Blues at Wild
With a Stanley Cup playoff berth tucked safely in their pocket, the Minnesota Wild do not seem to have much for which to play when they host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. Minnesota, though, may want to end its nine-game losing streak to St. Louis before a possible first-round matchup. The Wild are the top wild card team in the Western Conference and will play the division winner with the fewest points, with St. Louis trailing Anaheim by one point to be the best in the West.
After taking control of the Central with a 13-3-1 stretch, the Blues lost three straight for the first time this season to see their division lead diminished to two points over red-hot Colorado. "It's just a funk," St. Louis left wing Brenden Morrow told reporters after a 4-1 loss to Washington on Tuesday. "The work is there, the execution hasn't been great, it's been pretty sloppy hockey." The Wild wrapped up a playoff spot Tuesday when Phoenix lost at Columbus, but would have clinched later that evening when they defeated Boston 4-3 in a shootout to improve to 5-0-1 in their last six games since a 5-1 loss to the Blues in St. Louis on March 27.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TSN2
ABOUT THE BLUES (52-20-7): Left wing Alexander Steen and his team-leading 33 goals returned against the Capitals after missing three games with an upper-body injury, but captain David Backes left Tuesday's contest with a lower-body injury and will not play. St. Louis has been outscored 12-3 during its slide and has seven goals in its last six games (2-4-0), but coach Ken Hitchcock wasn't placing the blame squarely on his top lines, telling reporters "I think it's across the board. When you're not scoring, you need to shoot. ..." Ryan Miller is 10-5-1 with a 2.27 goals against average and .910 save percentage since being acquired from Buffalo on Feb. 28.
ABOUT THE WILD (42-26-12): Just before the third period Tuesday, the news of Phoenix's loss was announced, bringing a cheer from the crowd. "The message was, 'Let's not wait for anything. Let's not back our way into anything. Let's not come through the back door. Let's go charging through the front door,'" coach Mike Yeo told reporters. " And what a better way to do it against a team like Boston." Ilya Bryzgalov is 7-0-3, 1.78, .923 with three shutouts since arriving in Minnesota on March 4.
OVERTIME
1. Wild C Mikael Granlund missed the last four games with a concussion and is unlikely to play Thursday.
2. Backes, second on the team with 27 goals, made the trip, but no decision has been made as to whether he will play Friday in Dallas.
3. Minnesota last defeated St. Louis 3-2 in a shootout Nov. 19, 2011, and is 0-for-23 on the power play in the last six meetings.