Blues at Wild
Slated to play for the second time in one week on Saturday afternoon, the St. Louis Blues and host Minnesota Wild could be in line to see more of each other if the Central Division rivals continue on their respective paths. The division-leading Blues suffered their second setback in seven games (5-1-1) with a 2-1 shootout loss in Winnipeg on Thursday. Captain David Backes scored his team's lone goal versus the Jets and has tallied in both St. Louis' 3-2 shootout victory over Minnesota on Nov. 29 and a 3-1 setback to the Wild last Saturday.
Brian Elliott made just 16 saves against Minnesota last weekend, suffering his first loss in seven career decisions versus the Wild, while Devan Dubnyk turned aside a season-high 41 shots to emerge victorious against St. Louis for the first time in eight starts. Dubnyk will start his 30th consecutive game for Minnesota, which holds a one-point lead over Winnipeg for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference and would face the Blues in the first round of the playoffs if the season ended today. The Wild have struggled at home, losing four of their last six, while St. Louis is a blistering 12-2-2 in its last 16 road games.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, NHLN, RSN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE BLUES (45-20-6): Paul Stastny set up Backes' 25th goal of the season on Thursday and resides one point shy of 500 for his career. The 29-year-old, who has recorded three assists in his last four games, also set up his captain against Minnesota last Saturday. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo notched an assist versus Winnipeg and has posted three in his last three games.
ABOUT THE WILD (39-25-7): Defenseman Marco Scandella is expected to return to the lineup Saturday after being sidelined nine games with an oblique injury. "I'm excited," Scandella said. "I felt good in practice (Friday). I'm just ready to go. No worries now, I feel really good." Scandella's return is expected to make a healthy scratch of fellow blue-liner Christian Folin, who scored in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Washington.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota LW Thomas Vanek is riding a six-game point streak during which he scored versus St. Louis and has registered four goals and three assists overall.
2. The Blues have killed off all 15 short-handed situations over their last five games.
3. Wild LW Zach Parise exited Friday's practice prematurely - he was "tight", coach Mike Yeo told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Parise is expected to play versus St. Louis.