The St. Louis Blues closed out the regular season by winning five of their last six games and defeated tonight's opponent the Minnesota Wild 4-2 in the very last. The Wild won only two of their last six despite solid goaltending, and I like the Blues chances of staying hot and taking down the opener of this Western Conference first-round series.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Goaltending - The Blues are blessed with two terrific goaltenders but have opted to give 24 year old Jake Allen the chance to prove himself in the playoffs ahead of Brian Elliott. Considering that Allen is 3-1-0 behind a minuscule 1.01 GAA over four starts so far this April it is perhaps not that big of a surprise. The Wild's Devan Dubnyk was posting a 2.02 GAA over 29 road outings on the season but compiled a 2.63 GAA over three meetings with the Blues.

2. Home Cookin' - The 27 wins that the Blues racked up on home ice during the regular season were second only to the Predators in the Western Conference. St. Louis has dominated Minnesota over recent meetings at Scottrade Center, winning six while losing only one of the last seven.

3. X-Factor - Nino Niederreiter was second on the Wild for goals in the regular season but tallied only one over four meetings with the Blues.

Selection: This is a play on the St. Louis Blues (8*)