The Minnesota Wild hopes to beat the Blues and leave St. Louis on a high note.
The Minnesota Wild will finally end a seven-game road trip that began October 29th in Vancouver and will finish today in St. Louis. Going into today, the Wild are 4-2-0 on this road trip after beating Anaheim 5-1 on Friday night.
Jason Zucker had an impressive night on Friday against the Ducks. The Las Vegas native had a three-point night (1-2=3) included the game-winning goal against the Ducks.
Finnish born Mikael Granlund play has been spectacular this season for the Minnesota Wild, performing at the level of an elite superstar. Granlund has (3-1=4) in the last two games. He now has 17 points (9-8=17) in 16 games played this season.
34-year-old Eric Staal’s Ironman streak for the Wild came to an end Tuesday. He played in 177 consecutive games but had to end the streak due to illness.
It has been fun to watch the reemergence of Zach Parise after multiple injury-plagued seasons. The Minnesota born winger has 700 career points becoming the fifth Minnesotan to reach this milestone. He also scored his 100th power-play goal of his career this season.
A starting goaltender has not been named yet for the Wild for today’s game. It will most likely be Devan Dubnyk since Alex Stalock started on Friday against the Ducks. Dubnyk is 7-3-2 with a 2.15 GAA and .932 SV%.
Opponent: St. Louis Blues
The Minnesota Wild destroyed the Blues 5-1 on November 3rd. Since that embarrassing defeat, the Blues have won two games in a row beating Carolina and San Jose. In these two games, St. Louis has outscored their opponents 8-1. Things look to be turning around for the Blues winning four out of their last five games.
The Wild will have to keep an eye on forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly who have been both playing very well. Tarasenko has a six-game point streak (4-4=8). O’Reilly has a career-high point streak with eight goals and eight assists in nine games.
St. Louis has yet to name a starter in goal for tonight’s game. Mike Yeo may want to go with Chad Johnson who has won his last two games. He allowed just one goal in a two-game span and recorded a shutout against the Sharks on Friday.
The Rundown
Minnesota Wild (10-4-2) at St. Louis Blues (6-5-3)
Puck Drop: 2:08 p.m. CT
Radio: KFAN FM and affiliates
Watch: Fox Sports North; Fox Sports app
All-Time Record vs. Blues: 33-24-14 (21-9-6 at Xcel Energy Center, 12-15-8 at St. Louis)
18-19: Wild are 1-0-0 this season beating the Blues 5-1 on 11/3.
Team Series Leaders:
Minnesota Wild: Koivu has C Mikko Koivu leads the Wild with 36 points (12-24=36) in 51 games.
St. Louis Blues: Steen leads the Blues with 27 points (6-21=27) in 36 games against Minnesota.
Wild Goalies vs. Blues: Dubnyk is 10-13-2 with a 3.09 GAA and a .896 SV% in 25 career starts vs. the Blues. Alex Stalock is 0-0-1 with a 4.21 GAA and a .800 SV% in three games.
Blues Goalies vs. Wild: Allen is 7-4-1 with a 2.63 GAA and a .904 SV% in 15 games (13 starts) vs. the Wild. Goalie Chad Johnson is 2-1-0 with a 2.68 GAA, a .905 SV% and one shutout in five career games (four starts).
Injuries:
Minnesota Wild: Matt Hendricks (lower body)
St. Louis Blues: Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)
Minnesota should expect to see a better Blues team today than when they beat them 5-1 in their previous match-up. The Blues have won two in a row and are desperate to make up ground in the Central Division. The Minnesota Wild could set a franchise record tonight with another road win. With a win, it would be their 5th victory on this seven-game road trip.
All statistics courtesy of nhl.com and dailyfaceoff.com.