At the beginning of a critical week, the St. Louis Blues will host the Wild in the first of three consecutive games against Central Division opponents.
After Minnesota, the Blues will play back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday against Colorado and at Winnipeg. All three of their divisional opponents are in the mix for a postseason berth in the Western Conference.
The Blues and Wild have split two meetings this season, with the home team winning each time.
St. Louis won 6-3 at Scottrade Center on Nov. 25. Paul Stastny, Dmitrij Jaskin and Jaden Schwartz scored first-period goals. After Kyle Brodziak made it 4-1 early in the third, the Wild closed within 4-3 with half of the third period remaining before power play tallies by Schwartz and Sammy Blais sealed the win for the Blues.
Schwartz missed 20 games because of a lower-body injury and will play in his fifth game back since returning on Jan. 25. He still ranks third on the team in both points and goals despite missing that time.
Brayden Schenn was one of two All-Star representatives for St. Louis and leads the club with 21 goals and 51 points. Vladimir Tarasenko also has 21 goals and 47 points.
Goaltender Carter Hutton has started four of the past five games for the Blues, winning all four of those starts. He's 14-4-1 with a 1.61 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in 23 games (19 starts) this season.
