Blues at Wild preview

BLUES (17-8-1) at WILD (12-10-3)
6 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-MW, NHL.TV

The Blues lost 4-1 at home to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday but are 4-0-0 in Game 2 of back-to-backs this season and 12-0-0 in the second half of their past 12 back-to-back sets.
The Wild will try for their second straight win. They ended a two-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Minnesota is 4-0-1 at home since Nov. 14.
Goaltender Jake Allen, who is 4-1-0 in his past five starts, is expected to start for the Blues after replacing Carter Hutton on Friday. Allen is 7-3-0 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 12 games against the Wild, including a 6-3 victory at St. Louis last Saturday.

Players to watch

Blues forward Jayden Schwartz has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in the past 11 games
Forward Eric Staal leads the Wild with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists); he has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games.

They said it

"It's going to be a tough test, and the way we're going right now, we're not giving ourselves a chance to win hockey games. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like we're dangerous. We're too easy to score on right now." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo
"We can't have letdowns, we can't have miscues. …We have to play a 60-minute hockey game. You're not going to beat these guys with a 30-minute game, or a 40-minute game, I mean when you put pucks right on their tape and they've got guys wide open in front, there's no defensemen in front, you've got two forwards already left the zone. You can't do that against this team, they're too good because mistakes will cost you." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Blues projected lineup

Dmitrij Jaskin -- Paul Stastny -- Alexander Steen
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund -- Oskar Sundqvist - Vladimir Sobotka
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak - Chris Thorburn
Joel Edmundson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Jay Bouwmeester
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Robert Bortuzzo, Magnus Paajarvi, Sammy Blais
Injured:Zach Sanford (shoulder)

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Mikko Koivu -- Mikael Granlund
Marcus Foligno -- Eric Staal -- Nino Niederreiter
Daniel Winnik -- Charlie Coyle -- Chris Stewart
Tyler Ennis -- Matt Cullen -- Zack Mitchell
Ryan Suter -- Mathew Dumba
Ryan Murphy -- Jonas Brodin
Gustav Olofsson -- Mike Reilly
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched:Nate Prosser
Injured:Zach Parise (back), Jared Spurgeon (groin)

Status report

The Wild claimed Prosser on waivers from the Blues on Thursday. He had played one game with St. Louis. … Spurgeon is expected to miss at least two weeks.

Stat pack

Schenn has gone without a point in four straight games after putting up 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) during an eight-game point streak. … Granlund has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past eight games. Zucker has 13 points (10 goals, three assists) in his past 12 games.