When: Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
QUICK HITS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues (31-28-7) head to Minnesota for a matchup with the Wild following a tough result Thursday in Pittsburgh. Despite outshooting the Penguins 35-22, the Blues fell 5-3 in the game.
The team generated numerous chances at 5-on-5 but had trouble beating goaltender Tristan Jarry, who made 32 saves for the Penguins. Alexey Toropchenko scored St. Louis' lone even-strength goal with a highlight-reel effort in the third period.
After the game, Head Coach Jim Montgomery commented on how his team can convert some of those chances into goals.
"We'd like to have more screens, tips and rebounds," Montgomery said. "That being said, we dominated territorially, made a lot of plays. We just didn't connect sometimes real crisp with our passing to be able to shoot off the pass, we had to collect pucks too much."
Two of the Blues' three goals Thursday came on the power play, one from Zack Bolduc and one from Dylan Holloway, an encouraging sign for the unit. It is their third time this season and first since December with multiple man-advantage goals in a game. The team's power play is currently clicking at 20.4 percent, ranked 21st in the NHL.
"Guys were playing together and the chemistry was good," Bolduc said after the game. "The puck was moving pretty quick, too. I think we did a good job there on the power plays."
Despite the loss in Pittsburgh, the Blues are 6-2-2 in their last 10 and in the thick of the Western Conference Wild Card race. With the stretch run heating up, four teams - St. Louis, Calgary, Utah and Vancouver - are all within two points of each other in the standings as they battle for a Wild Card.
The Blues will now have the chance to bank more points this weekend as they go back-to-back with Saturday's tilt in Minnesota and Sunday's matchup at home against Anaheim.
WILD The last month has been a roller coaster for the Minnesota Wild (37-24-5) as they deal with injuries to some of their stars.
The team is currently without three of their top players due to lower-body ailments: forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin. Despite this, the Wild are staying afloat and hanging on to the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
Minnesota is 4-5-1 since the break, including an overtime loss to the New York Rangers in their most-recent game on Thursday.
The Wild did not make significant changes at the Trade Deadline, instead opting for just small tweaks to their roster. Their primary acquisitions were Gustav Nyquist from Nashville and Justin Brazeau from Boston. Nyquist has one point, an assist, in six games with Minnesota this season while Brazeau has been held without a point in four games since the trade.
The Wild currently sit in fourth place in the Central Division with 79 points, 10 ahead of the Blues.
