Blues at Wild
The St. Louis Blues will have an opportunity to exact a measure of revenge against the team that ended their 2014-15 season when they open a six-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. St. Louis ran roughshod over the league to secure the Central Division title, but fell victim to Zach Parise and the Wild en route to their third straight early exit from the playoffs.
Parise, who recorded his third career hat trick in Minnesota's 5-4 victory over Colorado on Thursday, has scored seven goals and set up five others in his last 13 meetings with the Blues. While Parise signed a 13-year, $98 million contract three years ago, St. Louis' Vladimir Tarasenko started the new season off on the right foot after his team-leading 37-goal performance helped him secure an eight-year, $60 million deal in the summer. The 23-year-old Russian scored in the Blues' 3-1 season-opening victory over Edmonton on Thursday and looks to continue his success versus the Wild, against whom he tallied six times in the first-round series. Devan Dubnyk was able to hold the fort in that series, but hardly looked like a Vezina Trophy finalist after yielding four goals on 23 shots in the opener.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE BLUES (1-0-0): After playing his previous six seasons in Minnesota, center Kyle Brozdiak knows he's going battling both his nerves and the Wild on Saturday. "I'm expecting to be a little nervous," the 31-year-old told the team's website. "I'm just going to try and go in and have some fun and play the game." Troy Brouwer, who scored an empty-net goal in his debut with his new team, is expected to play despite suffering a lower-body injury, according to coach Ken Hitchcock.
ABOUT THE WILD (1-0-0): Nino Niederreiter is expected to return to the lineup after exiting the series opener with a head injury. Center Tyler Graovac (lower body) may not be as lucky as the former seventh-round pick is considered "very doubtful" to play on Saturday, coach Mike Yeo told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Yeo did not reveal whether the team would use the potentially available roster spot on forward Justin Fontaine (oblique) or if the team may need to make a call to Iowa of the American Hockey League.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis G Jake Allen, who has been confirmed to start on Saturday, recorded a 2.20 goals-against average in the first-round series versus Minnesota.
2. Wild LW Chris Porter will face off versus the team with which he spent parts of six seasons.
3. Blues D Robert Bortuzzo, who was a healthy scratch on Thursday, will make his season debut versus the Wild.