Preview: Wild vs. St. Louis, Game 5

Preview: Coming off a 2-0 Game 4 win, the Wild still has an uphill battle ahead. It is trying to become the fifth team out of 187 in history to complete a comeback from a 3-0 deficit. Chicago and Calgary were already swept in such a scenario, and Columbus was eliminated in five games. The Wild is 11-7 all-time in elimination games, 4-3 at home. The Wild has lost three of its past four elimination games at home and is 3-11 in its past 14 playoff games overall.

Players to watch: Wild G Devan Dubnyk is coming off his first shutout since Dec. 20, his second career playoff shutout and the first shutout in Wild history when the team faced elimination. LW/RW Charlie Coyle has goals in the past two games. C Eric Staal is looking for his first playoff goal since 2009. C Mikko Koivu has no goals in the past 21 games and two in his past 34. RW Mikael Granlund has one goal and three assists in the past 14 games and no multipoint games in his past 19. He led the Wild with 15 multipoint games this season. Blues G Jake Allen has stopped 140 of 145 shots in the series (.966 save percentage). LW Jaden Schwartz had the game-winning goals in Games 2 and 3. RW Vladimir Tarasenko has no goals and two assists in the series.

Numbers: The Blues are 11-for-12 on the penalty kill (11-for-11 5-on-4). The Wild is 10-for-11 on the penalty kill. … The team that scores first is 4-0 in this series and 26-9 in the playoffs. The Wild and Blues have been within a goal 90.5 percent of this series. … The Wild has directed 277 shots at the Blues' net compared to 192 aimed by the Blues at the Wild net. The Wild's faceoff advantage is 164-119 and its hit advantage 130-104.

Injuries: Blues C Paul Stastny (foot) might return. RW Alex Steen (foot) is probable.

Michael Russo