Preview: Blues vs. Wild

When: Saturday, March 2 at 5 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: Bally Sports
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at Ticketmaster.com

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues picked up one point Wednesday in Edmonton. The night after a tough loss in Winnipeg, the Blues had their hands full going against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at Rogers Place. While the game went to overtime, McDavid would score with under 30 seconds left to send the Blues home with a loss.

“Tough back-to-back for us, getting in late and playing a team that’s so fast and dynamic," Robert Thomas said after the game. "I think we did a really good job. I don’t think we can be upset with ourselves. We were in that game right to the end, we did a ton of great things and had a bunch of chances. Very happy with our effort.”

The Blues came out swinging against the Oilers. Both Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich scored in the first five minutes of the game to go up 2-0. Despite a power-play goal from Zach Hyman, the Blues would take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, which they hadn't done since Feb. 11.

Hyman would score again in the second period, taking advantage of a mistimed line change, but the Blues would settle in and shut down Edmonton for the rest of regulation.

Both teams traded blows in overtime, but McDavid would get the last laugh, taking a tough-angle shot that bounced off the shoulder of Jordan Binnington and into the net.

"It kind of got a lot of my jersey," Binnington said, "which is kind of weird, but sometimes bounces go like that, and (for) a guy who works that hard, it happens."

Despite the loss, Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister saw a lot his team can build on going into Saturday's matchup with Minnesota.

"Loved the effort out of our guys," he said. "I thought we dug in here (Wednesday). Disappointed for the guys that we weren’t able to get a win, but a lot of positives we can take from that game moving forward."

St. Louis is seven points back of the Nashville Predators, who've won seven straight. With the Wild just a point back, Saturday's game will be huge for the Blues as they try to create separation from the pack and catch the Preds.

The Blues desperately need a win before they embark on a five-game road trip up the east coast. The trip opens Monday night in Philadelphia before visiting the Islanders, Devils, Rangers and Bruins.

WILD The Minnesota Wild are just one point behind the Blues in the standings. Both are trying to catch the Predators, who occupy the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Thursday night, Minnesota got its chance to gain some ground on Nashville.

Things did not go as planned. Connor Dewar scored the game's first goal on a rebound, but it was all Nashville from there. The Preds would score six unanswered goals, winning their seventh game in a row. 

“I thought from a competitive standpoint we weren’t close to where we needed to be in a lot of areas of the ice," Wild coach John Hynes said after the game. "You can arguably say tonight we got what we deserved. We didn’t put enough into the game that gives you a chance to win this time of year, and you saw the end result.”

Minnesota's 6-1 loss is a detour from the success it had in February. Going into Tuesday's game with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Wild were 7-1-1 since the All-Star break. Now they've lost two straight, but Hynes isn't pressing the panic button yet.

"Tonight was a big game and we didn’t have our best," he said, "but I think we’ve had our best. We've had a pretty good stretch here...We’re going to address some areas, and we should be a hungrier and harder team coming into Saturday.”

After the game, the Wild quickly return to St. Paul for a game against the San Jose Sharks.

HEAD TO HEAD The Wild spoiled the Blues' annual Dads Trip with a 3-1 win Nov. 28 in St. Paul. However, if one Saturday game against Minnesota isn't enough, the Blues get two more this month: the Wild are back in town March 16, and the Blues return to the Twin Cities on March 23.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Torey Krug, who had an assist in Edmonton, has 17 points in 13 career home games against Minnesota. On March 15, 2023 - the Wild's last visit to Enterprise Center - Krug assisted on three of the Blues' five goals.

WILD Brock Faber is living every Minnesota hockey player's dream. Faber, who was born 20 minutes outside Minneapolis, played three seasons at the University of Minnesota, captained the Golden Gophers to a Frozen Four and is now one of the NHL's best young defensemen with the Wild. Among rookies, Faber leads the NHL in blocked shots (117) and is second to only Connor Bedard in points (34).

BLUE NOTES

• Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong is two wins away from reaching his 800th career win as GM. He can reach the milestone as soon as Monday night in Philadelphia, which would make him the 11th GM in NHL history to do so.
• Wednesday's game in Edmonton was only the Blues' third loss this season when scoring first; Blues are now 24-2-1 in such situations. Meanwhile, the Wild are tied for the sixth-fewest wins in the NHL when trailing first (8). 
• Pavel Buchnevich, who has two hat trick this season, scored a hat trick in the Wild's last visit to Enterprise Center on March 15, 2023. Buchnevich and Kirill Kaprizov are two of only 12 players with multiple hat tricks this season.
• There are 53 active NHL players born in Minnesota, the most of any U.S. state, including three Blues: Justin Faulk, Nick Leddy and Scott Perunovich.
• With two assists against Edmonton, Jordan Kyrou has 10 points in his last 10 games, including back-to-back game-winning goals against Buffalo and Montreal.