Dan Wallace: Gustavsson Gets Wild Net For Game 1

Lots of story lines in this series. Excited to get this one started!

I have said it before and it rings true every year, winning the first round of the playoffs is the hardest!

This is one of those things that fans of teams who haven't been out of the first round in a long time say, but it's completely untrue.

Why is Faber starting??? And Klingberg out?!! Either way, seems like a mistake starting a guy with only 2 nhl games under his belt in the first game of the playoffs…

Why is Faber starting??? And Klingberg out?!! Either way, seems like a mistake starting a guy with only 2 nhl games under his belt in the first game of the playoffs…
- MnGump

Faber is a better all around player that provides more flexibility than Klingberg. Klingberg is better offensively however somewhat of a liability defensively. I believe Faber has a better all around game which is why he's in the line up

So the least penalized player on tithe Wild roster (Spurgeon) gets two penalties while Suter gets away with 3 blatant cross checks and a punch to Kaprizovs face with NO call on any!?

Yeah they definitely missed that cross check on Suter but it sure feels better with home ice advantage!!! What a first game!

This series is going to be impossible to watch with the chroma key filtering the Stars players out every time they get near the boards so they can have their digital ads. I imagine it won't be any better when the series heads to Min

Wild got veeeeery lucky.

Faber is a better all around player that provides more flexibility than Klingberg. Klingberg is better offensively however somewhat of a liability defensively. I believe Faber has a better all around game which is why he's in the line up
- MNHawksfan

I was pleasantly surprised by Fabers play last night.

I have to say, with hindsight always being 20/20, that playing Faber last night was the right choice. He's young, that for sure, but it was just another game where he didn't look out of place. Rather, he looked (mostly) like a seasoned pro. There were a few minor hiccups, but overall, I think Faber played a decent game.

As for Suter, people have always said he was cheap. Of course, looking through the rose-colored glasses as a Wild fan, I never noticed it. Last night, he showed his true colors. I understand the idea behind knocking a teams star around and being in his kitchen all night (thank gawd Fiala isn't here anymore, he would have gone ballistic), but how much is too much. I did kind of laugh when Robertson skated Suter away at one point and appeared to be telling him to cool it. Robertson knew that HE specifically would have a target on his back because of what was being done to Kaprizov. I am going to guess that game 3 back in MN is where either Foligno or Reaves (would prefer Reaves) will get their hands on Suter. Suter might not be much of a fighter, but he is (as they say) "farm strong"...and my guess is that he can take a punch or 2.

Was glad to see Hartman score that game winner in OT. I actually was thinking he was a good candidate to score the winner as the first OT started. I was hoping either he or Boldy. Great physical game to watch.

As for the goalies, are these the best 2 in the Western Conference? Even though I am a Gus fan (and for some obvious reasons of course), I think Oettinger was the better of the 2 last night...except for 1 thing. Did anyone else get the feeling that the Wild were going glove hand to start off, just to get Oettinger to kind of lean that way a bit. Seems like his weakness might be blocker side, and they were just setting him up by shooting glove to start the game off. Either way, both Gus and Oettinger were unbelievable last night.