How can the Minnesota Wild contain Vladimir Tarasenko?

David Backes might have said it best about Vladimir Tarasenko, after the brilliant 23-year-old St. Louis Blues winger tallied a hat trick in their Game 2 win.

“One inch of ice and he turns it into a great scoring chance,” He’s dynamic. He creates it all by himself,” said Backes. 

In other words, it’s what they’ve needed since perhaps 2009 as a playoff contender. A player who can jumpstart the offense on his own, make a play when they need one, score a goal at a critical juncture of a game or a series.

They’ve needed Vladimir Tarasenko, and now the Minnesota Wild need to stop him.

Last postseason, he had four goals in six games. This regular season, he led the Blues with 73 points and 37 goals, which was good for fifth in the NHL.  While his line with Jori Lehtera helped carry the Blues offensively all season, he’s also now found palpable chemistry with Alex Steen, who played with Tarasenko and Lehtera in Game 2 and is expected back with them for Monday night’s Game 3 at the Wild.

So what do the Wild do for Game 3 to try to slow him?

The last offensive juggernaut they faced was Nathan MacKinnon last season, who had 10 points in seven games against them last season. The Wild threw Erik Haula at him last season, but that probably doesn’t happen in Game 3. From the Star Tribune:

“He’s going to find ways to make plays, and he’s a challenge no matter who is on the ice,” Yeo said of Tarasenko.

“You can’t just put one guy and shadow him because he’s got other guys out there that would take you out of your system.”

Yeo said MacKinnon largely hurt the Wild 5-on-5 off the rush. “Last year, it was a very specific speed matchup that we were looking for,” Yeo said. While Tarasenko can score off the rush, Yeo said “he’s also willing to go to the hard areas, so it’s a different challenge.”

Via Chris Schroepfer of CBS Radio: 

The Wild aren’t expected to have one player shadow Tarasenko because St. Louis has too much depth at forward for Minnesota to do so. What Mike Yeo will have to do is make sure he has the right players out on the ice to match up with Tarasenko.

Whether it’s the line of Mikko Koivu, Jason Zucker and Chris Stewart matching up against Tarasenko’s line tonight or the defensive pairing of Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin, one thing we have learned so far in this series is that Tarasenko is the scariest player on the ice and must be accounted for at all times.

The Wild obviously have their own game-changing offensive players, too, and will have a home crowd supporting them on Monday night.

And hey, Taresenko only scored 17 goals on the road…

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