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Home-ice advantage overrated in Wild-Blues series

Minnesota Wild's Charlie Coyle, left, is congratulated by teammates Thomas Vanek, of Austria, and Matt Dumba, right, after scoring during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues, Friday, April 24, 2015, in St. Louis. The Wild won 4-1. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Minnesota Wild's Charlie Coyle, left, is congratulated by teammates Thomas Vanek, of Austria, and Matt Dumba, right, after scoring during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues, Friday, April 24, 2015, in St. Louis. The Wild won 4-1. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) Minnesota Wild's Charlie Coyle, left, is congratulated by teammates Thomas Vanek, of Austria, and Matt Dumba, right, after scoring during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues, Friday, April 24, 2015, in St. Louis. The Wild won 4-1. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

By Associated Press 5 min read

ST. LOUIS (AP) – NHL teams play all season for home-ice advantage. Only to give it away.

It hasn’t meant much at all in the Wild-Blues first-round Western Conference series. The teams have traded victories the first five games, three of them coming on the road, sending overflow crowds home grumbling.

The so-called advantage has been iffy throughout the playoffs. The Rangers won twice on the road while eliminating the Penguins, whose lone win came on the road. Anaheim’s first-round sweep of Winnipeg included two road wins, Calgary seized the advantage by winning the opener at Vancouver, and every other series featured at least one triumph by the invaders, including Ottawa’s victory at Montreal to stay alive Friday night.

Wild-card Minnesota has a 3-2 series edge against St. Louis, the Central champions, and can advance to the second round for the second straight season with a victory on Sunday.

The Blues dominated the last time they were in the Twin Cities, chasing goalie Devan Dubnyk from the net in a 6-1 rout. Two days later, Dubnyk was the star with 36 saves in a 4-1 victory.