irst nine games of the playoffs. The lack of a go-t

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Not even some inside information from Olympic teammate Zach Parise could stop T.J. Oshie in a shootout. Oshie and Alexander Steen scored shootout goals and the St. Louis Blues took over the top spot in the NHL standings with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night. In his first shootout since his memorable Olympic performance against Russia, Oshie beat Ilya Bryzgalov -- a Russian who wasnt on the team that lost to Oshie and Team USA in Sochi-- over his shoulder in the first round. Steen sealed the win in the following round after the Blues Brian Elliott turned away Parise and Mikko Koivu. "I think I was talking to Zach about that move tonight over in Sochi and he might have told Bryz what it was," Oshie said about his backhand-to-forehand move. "It seemed like he had me and I got a little lucky. It mustve just squeaked inside the post. I got a little fortunate on that one, but Ill keep taking them." The Wild fell behind 2-0 early, but tied it with second-period goals from Jason Pominville and Matt Moulson. Not many teams are able to come back on St. Louis, which only allows 26.4 shots and 2.22 goals per game. "I think that they thought they were going to take it to us physically and I think our guys responded to that," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "I think we got into it, we started being physical on their defencemen. We really started to get in our game and from that point on, I thought we were the better team." Oshie and Carlo Colaiacovo scored on the second and third shots of the game for St. Louis. It was Colaiacovos first goal since Feb. 11, 2012, a span of 42 games. Bryzgalov had 21 saves in his first start for Minnesota since coming over in a trade with Edmonton on Tuesday. Like Oshie, Bryzgalov also thought he had the save in the shootout. "You know, pretty much I almost had it. I dont know how he raised it over the shoulder," he said. "I thought there was no way to go for him. I was completely surprised he scored on that one." The "legend" of Oshie in shootout situations continues to get bigger, even among teammates. "When I see Osh going in on a shootout, I kind of giggle," Blues centre David Backes said. "I told him afterward that the goalies are starting to play like soccer goalies because theyre just guessing left or right. Hes got moves left, got moves right, got moves straight ahead. Its pretty special to watch and Ive seen it a lot." The momentum shifted in the second after Pominville scored at 3:11 to make it 2-1. Moulson tied it 4 minutes later with his first goal in a Wild sweater since being acquired in a trade with Buffalo on Wednesday. Mikko Koivu intercepted a clearing attempt and zipped the puck to Moulson, who was in front of the net and knocked it past Brian Elliott. Elliott stopped 17 shots and kept the game tied at 2 with a lunging stick save to deny Mikael Granlund with 13 minutes left in the third period. "I tried to kind of charge him because I thought he was going to tip it," Elliott said. "He managed to stop and pull it around me, so it was desperation. I try to rob the guys in practice and sometimes it pays off when you can make those stick saves in games." Granlund was again denied by Elliott from in close early in the overtime session. The Blues have won 16 in a row against the Central Division and are now 18-0-1 in division play. Theyve beaten Minnesota eight straight times, outscoring the Wild 25-10. The Wild are 14-6-2 since Jan. 2, but lost their second straight after a five-game winning streak. Both teams played Saturday night and appeared tired at the end of the third period and in overtime. Theres still a ways to go, but both teams could end up facing each other in the opening round of the playoffs. "Its a team that, in all reality, we could be squaring off against in the playoffs too," Parise said. "I know theres a long time until that, but I thought we matched up well against them. We like the way we played. Some great opportunities at the end, just wouldnt go for us." NOTES: Blues F Magnus Paajarvi was a healthy scratch and was replaced by Chris Porter, who was recently recalled from AHL Chicago. ... The Wild didnt register a shot on goal until 7:02 of the first period. St. Louis didnt get a shot for the first 12 minutes of the second period. ... Minnesotas Kyle Brodziak and the Blues Steve Ott fought 2 minutes into the game. Marlon Mack Jersey .com) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to even their series with the Dallas Mavericks Monday night when the two teams collide at American Airlines Arena for Game 4. Marcus Johnson Jersey . 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Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points.Each round of the playoffs, I forecast the round simply by using shots on goal and goaltender save percentage to come up with a baseline for the series. Its not intended to be some magical formula and doesnt apply any context, like, for example, taking injuries into account. This method was 5-3 in the first round and is currently 2-1 in the second round, with the Kings favoured entering their series against Anaheim (Game Seven goes tonight in Anaheim). More on context in a moment. The expected goals for each team in the series are determined by taking each teams shots for and against over the course of the season, as well as through the first round of the playoffs, and splitting the difference. So, for example, the New York Rangers, over the regular season and playoffs have averaged 32.9 shots on goal per game and the Montreal Canadiens have allowed 31.0 shots on goal per game; the average of those two numbers, 31.95 shots, is the number that is then multiplied by (1 - the opposing goaltenders save percentage) to determine an expected goals per game for the Bruins. Finally, the number is multiplied by seven to indicate an expected goal total for a seven-game series. Theres no guarantee that scoring more goals in a series will result in winning four games first, but the odds certainly favour the team that scores more. So, lets see how the numbers shake out for the Conference Finals: Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Montreal 28.7 31.0 Carey Price .927 15.92 N.Y. Rangers 32.9 29.6 Henrik Lundqvist .922 16.33 Verdict: This series projects to be very closely contested. Through the first two rounds this year, only the two Los Angeles series projected to have a closer differential than the forecasted 0.41 goals between the Rangers and Canadiens, and both of those series were seven-gamers. Montreal has been a subpar puck possession team this year, but it turns out that they have a great goaltender and a dangerous power play, one that was 32% (8-for-25) against Boston. Knock off a few power play goals or give Price a save percentage below the .936 that he posted against the Bruins and it would be easy enough to see Boston in this spot. As for the Rangers, they were a strong puck possession club during the season that eliminated Pittsburgh despite losing the possession game to the Penguins in Round Two. The Rangers also have the benefit of good goaltending, as they rallied from a three-games-to-one series deficit, as Henrik Lundqvist stopped 102 of 105 shots (.971 SV%) in the last three Rangers wins. It would be too simple to suggest that goaltending determines this series, since both Price and Lunqvist are among the best, so there are other factors to consider. Both teams top-scoring forwards havent produced in the postseason. No one on the Rangers has more than Brad Richards nine points in 14 games and Rick Nash has yet to score a goal. Montreals big goal-scorers, Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty, combined to score four goals in Game Six and Seven against Boston, after combining for four in the first nine games of the playoffs. The lack of a go-to-scorer for both teams has emphasized the team approach. For Montreal, Lars Eller, Brendan Gallagher, Daniel Briere, Dale Weise and Rene Bourque are among those that have risen to the occasion at times in the playoffs, while the Rangers supporting cast of Benoit Pouliot, Derick Brassard and Carl Hagelin has been able to score just enough for the Blueshirts to reachh the Conference Final.dddddddddddd If there is a single non-goaltender with the power to shift the series, it could be Montreals P.K. Subban, the top-scoring defenceman in the playoffs who has been in the middle of just about everything that happens with the Canadiens. If Subban is great, that alone could be enough to overcome the slight statistical disadvantage in this forecast. Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Chicago 32.4 27.7 Corey Crawford .919 17.64 Los Angeles 31.5 26.9 Jonathan Quick .915 16.78 Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Chicago 32.4 27.7 Corey Crawford .919 10.71 Anaheim 30.7 28.8 John Gibson .950 16.56 Verdict: Since there isnt much of a window between the second round ending, Friday night, and the Conference Final round beginning, Saturday at 1:00 pm ET, were going to look at both options in the Western Conference. Chicago hasnt even played their best hockey in the postseason, yet its still been good enough to dispatch St. Louis and Minnesota. Corey Crawford deserves some credit, because his .931 save percentage in this years playoffs is right on track with what he did last year (.932) on the way to the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. Chicago was a dominant possession team during the regular season, second only to Los Angeles in Fenwick Close, but havent held that same edge in the playoffs. Better opposition, and all that. The same could be said for the Kings, who earned 56.7% of the unblocked 5-on-5 shot attempts during the regular season, but havent held that same territorial dominance in the playoffs. The interesting thing is that, while hes had some strong games in the playoffs -- both this year and historically -- Jonathan Quick hasnt been much better than average this year. Its reasonable enough to forecast the Blackhawks to survive that possible matchup, and not just because we know the Blackhawks will for sure be in the Conference Final. When it comes to breaking down the Chicago-Anaheim series, the model gets busted by Ducks rookie goalie John Gibson. Its one thing to have a goalie that has played a grand total of six games in the NHL as the starter, but his .950 save percentage in those games, stopping 171 of 180 shots, is a completely unsustainable level of play. Thing is, unsustainable levels of play can get a team through a playoff series. Gibson was a wildcard injection into the second round, against Los Angeles, after Frederik Andersen was injured, and gives the Ducks a chance in Game Seven. However, its not remotely reasonable forecast to suggest that the Ducks would be 5.85 goals ahead of the Blackhawks in a head-to-head seven-game series. The Ducks arent as strong a possession team as Los Angeles, or Chicago, and have relied on extraordinary shooting percentage, in addition to their hot goalie. The