third period of game seven to help give the Capitals the victory, 2–1. Western Conference First Round (C1) St. Louis Blues vs. (WC1) Minnesota Wild The St. Louis Blues finished first in the Central Division, earning 109 points. The Minnesota Wild finished as the Western Conference's first wild-card, earning 100 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split the four-game regular season series, with each team winning once at home and once on the road. The Wild defeated the Blues in six games. Minnesota took game one, 4–2, as goaltender Devan Dubnyk recorded 19 saves. Vladimir Tarasenko then recorded a hat trick to help lead the Blues to a 4–1 victory in game two. In game three, Dubnyk stopped all 17 St. Louis shots to lead the Wild to a 3–0 win. The Blues then rebounded in game four, as five different players scored off of Dubnyk in a 6–1 win. The Wild goalie responded in game five by making 37 saves while Nino Niederreiter and Mikko Koivu scored in a span of 1:26 in the second period to win 4–1. Minnesota then eliminated St. Louis in game six with another 4–1 victory, as Dubnyk made 30 saves and Zach Parise scored two goals. (C2) Nashville Predators vs. (C3) Chicago Blackhawks The Nashville Predators finished second in the Central Division, earning 104 points. The Chicago Blackhawks earned 102 points during the regular season to finish third in the Central Division. This was the second playoff meeting between these teams; their only previous meeting was in the 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Chicago won in six games. Chicago won three of the four games in the regular season series. The Blackhawks defeated the Predators in six games. In game one, Nashville scored three-straight first period goals on Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford, prompting Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville to put backup Scott Darling in net. Chicago then rallied, scoring three-straight second period goals to tie the game before Duncan Keith scored 7:49 into double overtime to give the Blackhawks a 4–3 victory. Crawford again started in game two, but the Predators scored four unanswered goals on him, including two goals from Craig Smith, to tie the series with a 6–2 win. Darling was named the starter for game three and then stopped 35 Nashville shots, while Chicago scored three second-period goals to grab a 4–2 win.