Follow @stlgoalie The Blues wrap up their four game road trip tonight when they face the Minnesota Wild at 7:00pm CST (TV on NBCSN) at the Excel Energy Center though this really is like a one game road trip since the team came back to St. Louis after their victory over the Senators last Tuesday, getting four days off between games. The Blues are 2-2-0 against the Wild this season, winning the last matchup 4-1 at home on February 6th.
The Wild have been surging since the firing of Mike Yeo, winning their last 4 and 7 of their last 10. Their recent performance has moved them into wild card position. The Blues have won 2 in a row and also 7 of their last 10 where they have made up 5 points on Chicago and 6 points on Dallas, not trailing both by only 2 points. The Blues have the third highest combined penalty kill and power play efficiencies, trailing only Anaheim and Washington. While the Blues are 2nd in penalty kill and 6th in power play efficiency, the Wild are 28th and 12th, respectively. Even with the special teams advantages, the Blues have a smaller goal differential than the Wild.
For the Wild, Mikko Koivu leads the way with 45 points while defenseman Ryan Suter is just behind with 44 points. Zach Parise in only 6 points behind even though he has played 11 less games than Koivu. Given that Devan Dubnyk played last night, I expect Darcy Kuemper will get the start in goal tonight. Kuemper has only played one game against the Blues, giving up 6 goals on 33 shots.
Troy Brouwer, Paul Stastny, Jori Lehtera and Robby Fabbri all had multi-point games in the last contest against the Wild. Lehtera is expected to play tonight against the Wild. Jake Allen is expected to get the start in net, looking to improve on his 2.34 GAA and 91.4% save percentage against the Wild.
My guess for the Blues lines are as follows: Schwartz –Lehtera – Tarasenko Berglund – Backes - Jaskin Fabbri – Stastny -Brouwer Upshall – Brodziak – Reaves Bouwmeester – Pietrangelo Gunnarsson – Shattenkirk Edmundson – Parayko Allen
Notes from around the league: - The Lightning and Ducks have won 20 games in a row while the Leafs have only won 21 all year. - The Blues, Hawks and Stars all have more points than every other team but the Capitals. - The Lightning have overtaken the Panthers. - The Panthers only have 10 points in their last 10 games. Is this becoming a trend? - The Capitals already have 100 points, over 16% more than the Hawks and Stars. - The Wings and Penguins are now seeing the Flyers in their rear view mirror. - St. Louisan Ben Bishop is leading the league in GAA. - Brian Elliott still leads all goalies with over 30 games in save percentage. - Filip Forsberg is on fire with 14 goals in his last 14 games, moving him into a tie with Sidney Crosby and only 2 behind Tarasenko.
It’s a great day for hockey.