chances off the rush.

The Blues want to stay on top of the Wild defense, force turnovers with their forecheck and tilt the ice with sustained pressure in the offensive zone. They value puck possession, cycling the puck down low to create havoc and scoring opportunities at the net.

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