The St. Louis Blues may have only needed five games to get past the Minnesota Wild, but Bruce Boudreau feels his squad was the better of the two.
"They weren't the better team - but they won four games," Boudreau said, according to Dawn Mitchell of Fox 9 Sports.
While the comments may come off merelyas sour grapes from a coach trying to stick by his team's side, Boudreau's assessment may not be that far-fetched.
In fact, the Wild led the Blues in many important statistical categories throughout the series.
Wild (Playoff Rank)
Stat
Blues (Playoff Rank)
36.4 (2)
Shots per game
26.8 (16)
26.8 (1)
Shots against per game
36.4 (15)
16.7% (T-9)
Power Play
6.7% (15)
93.3% (2)
Penalty Kill
83.3% (T-6)
57.4% (1)
Faceoffs
42.6% (16)
Unfortunately for Boudreau and the Wild, in a tight series - and one in which Jake Allen played out of his mind - a few bad bounces can make all the difference.
Another year, another early exit from a Bruce Boudreau-led club.
Magnus Paajarvi broke the hearts of the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, ending the team's comeback hopes in Game 5 and beyond with a beautiful wrist shot for his first career playoff goal.
The win was huge for the Blues, who entered the series as underdogs against the second-ranked team in the Western Conference.
For the Blues, the win is a great achievement, but for Boudreau, it marks an all-too-familiar trend of his teams making early exits from the playoffs.
For the second straight year, Boudreau has watched his team be sent packing in the first round after his Anaheim Ducks were ousted by the Nashville Predators in seven games a year ago.
However, this year was slightly different as it was the first time in Boudreau's nine trips to the playoffs that his team wasn't the division winner. Still, with 106 regular-season points, the Wild were no slouch and were expected to have a better fate.
Nevertheless, the Wild are just the latest in Boudreau's failed attempts at Stanley Cup glory.
Year
Team
Division Ranking
Round Eliminated (Games Played)
07-08
Capitals
1
1 (7)
08-09
Capitals
1
2 (14)
09-10
Capitals
1
1 (7)
10-11
Capitals
1
2 (9)
12-13
Ducks
1
1 (7)
13-14
Ducks
1
2 (13)
14-15
Ducks
1
3 (16)
15-16
Ducks
1
1 (7)
16-17
Wild
2
1 (5)
What makes his early exits all the more surprising is that his teams have generally posted incredible regular-season records.
In fact, Boudreau's career points percentage of .658 is the highest in NHL history of any coach with more than 210 games coached.
All this considered, it's hard to knock Boudreau for his team's effort in the series. The Wild averaged the second most shots per game at 36.4, while giving up a playoff low 26.8.
Call it bad luck, call it a curse, call it what have you, but once again a Boudreau-coached team's season has come to an end much earlier than expected.
The Minnesota Wild entered the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs with high hopes, and rightfully so, after a successful first season with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench.
Five games later, they find themselves eliminated at the hands of the St. Louis Blues, and forward Erik Haula didn't hold back when describing the mood around the team following Saturday's Game 5 overtime loss.
"What is this, five years in a row? I'm sick of it. We're all sick of it," he said, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "You can say this or that. I'm just so pissed off."
Minnesota has indeed been eliminated within the opening two rounds in each of the past five postseasons, but defenseman Ryan Suter echoed the sentiment that this year was supposed to be different.
"The team we had this year, this year had a different feel ..." he said. "We had a team that could've gone far."
The Wild finished fifth in the NHL standings with 106 points, but won just a single game when it mattered most.
St. Louis Blues forward Magnus Paajarvi scored the overtime winner 9:42 into the extra period Saturday, giving the Blues a 4-3 victory and the 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Wild.
The Wild made it interesting, though. After the Blues took a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, the Wild stormed back, tying the game late in regulation to send it to overtime.
For the Wild, this marks the second straight season they've bowed out in the first round. Meanwhile, the Blues advance past the first round for the second straight year.
As for Paajarvi, his winner is just his second point of the series, and his first career playoff goal.
The Wild climbed out of a two-goal hole in the third period Saturday to send Game 5 to overtime. The game-tying goal came courtesy of Jason Zucker, who displayed incredible patience in out-waiting Jake Allen before depositing the puck into the St. Louis Blues goal.
After finishing 30th overall last season, the upstart Leafs are in the process of giving the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals all they can handle in the opening round of the playoffs, leading Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets to believe his team could be next.
"We want to be that team,” Scheifele told Michael Traikos of Postmedia. "You see that any team can go on that run. You see that a team can go from last to the playoffs, and that’s something that we have to strive for. We can’t look at ourselves as young or inexperienced. Toronto did that and they’re just as young as we are."
The Jets finished seven points out of a wild-card playoff spot and 20th overall this season, but do boast a wealth of young talent on the roster and in the system, beginning with Scheifele himself, who averaged over a point per game this year.
He's immediately followed by Patrik Laine - selected one spot after Toronto's Auston Matthews in 2016 - who's in the running for the Calder Trophy, with Nikolaj Ehlers also coming off a breakout campaign.
For Scheifele, merely being in the running for a postseason berth isn't near good enough for the Jets.
"We have to believe in ourselves. Just missing out on the playoffs can’t be satisfactory. We have to be better than that."
First up for Scheifele will be a run with Team Canada at the upcoming World Championship in France and Germany, where he could very well enjoy the experience of winning.
Minnesota Wild center Eric Staal was helped off the ice during the second period of Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues after crashing into the end boards following a scoring opportunity.
Prior to the start of the third period, the Wild announced Staal is alert and stable and has been taken to hospital for further observation.
Staal appeared to catch goalie Jake Allen's right leg, and lost his balance without being able to brace himself for impact.
Staal remained down on the ice for a few minutes before being helped off by medical staff and teammates.
The Canadiens trail the New York Rangers 3-2 in their first-round series, but Lehkonen has scored twice in the last three contests, and he posted a pair of points in Game 5 on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Pacioretty led the Canadiens with 35 goals and 67 points in the regular season, but has been held goalless in all five playoff contests, while being limited to just a lone assist in the series.
That's why Lehkonen's contributions have been so vital for Montreal, which will be looking to stave off elimination in Game 6 on Saturday night.
The rookie notched 18 goals in the regular season, and that success has carried over to the postseason. He's now playing on the Canadiens' second line alongside Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher.
And Lehkonen is drawing rave reviews from his head coach.
"He’s just one of those players that keeps impressing all the time,” Claude Julien said Thursday, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.
“To me, he’s way ahead of his curve of development. Unbelievable hockey sense. Incredible poise. He’s one of those guys that if you came to watch a hockey game and didn’t know any of the players, you would never think this is a young guy in his first year.”
The Canadiens must have seen something other teams didn't when they selected Lehkonen with the 55th overall pick in 2013.