ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Even though he grew up in Lakeville, won a state championship with St. Thomas Academy and earned WCHA rookie of the year honors as a Gopher, Jordan Schroeder's first sip of playoff hockey at the Xcel Energy Center didn't come until April 20 of this year.
He was wearing a suit and tie. Milling around the Al Shaver Press Box. Hanging out with Ryan Carter, Nate Prosser and the rest of the Wild's scratches as their teammates posted a 3-0 Game 3 win in their first-round series against St. Louis.
Watching wasn't easy, the swift-moving winger said.
"You have to be mentally tough," Schroeder said. "It's not easy on someone. Someone can mentally break and fold and get disappointed."
But even while bouncing in and out of Minnesota's lineup and between the Twin Cities and the Wild's Des Moines, Iowa AHL affiliate all season, Schroeder hasn't. As a reward, Tuesday night brings not just a foretaste, but a whole meal, as head coach Mike Yeo seeks to neutralize Chicago's open-ice rush and climb out of a third straight 2-0 hole against the Blackhawks.
"What he does bring is speed and the fact that he's played against these guys this year," Yeo said of Schroeder, who is expected to replace injured Chris Stewart on the active roster in Game 3 of a series slowly fleeing the Wild's grasp.
In Game 2 -- a 4-1 loss Sunday at Chicago -- it was Erik Haula, another fast former University of Minnesota standout, who received a nod. A central piece in last year's playoff run, Haula hadn't played in a game since April 11.
And he might not be in the lineup at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. "You could definitely see some changes," Yeo told reporters after his team's morning skate. "No offense to you guys; I would love to tell you guys and have (Chicago) not find out, but it doesn't really work that way."
Manipulating the marionettes. Yeo has to try something after watching turnovers lead to all four goals in Sunday's loss and mental mistakes plague a team that was allegedly deeper, smarter, more mature and finally ready to hang with a Blackhawks team that's terminated its past two seasons.
So here comes the tinkering. With Stewart listed as day-to-day while nursing an upper-body injury -- the result of a collision with Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya in Game 2 -- Schroeder skated with Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter on Tuesday morning and learned immediately afterward he'd be making his home playoff debut.
Carter is a candidate to replace Haula on the fourth line and be paired with Kyle Brodziak and Matt Cooke. Other changes could be forthcoming, too, but Yeo wasn't about to tip his hand.
"Our players didn't even know our lines this morning," the NHL's youngest active coach said. "Just because he went there, don't assume that he'll be on that line."
In any case, placing a speedster like Schroeder -- or Haula, for that matter -- on the ice is aimed at slowing down the on-the-rush stampede Chicago's been exacting in this series and its playoff runs since 2008. Herd leaders Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa's speed, creativity and finishing ability render any mistake a potential back-breaker.
"They're looking for all opportunities to go when they get a chance, and you've got to do your best to limit those," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who has given up eight goals on 65 shots the past two contests. "We've been great all year at doing that; that's why we are where we are now."
One way to keep doing it is by matching speed with speed. Schroeder, who played in Game 2 at St. Louis, had a pair of nice performances against the Blackhawks earlier this year, including a seven-shot performance Jan. 8 at home.
"That's my game," Schroeder said. "Speed, speed, speed."
Carter, who has played in two Stanley Cup finals and hoisted the hardware in 2007 with Anaheim, has yet to play this postseason after missing 21 games with a shoulder injury that put him on injured reserve. His speed is a factor, too, as well as his penalty killing acumen.
Personnel changeups can aid a recovery effort. But they'll be for naught if Minnesota mainstays like Parise, Dubnyk, Koivu and Ryan Suter don't cut down on miscues and, when they happen, recover from them more rapidly, Yeo said.
"It's one thing to try to create, but you've got make sure you're smart about how you manage the puck," Yeo said. "Whether it's (Schroeder), whether it's anybody else in our lineup, we've got to make sure speed's a factor. But we're not fast if we're turning over the pucks."
Said Koivu: "Mistakes will happen. In one game, there's going to be mistakes made. You can't go into the game and think about, 'I'm not going to make a mistake.' You've got to react to that."
It all seems minute and technical, the focus on lineup changes that sweeps through the regular season suddenly carrying over into franchise-defining moments. But that's the beauty and agony of the NHL playoffs; the slightest letdown or extra effort can change the complexion of a game.
And at this point, perhaps a series.
Historically, Game 3 has been good to the Wild, who have won five straight and are 5-4 all-time in them. The Blackhawks, on the other hand, are on a seven-game road Game 3 losing skid that includes contests here in 2013 and 2014.
But NHL teams have come back from a 2-0 series deficit to win just 12 percent of the time (37 out of 291, includes Minnesota's first-round triumph against Colorado last season). Only four teams in league history have come back from a 3-0 chasm.
During its stretch run, the Wild forged an identity of solid goaltending, disciplined defense in front of it and velocity to generate an effective forecheck and put pucks on the net. They're running out of time to recapture its essence against a club eyeing dynastic achievement.
And just because the Wild, tweaked lineup and all, are back in a place where they've won seven of nine contests the past two postseasons doesn't guarantee it will be any different in Games 3 and 4.
"I just don't think for us to expect to come home and play better just because we did last year," said forward Zach Parise, the team's playoff points leader all-time and this season. "That's not how it works. We just have to be a lot better. We enjoy playing here; there's no question about that, but we still have to play a lot better game."
Ice is ready: A power outage Monday night in downtown St. Paul briefly impacted the ice plant at -- ironically enough -- the Xcel Energy Center, but its playing surface should be ready to go for Tuesday night's contest.
Crews quickly tended to the ice, and the arena was only without power for a few moments, according to team officials. Yeo said after morning skate the ice didn't look great when he arrived Tuesday morning but was fine by the time his team left it.
"It was maybe a little bit heavy, but you could tell that it's cooled off a lot, especially since I saw it this morning," Yeo said. "They'll have it ready to go for our game."
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