A capsule look at the Minnesota Wild ahead of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wild face the St. Louis Blues in the first round, starting Thursday at Scottrade Center.
MORE: First-round playoff schedules | Fatal flaws for all 16 teams
Season record: 46-28-8, 100 points
Standing: First wild card in Western Conference
SERIES PREVIEWS: Canucks-Flames | Ducks-Jets | Blues-Wild | Predators-Blackhawks
Clinched: April 7
Coach: Mike Yeo (regular season: 150-110-34; playoffs: 7-11)
Captain: Mikko Koivu
Alternates: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter
Players to watch: The Wild lead the league on the penalty kill (86.3 percent). Zach Parise, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek each finished with at least 52 points. Parise's 33 power-play points were good for 10th in the NHL. He was sixth in goals and seventh in plus-minus at plus-27. Parise had 11 power-play goals. Pominville and defenseman Ryan Suter led the team in assists with 36 each.
Goaltender: Devan Dubnyk made his Wild debut on Jan. 15 and carried the team from eight points behind a playoff spot to the postseason. He finished 29-8-3 with a .936 save percentage and 1.78 goals-against after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes. Before sitting on April 9, he played 38 consecutive games, and went 15-2-1 on the road.
SERIES PREVIEWS: Rangers-Penguins | Canadiens-Senators | Capitals-Islanders | Lightning-Red Wings
Playoff history: It's the third consecutive trip to the postseason for the Wild. They lost to the Blackhawks in six games in last year's second round. Overall, the Wild are making their sixth playoff appearance.
Championships: Zero; they have yet to reach the finals.
NEED PLAYOFF TICKETS? Get them from VividSeats.com
First-round schedule (all times ET; * — if necessary)
April 16: Wild 4, Blues 2
Saturday, 3 p.m. at St. Louis; NBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
April 20, 8 p.m. at Minnesota; CNBC, SN1, TVA Sports
April 22, 9:30 p.m. at Minnesota; NBCSN, SN 360, TVA Sports
*April 24, TBD, at St. Louis, TBD
*April 26, TBD, at Minnesota, TBD
*April 29, TBD, at St. Louis, TBD
Cassandra Negley is a contributor at Sporting News. She’s currently the sports editor at the Thomasville Times-Enterprise in Georgia and writes for the Mets blog, Rising Apple. You can follow her on Twitter, @casnegley.