The set-up: The Minnesota Wild avoided a sweep of their Western Conference first-round series against the Blues by winning 2-0 in Game 4. The teams are back in Minnesota for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon. The Wild had only managed three goals in losing the first three games of the series but their two goals on Wednesday were good enough, as Devan Dubnyk turned aside all 28 shots he faced.

St Louis: The Blues appeared to take their foot off the gas in Game 4 and the Wild limited their quality chances. Some good news may be on the way, though. Paul Stastny (foot) skated with the top line at practice on Friday and could be in the lineup for the first time since March 21. St. Louis also needs leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko to get things going. He leads the team with 16 shots in the series but has yet to score, managing only two assists in four games.

Minnesota: "We just said coming into the game, we need to win one game and this is the only thing that matters," Dubnyk told reporters. "This was our Stanley Cup. And it's gonna be the same thing on Saturday, because if not, it's over, and we're not gonna think any further ahead than that." Charlie Coyle has stepped up with a goal in each of the last two games and Martin Hanzal netted his first of the postseason in the Game 4 victory. Zach Parise leads the team with three points while Jason Zucker, who scored a career-best 22 goals in the regular season, has yet to notch a point despite pacing the Wild with 18 shots.

The pick: After going 27-11-3 on home ice during the regular season, the Wild lost the first two of this series in OT. Can (will?) Minnesota win here at home and send the series back to St. Louis? I Maybe so but St. Louis goalie Jake Allen has stopped 140 of the 145 shots he has faced in the series. Take the 1 1/2 goals and make the Blues an 8* play