The way some Wild posters talk about Tarasenko, as though he just scores inconsequential goals, I would really like to see him put a little fear into their hearts this series. The condescending attitudes are getting thick.
Short term memories apparently. His goal totals in playoff games is his most impressive stat, IMO. I bring it up because outside of Crawford, I can't think of a (good) goalie that Tarasenko terrorizes quite like Dubnyk.
I would actually have him as my number 2 factor behind Allen. If he can get on the board and get in their heads early, I think it loosens up the rest of the guys. We've watched too many playoffs where the offensive pressure just eats away at series hope. He can detour that by getting hot quick and could potentially get in the head of Dubnyk.
If they're unable to contain him in Game 1, it would probably also force Boudreau into a flurry of shuffling to compensate -- which he is certainly not known to be a master of.
Aside from that, I'm also anxious to see how many minutes Pietrangelo eats up. The Wild are such a great forechecking team, but their down low style is what Pietrangelo is absolutely elite at disrupting. Our third pairing, however, terrifies me against The Wild's system.
