Wild should put goonery aside vs. Blues in favor of skill — and humor

In Game 1, the Wild tried to play like goons amped up on adrenaline and crowd noise. The team embarrassed itself.

In Game 2, the Wild played like the skilled, intelligent team it was in the regular season. Minnesota won in a blowout.

Playing at a playoff pitch sounds good when you're a TV network marketing the games. Once the game begins, playoff hockey is as much about composure as it is about intensity. The Wild only needs to look at its playoff history to learn this lesson.

In Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoff series against St. Louis, Jordan Greenway took a silly penalty, roughing an opponent even as an official was telling him not to. Later, Jared Spurgeon, Greenway's opposite in terms of size and playing style, took a silly crosschecking penalty as the game became increasingly chippy.

Five Wild players took penalties in that game, totaling 28 team penalty minutes. The Blues were assessed with 18 penalty minutes. The Blues capitalized by scoring two power-play goals and won 4-0.

The Wild's penalties were damaging in a number of ways. They interrupted the flow of 5-on-5 play and normal line changes for a team that relies on skill and depth. The penalties stressed the Wild's special teams, especially the penalty kill. Perhaps most important, those penalties provided evidence that the Wild had lost its collective mind and was mistaking itself for the Broad Street Bullies.

The Wild is a highly-skilled, high-scoring, precision-passing team that augmented its toughness during the season. Having enforcers on the roster is a luxury, but enforcers don't win games.

In Game 2, the Wild played a tamer game, allowing superior skill to give it an early lead, then skated to a 6-2 victory while looking like the best team in franchise history, which it is.

The historical precedent for this kind of play dates to its playoff series victory against the Blues in 2015.

That Blues team was highly skilled but decided to play a physical, chippy style against a Wild team that lacked size. The Wild decided to keep its heads, accept the cheap shots, take the penalties and score on the power play, and that strategy enabled it to beat a quality team.

The Wild had 26 penalty minutes in that series. The Blues had 48. The Wild won in six games.

That Blues team won 51 games and ranked fifth in the NHL in goals scored. That Wild team won 46 games and ranked 14th in the league in goals scored. In that playoff series, the Blues won the face-washing competition but forgot to win the goal-scoring competition.

This Wild team is more skilled than that edition and should adopt the same strategy. If the Blues want to play a physical style and take penalties, the Wild should beat them with the power play, not pugilism.

Even if the Blues are smart enough to avoid penalties, the Wild should avoid taking silly penalties that reduce its 5-on-5 time. The Wild should want Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala playing on regular shifts.

The Wild's ability to play with greater poise in Game 2 was signaled, if not prompted by, the attitude of its goalie.

Marc-Andre Fleury, owner of three Stanley Cup titles, responded to the Game 1 debacle not with intensity, but with humor.

He winked at teammates after difficult saves. He pretended to talk to the goalposts and crossbar that deflected away shots. He acted like vintage Fleury, enjoying the pressure rather than succumbing to it.

Hockey fans love the notion of playoff intensity, and many love their sport's insistence that stopping games so grown men can punch each other repeatedly in the face is quality entertainment.

Intensity can lead to erratic play. Foolish physical play and fighting can lead to unnecessary penalties.

The Wild can win this series with skill and composure. Fleury can show the way.