BLUES (37-20-9) at WILD (31-25-10)
TV: 8 p.m. ET; NBCSN
Season series: The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild play for the fifth and final time, with each team having two wins. Blues forward Alexander Steen leads all scorers with two goals and five points. Wild forward Charlie Coyle has two goals and two assists.
Blues team scope: St. Louis will play for the first time since a 4-3 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday; the four-day break was their longest of the season. After the game, the Blues are off again until Wednesday. "For this time of year, we've had a lot of time off," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Now, we play and get more time off. So we've got to figure out what's the good balance. This game [Sunday] will be a good judge of what's a good balance. From a pace standpoint, I'm interested to see. We tried to keep the pace as high as we could because that's what the game will be like. We had good energy, good work. We'll see." Goaltender Jake Allen left practice early Saturday but Hitchcock said he's fine and will start.
Wild team scope: Minnesota will try to win its fifth consecutive game, which would be its longest streak of the season. The Wild won 3-2 in a shootout against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, allowing two power-play goals in 1:23 of the second period. The Wild penalty kill has allowed a goal in eight of its past 13 kills. No. 1 in the League last season, the penalty kill is at 76.7 percent, third-worst in the NHL. "We're not getting the results, but we have to solve the solution, not worry about the problem," coach John Torchetti told the Wild website. "Good things will come if we keep working on it, keep talking about it. Good things will come." Goaltender Darcy Kuemper could start after Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves against Buffalo.
While the St. Louis Blues try to keep the pressure on in the race for Western Conference supremacy, the Minnesota Wild would like to extend their new wild-card lead.
Jori Lehtera played a major role in evening this season series last month. Now he's hoping to return as the Blues look to come away with the decisive fifth meeting.
Vladimir Tarasenko attempts to torment the hosts again Sunday night when St. Louis chases its third straight win and tries to deny Minnesota its longest run in almost a year.
The Blues have had four days off since a 4-3 shootout win at Ottawa moved them into a three-way tie atop the Central Division. With Chicago and Dallas now leading the West by two points, St. Louis will try to keep pace with its seventh win in eight road games.
The Blues (37-20-9), however, have dropped four of their last five trips to Minnesota, including last year's first-round playoff series that the Wild won in six games. They evened this season series Feb. 6 when Lehtera, Paul Stastny and Troy Brouwer each had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 home win.
With some time off between games, Lehtera said he was "pretty sure" he'd be ready to return following a three-game absence after taking a redirected puck to the face on Feb. 25 against the New York Rangers.
"I feel pretty good," he told the team's official website. "I'm ready to play again."
Tarasenko, who scored his team-high 30th goal against the Senators, should feel good about facing the Wild (31-25-10). The right wing has scored in each of his last four regular-season meetings and has 11 goals in his past 12 versus Minnesota, including playoffs.
St. Louis has totaled eight goals in its back-to-back wins after scoring just four times during a three-game losing streak. The club hopes to keep it going against projected starter Devan Dubnyk, who stopped 30 shots in a 3-2 shootout win at Buffalo on Saturday.
Dubnyk is 4-1-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average in his last six starts against the Blues dating to last year's playoff series. Minnesota's defense continues to carry an offense that has averaged 2.6 goals in its last seven.
David Jones, however, scored his first goal since he was acquired from Calgary at the trade deadline as Minnesota won its fourth straight Saturday.
The Wild, who have made the playoffs three straight years, moved into sole possession of the West's final wild-card spot with the victory and Colorado's loss. They can build a four-point cushion with their first five-game run since March 21-28.
''Every single point is important and we've got to keep getting better and keep building our game,'' said Mikko Koivu, who has found the net in each of the past two games.
Charlie Coyle has three goals in his last two home games and scored twice in the other home meeting with St. Louis. Erik Haula has two goals in the past three matchups overall.
Jake Allen will try to contain Minnesota after allowing five goals on 77 shots in the back-to-back wins. Including playoffs, he owns a 2.19 GAA in 10 career starts.
