QUICK HITS
BLUES Tuesday's win against the Senators was a complete team effort. Thirteen different Blues players recorded a point, with five having multi-point performances.
"I thought the first period, outside of the Dallas game, was probably our best first period," said Head Coach Jim Montgomery postgame. "We managed the puck well the entire game. We played a very smart game on the road - we were above, we continued to put pucks deep when we didn't have plays, and I thought that our defensemen were extremely aggressive holding pucks in the offensive zone with our forwards working back over top."
Pius Suter scored two goals, one of which was on the penalty kill to give the Blues their second shorthanded goal of the season. Mason McTavish and Jake Neighbours both scored twice, Pavel Buchnevich recorded three assists and Joel Hofer made 15 saves on 17 shots.
The win also included milestones for multiple players. Ross Johnston and Brandon Carlo both recorded their first point with St. Louis on Suter's second goal of the game and Adam Jiricek scored his first NHL goal late in the third period. And of course, Dylan Peterson, who was recalled from Springfield on Saturday, made his NHL debut with his family in attendance at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Blues power play went 1-for-3, courtesy of a McTavish PPG, and the penalty kill went 3-for-4, including Suter's shorthanded goal.
"I think we just play simple, get pucks on net and work hard," Suter said after the win. "Everyone is moving their legs really well and it shows. Getting those pucks back and [winning] battles...that just gives you more [offensive] zone time."
WILD The Minnesota Wild finished third in the Central Division last season with a 46-24-12 record and 104 points. In this past Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Wild defeated the Dallas Stars in six games before falling to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in the second round. The Dallas series win was the team's first in 11 years.
In pursuit of another competitive playoff run, the Wild acquired forward Blake Coleman and Olli Maatta from the Calgary Flames, and extended one-year contracts to goaltender Calvin Pickard, forward Nick Foligno and defenseman Zach Bogosian.
However key pieces from last season are no longer with the team. Defenseman Jake Middleton was traded to Calgary in the Coleman & Maatta acquisition, forward Mats Zuccarello - who had 15 goals and 39 assists in 2025-26 - signed with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent and forward Marcus Johansson left the NHL after 16 seasons to play in Sweden.
Minnesota has also been plagued with injuries to begin the season, most notably defenseman Brock Faber who is out indefinitely with a fractured skull sustained during the preseason. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson is currently on the team’s Long-Term Injured Reserve list due to a hip injury.
Head Coach John Hynes told Minnesota media on Thursday that forwards Marcus Foligno (lower-body) and Nick Foligno (upper-body), forward Nico Sturm (concussion protocol), captain Jared Spurgeon (upper-body) and Maatta (upper-body) are all sidelined with injuries. He said that defenseman Matt Kiersted will slot in for Maatta against the Blues.
Amid the team’s injuries, forwards Justin Kirkland and Tyler Pitlick were recalled from Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, earlier this week.
Despite their injuries, the Wild can be lethal on offense with Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and defenseman Quinn Hughes - who is an unrestricted free agent after this season - leading the charge. Minnesota has a 4-2-1 record in their first seven games and are coming off a 5-2 road loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
