TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues did what they needed to do to get back in the win column Thursday night, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. The Blues have now earned points in 11 straight matchups with their Midwest rivals, extending a franchise record in the long-running series.
The Blues excelled in the defensive zone, allowing just one goal and 22 shots on net - the second-lowest shot total allowed this season. Jordan Binnington remains unbeaten in regulation against the Blackhawks, now 6-0-1 for his career (including two shutouts).
"Everyone was playing well," said Binnington. "(Niko Mikkola) was shutting guys down and making good plays; (Pavel Buchnevich) too. Everyone was good."
With Vladimir Tarasenko being a late scratch due to illness, the Blues' depth pieces stepped up to provide the scoring punch. In addition to Josh Leivo's fourth-line goal, Calle Rosen continued his strong run of play with the game-winning goal in the second period.
Turning the page to Saturday's New Year's Eve matchup, the Blues are looking at a rematch with their 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff opponents, the Minnesota Wild. The new year will then kick off with a four-game road trip, featuring quick rematches with both Toronto and Minnesota.
The Blues host their second straight divisional foe with a record of 17-16-3, worth 37 points and fifth place in the Central.
WILD Prior to losing two of their last three, the Minnesota Wild had done a lot of work to dig themselves out of some early-season struggles. After a 7-8-2 start, the Wild went on a 12-3-0 run to surge into playoff positioning - including a six-game win streak from Dec. 10 to Dec. 21.
Looking to get back to that win pace following a tough loss to Dallas on Thursday, the Wild head to St. Louis looking to avenge their First Round Playoff defeat. Saturday will mark Minnesota's first game back in St. Louis since the Blues ended their season in Game 6 at Enterprise Center in May.
The Wild and Stars were tied 1-1 after the first period in Thursday's divisional clash, but Dallas scored three unanswered goals in the third period to pull away with the win. Minnesota allowed a season-high 43 shots on goal, with Kirill Kaprizov's 20th goal of the season marking their lone tally.
Backing up Marc-Andre Fleury, the Wild have seen a promising season from 24-year-old goaltender Filip Gustavsson after acquiring him in exchange for Cam Talbot. In 14 games this season, Gustavsson has a .920 save percentage and earned six straight wins as the Wild rose up the standings.
The Wild head to St. Louis with a record of 20-13-2, worth 42 points and third place in the Central Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 3-0-0 against Minnesota in the regular season last year, including overtime wins in both matchups at Enterprise Center and an electric 6-4 win at the 2022 Winter Classic at Target Field. The season series resumes on Jan. 8 in Minnesota, March 15 in St. Louis and April 8 in Minnesota.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Justin Faulk, who now has points in three straight games including one goal each against Vegas and Toronto. The Minnesota native leads all Blues defensemen with 21 points this season, and recorded seven points in nine matchups (including playoffs) against the Wild last year.
WILD Kirill Kaprizov, No. 9 in the NHL in points and leading the Wild with 45 on the season. Kaprizov is looking to follow up his franchise-record 108 points last year, setting another Minnesota record with a 14-game point streak from Nov. 9 to Dec. 9 earlier this season.
BLUE NOTES
Since the start of the 2019 season, the Blues have the most wins (12) and most points (25) in the NHL against the Minnesota Wild... Four of the Blues' first seven games in 2023 will come against teams who currently hold a playoff spot... After their four-game road trip ends against Minnesota on Jan. 8, the Blues will be at the exact halfway point of the 2022-23 season... Since Dec. 16, the Blues' 33.3 percent power play shares No. 4 in the NHL, while their six power-play goals share third in the NHL.
The St. Louis Blues have earned points in eight of their last nine games, but they are still playing catch-up in the Western Conference playoff race.
So the Blues will carry a sense of urgency when they host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
St. Louis, which is 5-1-3 during that nine-game span, is currently on the outside of the playoff bracket looking in.
"I think every point is important where we are right now," Blues defenseman Calle Rosen said after the Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 Thursday. "It was two big points for us today, and we've got to work to get another two points in two days here."
The Blues suffered a 5-4 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on the road and a 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at home in their previous two games.
"We need all the points we can get," goaltender Jordan Binnington said. "We're working through it, and we're going to keep going and playing tighter and playing together. This is the fun part."
This will be the first meeting between the Blues and their Central Division-rival Wild this season.
After winning six consecutive games, Minnesota has lost two of its last three. The Wild are coming off a 4-1 defeat at home to the Dallas Stars in a game that was closer than the score indicated.
"I think we are pretty confident that if we play our style of game and play how we want to play, we match up with everyone, whether it's our division or not," Wild winger Jordan Greenway said. "We didn't get it done tonight against a division opponent, but we've got St. Louis coming up. Now our focus has got to be towards that and cleaning up the things that we didn't do tonight."
While the Stars were able to get shots toward the net for deflections and rebound opportunities, the Wild weren't able to create their own puck luck around the net against the Stars.
"We got pucks up to the top and we had lanes to shoot. We didn't," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We thought offensively we were doing the right things, but then we just shovel it back down low where they're strong and we didn't get anything going. It was a bit of a frustrating game in that aspect.
"But having said that, it was still a really good hockey game, really competitive hockey game. It was playoff atmosphere. It felt like it. Both teams were playing hard, playing well. They just caught a couple tips and got pucks to the net, and we didn't."
With offensive defenseman Torey Krug sidelined for roughly six weeks with a lower-body injury, Blues coach Craig Berube is giving defenseman Colton Parayko more power-play time and encouraging him to pick up some of the offensive slack.
"We need him to keep pounding on those pucks," Berube said. "I think when he's skating and closing plays out, skating pucks out of our zone and getting up the ice, he's effective ... really effective."
The Blues hope to get winger Vladimir Tarasenko back in the lineup after he missed the Blackhawks game due to illness.
