Zach Parise played in the Stanley Cup Final in his final weeks as a member of the New Jersey Devils.
His team fell behind 3-0 in the series, then relaxed and won a pair of games before falling to the Los Angeles Kings in six.
With his Wild taking the first step in digging out of a 3-0 hole in their first-round series with the St. Louis Blues, Parise sees some parallels ahead of Game 5 on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.
"Having been in that situation, it helps," Parise said. "Going back to that, we lost the first two in OT at home. We could've been up two-zip as easy as we were down two-nothing, but they were tight games just like these have been tight games.
"Again, the focus is not on what happened, it's on 'OK, now we need to get ready to play the next game.' You can't dwell on what happened in Game 1, 2 or 3. We've got to play even better and better to try and make the series longer."
The Wild are coming off their first game where they held a lead, and it lasted, as they beat St. Louis 2-0 in Game 4. As the Wild come back home down 3-1 in the series, their odds are still quite long, but there's a better feeling now that they've at least pushed back.
"I think the attitude is fine," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said after practice on Friday. "I don't know if tense is the right word, but I think they're anxious to play again. This is only the third game in seven or eight days. So I think both teams are probably really anxious to get back at it."
Blues forward Paul Stastny could hardly be any more anxious after missing a month with a foot injury. He had a full practice on Friday in Missouri before the Blues hopped on a northbound plane.
St. Louis coach Mike Yeo hinted that Stastny could be back in the lineup on Saturday afternoon.
"Getting a player back is always nice. It helps to stabilize things, it gives us a little bit more options, but at the same time, it's not like getting a player back is just the answer and going to make things better for us," Yeo said. "I think in a lot of ways, we've lost players and it's sharpened our focus and guys have understood that they need to bear down and they need to do their jobs and do the little things and we need to make sure we continue to have that mindset. If we add a player like (Stastny) obviously then you become a better team."
Like Minnesota, the Blues are taking the "win one game" approach, not thinking about closing out the series, just focused on playing better for 60 minutes.
The surprising Nashville Predators are on the horizon for whoever emerges from this series, whether it's one, two or three games from now.
Game 4 marked the Blues' first loss in five games against the Wild. Now with a 3-1 lead, the Blues are back in Minnesota where they have won three consecutive games at Xcel Energy Center. St. Louis has held a 3-1 lead on nine previous occasions in their history. They went on to win eight of those series with the only loss coming in 2003 to Vancouver. The Blues have been outstanding on the road recently, winning eight of their last nine games (reg. + postseason) while outscoring their opponents 29-14 over that stretch. Defense has been the key to their success, as they have allowed two or fewer goals in six of their last eight away games, including one or less five times.
What to Watch
Vladimir Tarasenko has been a strong player for the Blues in this series though he has yet to find the back of the net. Tarasenko is averaging a point-per-game and 5.1 shots on goal over his last nine road games (reg. + postseason), while he's collected 14 points in (eight goals, six assists) in 16 career outings at Xcel Energy Center. The last time the Blues and Wild met in the postseason, Tarasenko logged six goals on just 14 shots (42.8 percent).
Quick Hits
After accumulating a minus-44 differential in faceoff wins through Games 1-3, the Blues won 30 to the Wild's 31 in Game 4
The Blues have allowed two or fewer goals in four consecutive postseason games for the first time since their first-round series with Vancouver in 2003 (Games 1-4)
Power plays have not been much of a factor in the 2016-17 series (reg. + postseason) between the Blues and Wild as the two teams have combined to go 4-for-47 with the man-advantage
The teams to score first have a combined record of 23-8 this postseason
This day in history:
1983 Islanders win NHL record 14th consecutive playoff series defeating the Rangers 5-2 in Game 6 of the Patrick Division Final.
1988 Devils Patrick Sundstrom breaks Gretzky's single game playoff scoring record scoring a hat trick and adding 5 assists in Devils 10-4 win over Capitals in Game 3 of Patrick Division Finals.
1992 Brett Hull has 4 point night with 3 assists and scoring Double OT goal to defeat Blackhawks 5-4 and take a 2-1 series lead in Norris Division semifinal.
1997 Grant Fuhr shutous out Red Wings 4-0 stopping 30 shots for his 5th career playoff shutout in game which ends in a brawl.
Stay out of the (Franking) box!
