What's Your Wild v Blues Series Prediction???

So what does your favorite Hockey Wilderness writers think? We assembled the best hockey minds on the site and gathered all of our series predictions for your reading pleasure.

Alli Baker

Why the Wild win:

Why the Wild lose:

Although I doubt the Wild will lose this series, anything is possible in the playoffs. The only reason I could see this team losing in the first round is if Dubnyk doesn't hold up, which I don't see happening. Injuries could cause trouble for Minnesota, but there's so much depth on this team, I honestly don't even know if that could stop them.

The only other thing I could think of might be this team's inability to stop Tarasenko and Schwartz, but I don't see that being a serious problem.

Prediction: Wild in 6 games

Barry Campbell

Why The Wild Win

Why The Wild Lose

Prediction: Wild in 6

Alex Hennessey

Why the Wild Win

Why the Wild will Lose

Not enough secondary scoring. Last year in the playoffs guys like Haula, Coyle, Nino, Brodziak, Spurgeon were scoring huge goals for this team. St. Louis is going to focus on Parise, Pommer, Granny, Koivu offensively and we will need guys to step up from the lower lines to provide scoring depth if we want to win. Depth has been a strength of this team all season and it has to continue in the playoffs for us to be successful. Zucker, Nino, Coyle, Stewart, Vanek are going to have to be factors on offense.

Prediction: Wild win in 6

Dakota Case

Why the Wild win

The sensational story surrounding Minnesota and Devan Dubnyk this season wasn't just a feel-good story about a struggling goaltender in need of a fresh start single-handedly lifting the team to glory. It was also about how the proverbial shot in the arm of his arrival helped instill confidence in a team that so desperately needed it. Great teams trust in each other. Stanley Cup winning teams aren't made up of a bunch of players that don't like each other - they're built of a brotherhood formed in the heat of battle. Great teams play for each other, and have that faith, will, and determination to succeed, and that's what we've seen from this Wild club the latter half of the season. On a non-touchy-feely note, the return of speedy sniper Jason Zucker could be the dagger in the Blues' back as it gives head coach Mike Yeo a team five lines and four defensive pairings deep.

Why the Wild lose

Prediction: This series will test Minnesota as much or more than last year's opening round against Patrick Roy's Avs. That said, with a healthy Zucker and Dubnyk in net, I'm going to have to say Wild in seven, but that doesn't mean the series couldn't as easily end with the Blues winning in six.

Tiffany McAnnany

Why the Wild Win
In January, I began to try to figure out which top ten draft eligible player the Wild should select. I thought they had no chance of making the playoffs. It seemed impossible. I gave up on this team, but they didn't quit. The Wild are a team that doesn't quit. They are a group that has skills, but also important - they believe.

Why the Wild Lose
The idea of Dubnyk getting injured is terrifying. Even though the Wild are carrying more goalies than any other team in the league, it just means they have more terrible goalies than pretty much any other team. The Wild seem to have their starter injured frequently in the playoffs, so I'm nervous. Can they store Dubnyk in bubble wrap when he's not on the ice? Can he play while packed in bubble wrap?

Prediction: Wild in 6 because they like to wait until their backs are against a wall to produce. The Blues also like to choke away 2 to 0 series leads.

Chris Boyd

Why the Wild will win

A combination of depth and style. The Wild have handled them before this season. The Blues are big and heavy, with some skill, but when the Wild roll their 4-line game, the Blues won't match up. Tarasenko and Backes are the biggest threats, whereas the Wild have Pominville, Parise, Niederreiter, Vanek, and Zucker all as scoring threats. Secondly, the Wild's blue line is simply superior. Furthermore, Dubnyk is a far better goalie than either of the Blues', and he will be a difference maker.

Why the Wild will lose

The Blues are big and heavy, and Yeo will fall into the trap of trying to out-Blues the Blues. Instead of speeding their game up and trapping the Blues in their own zone, the Wild try to out-muscle them and devolve the game to a series of board-battles, which they inevitably lose. Dubnyk and the blue line do their best, but with the style of play does not suit their personnel. Dubnyk is left out to dry by a battered and beaten defensive corps, and the Tarasenko-Backes-Statsny trio rips the Wild to shreds.

Prediction: Wild in 6

Joe Bouley

Why the Wild Win

Why the Wild Lose

The Blues are the better puck possession team and they will have won because they completely suffocated the Wild in their end. Devan Dubnyk may be one of the best stories in the league, but he cannot stop 35-40 shots a game. Minnesota resorts to nothing but the dump 'n' chase method and the defensemen of the Blues are too good at exiting the zone so the offense all but dries up because they don't get any decent zone time or pressure.

Prediction: Blues in 7

Aaron Holm

Dustin Nelson

Why the Wild Win

Why the Wild Lose

The Blues will win if they can out-muscle the Wild along the boards and win possession battles in both zones. Their top three lines are formidable and if all three are clicking they're dangerous. The Blues outmatch the Wild in a lot of categories and they'll maintain an edge in the series if they can hang onto that advantage in things like faceoffs, possession, power play, etc. Every team that takes a series needs strong goaltending, but without a clear-cut number one in net, they really need Jake Allen to be solid so their goaltending carousel doesn't get spinning. Consistency will mean a lot to the Blues.

Prediction: I'm taking the Wild in 6, with the Wild winning two road games.

Tony Abbott

Why the Wild will win

Why the Wild will lose

Prediction: Blues in 6. Special Teams and/or Dubnyk could swing this in the Wild's favor, but there's a reason why the Blues have consistently been dominant over the Wild. The Wild are more than good enough to make a deep Cup run (and I think the winner of this series makes the Conference Finals, easy), but the worst match-up possible means they get bounced early. At least we'll get that third home game.