ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Leave it to forward Zach Parise to summarize the Minnesota Wild's 6-1 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday.
Parise, always available to the media after each game, is straight-forward and honest. A heart-and-soul type of player on the ice, Parise doesn't pull any punches off the ice, either. So, while Minnesota tries to pick up the pieces after losing the series' momentum with the Game 4 loss, Parise offered a blunt assessment.
"I thought we were pretty brutal, to be honest," Parise said.
The Wild lost their chance to put a stranglehold on the first-round series against the Central Division champions by not holding serve at home.
Minnesota's Game 3 win appeared to have turned the series strongly in the Wild's favor. For two days, the Blues heard about how they were outskated and outclassed in Monday's 3-0 Wild win.
Minnesota had heard all about taking control in a series against a team known for first-round playoff losses. The hyperbole reached Wild head coach Mike Yeo's press conferences with a description of Game 3 as "dominant." Yeo refused to use the word.
The team that had been in must-win mode since January suddenly didn't have the pressure on it.
"We went from feeling awesome about ourselves, feeling like we can't be beat after last game and then we get a little dose of reality tonight, a little slap in the face," Parise said. "We'll regroup and be ready for the next one. But just, we have to be a lot better. We know that."
St. Louis proved early on that Game 4 would be much different than Game 3. Ryan Reaves scored on a big slap shot just over 5 minutes into the game. Vladimir Tarasenko -- he of the Game 2 hat trick -- scored the first of his two goals on Wednesday just 1:25 later and the Blues were on their way to a convincing win.
Stars who had been held off the scoresheet made an impact for St. Louis. So focused on being physical in the first three games, the Blues skated with the speedy Wild. St. Louis scored three goals in the first period, added three more goals on eight shots in the second to chase Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk and outshot the Wild 26-18 in the game.
"This is our game," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said after the win. "We're going to play our game now. We're not going to chase it around the rink like we did the first three games. We're playing our game. We changed the way we used to be. We're playing it. This is the way it's going to be for the next little while. If they can match it, great on them."
To a man, the Wild said they expected the push back from St. Louis. But as Parise said, they were feeling good about themselves.
"We might've came in a little cocky," Parise said. "We felt really good and rightfully so. We felt good about the way we played last game. I don't know if we thought it was going to be an easy game or we thought they were going to pack it in, but that wasn't the case at all. We expected them to have a good start and have a good push. I don't think we reacted well when they got one, and the second one and just not very good by us."
The Blues scored the most goals against Minnesota since Pittsburgh scored seven times in a 7-2 game on Jan. 13. A day later, the Wild traded for Devan Dubnyk and put together its improbable second-half run. Dubnyk surrendered the most goals he's given up in a Minnesota uniform Wednesday and the Wild suffered the worst playoff loss in team history.
Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo didn't seem panicked after the game, which has turned the series into a best-of-three situation heading into Game 5 at St. Louis on Friday. The Wild will host Game 6 on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Yeo said he held no assumptions about Wednesday's game. There was no way he could see the result coming.
"But quite often, that's the case," Yeo said. "That's the challenge. You win a game, and then you sit around for two days. You have to try to collect yourself and get ready for that next one. It's not always an easy thing to do, but likewise, when you lose a game, that's our challenge right now -- how we bounce back."
Minnesota will try to bounce back the same way the Blues did Wednesday. St. Louis played the way the Wild had previously, possessing the puck, shutting down the neutral zone and collapsing in front of its goaltender, Jake Allen.
"It doesn't matter if you lose in triple overtime or whatever in the playoffs," Minnesota forward Thomas Vanek said. "It's a loss and the series is 2-2. We have been a good road team for the last three months, so again we're confident on the road. We've got to regroup, forget about this one and be better."
Forgetting might not be easy but Yeo will try and help the process. He will watch the tape and attempt to rectify any tactical issues. As far as what he will show the players, Yeo said, "We're not going to punish anybody with this."
He continued: "We know that we need to be better. They were great tonight; there's no getting around that. They're a great team, and they played an unbelievable game tonight, so we've got to find a way to get better at ours."
The Wild have experience pulling themselves back up. They've been doing it since January.
"It's not on purpose; we'd love to make it easy," Parise said. "But that's the way these series go. I don't think anyone came into this series expecting it to be easy, at all. That's a good team. We know we have to be a lot better and we can be a lot better."
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