BLUESThe St. Louis Blues did what they needed on Wednesday night to continue their momentum as they set their eyes on Friday's showdown with the Minnesota Wild.
Robert Thomas, Justin Faulk, Jordan Kyrou and Ryan O'Reilly scored as the Blues handled the Kraken with a 4-1 win on home ice, extending their point streak to six consecutive games (5-0-1). Thomas continues his elite stretch of play, earning a career-best seven-game point streak and recording four goals and eight assists in the process.
After a tough month of March that saw the Blues drop into Wild Card positioning, the club has regained some momentum and now sits just a single point behind Minnesota for second place in the division. The Blues are as aware as any about the stakes heading into Friday's matchup.
"That's gonna be a big game," said Colton Parayko with fresh stitches in his upper lip after taking a Kraken high stick in Wednesday's game. "Two teams, one point apart this far into the season is obviously a big game - 12 games to go."
If the season ended after Wednesday night's games, the Blues would draw Minnesota in the first round of the Playoffs - but would lose out on home ice advantage, playing the first two games in Wild territory. With two games against the Wild still to play - both at Enterprise Center - the Blues have a major opportunity to flip their position and claim the advantage.
"Big game, with second place on the line," said Blues Head Coach Craig Berube. "They're playing really well, that (Minnesota) team. They're a physical, hard hockey team, they come at you and they can score goals."
The Blues enter the highly-anticipated matchup with a record of 40-20-10, worth 90 points and third in the Central Division.
WILD The Minnesota Wild have arguably been the NHL's hottest team over this recent stretch. The Wild won seven consecutive games between March 16 and March 29 and maintained the point streak for three additional games before falling in regulation to Nashville on Tuesday.
The battle with the Predators in Nashville was a physical one, seeing seven different players serve time in the penalty box on fighting majors. Nashville defenseman Mark Borowiecki dropped the gloves on two separate occasions, sparring with Wild forwards Marcus Foligno and recent trade acquisition Nicolas Deslauriers.
Nashville came out on top 6-2, driven by a hat trick from Ryan Johansen - the first of his career after 774 games and 11 NHL seasons.
Tuesday was goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's first loss with his new team after being acquired by the Wild at the Trade Deadline this season. Fleury has gone 3-1-0 since arriving in Minnesota, recording a 2.30 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
Though Fleury has been impressive in his new colors, so has incumbent Cam Talbot - expected to get the start Friday night. Talbot has gone 8-0-1 in his last nine starts, allowing 2.11 goals-against average and stopping 93 percent of the 270 shots he faced.
Second-year forward Kirill Kaprizov has broken out this season for the Wild, leading the team with 87 points and playing in 68 out of 69 possible games this season. The 2020-21 Calder Trophy winner notched his 40th goal of the season in the loss at Nashville and ranks seventh in the League as of Thursday afternoon.
Minnesota brings a record of 43-21-5 to St. Louis, worth 91 points and a razor-thin edge for second place in the Central Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues have seen the division-rival Wild just once this season, winning 6-4 in the frigid Winter Classic on Jan. 1. Two games remain in the season series before the potential Playoff matchup, with the Blues hosting Minnesota again on April 16 in a nationally-televised afternoon game.
The Blues have earned points in eight straight games against Minnesota (7-0-1), including a current three-game win streak.
